"Will it play in Peoria" is a time-honored way to ask how something will be seen by the middlest of Middle America. And by that measure, House Republicans are not doing well right now. According to
an editorial in the Peoria Journal Star:
We believe that a clean continuing spending resolution - to fund the national parks so that veterans on an Honor Flight can see the World War II memorial before they die, to ensure people who need food stamps get them, etc. - would pass the House, as it has the Senate, if Speaker Boehner would just call that vote. Until that happens, he, his chamber and his Republicans own this shutdown, no matter what talking points they've adopted to try to deflect the blame for triggering yet another unnecessary crisis.
Ouch. There's no salvation for Republicans in Hampton Roads, where the
Virginian-Pilot editorializes that the shutdown is:
Because a small group of tea party-led House Republicans so abhor the federal health care law that they will do anything - including embarrassing the nation and jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of people - to stop it.
The headline at the
Buffalo News pretty much says it all:
Republicans, in thrall to the tea party, are ignoring their duty to the nation.
In fact, in a round-up of editorials, the Washington Post's Reid Wilson summarizes:
The overwhelming number of editorial boards came to the same conclusion: That Republicans — specifically the tea party caucus — are to blame. Even those editorial boards that don’t like the Affordable Care Act think shutting down the government is a bridge too far.
Keep reading below the fold for a few more choice editorial excerpts, but first,
join Daily Kos and the DCCC to tell John Boehner: End this shutdown now.
The Salt Lake Tribune:
If, by the time you read this, all or part of the federal government has gone into shutdown mode, it will be because a minority faction of the minority party pulled out every stop on the organ to try to prevent the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, from going into effect as scheduled.
The expectation that the Democrats who control the White House and the Senate would capitulate to the demands of a fringe faction by walking away from their most significant legislative achievement was never realistic. The idea that President Obama and his Democratic allies should have done so, thus making it clear that it could easily be rolled by any determined faction, was worse.
The
Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
By resorting to extreme measures to eliminate the law, Republicans are effectively trying to nullify the 2012 election to impose a minority view.
If they succeed, this could become standard operating procedure for future irresponsible politicians. Republicans ought to be wary of having the same tactics deployed against them someday.
In the meantime, voters and one of the Republicans’ key constituencies — big business — need to loudly say “enough.” The antidote to the nation’s economic woes is good governance, not more gamesmanship.
The
Des Moines Register:
It is time for Congress to change its ways. It begins this week with Democrats in the Senate refusing to buckle to a threat to shut down the government unless the House Republicans get their way.
The
Kansas City Star:
Shame on Republicans for creating this mess. That includes every GOP House member from the Kansas City area, who have all voted to make routine government spending subject to inflicting fatal wounds to the Affordable Care Act.
We’re talking about Kevin Yoder and Lynn Jenkins from Kansas and Sam Graves and Vicky Hartzler from Missouri. Not one of them had the foresight or fortitude to stand up and say: “This will hurt the nation. I will not participate.” Unfortunately, House Speaker John Boehner refused to call for the up-or-down vote that would have separated the pragmatists in his party from the ideologues.
The
Sacramento Bee:
They can spin it all they want, but House Republicans manufactured the crisis that now threatens to shut down the federal government and wreak havoc on world finances. Unless they budge, they will go down in history as hostage takers willing to tank the economy if their demands are not met.