Thanks to
President Obama stubbornly refusing to
negotiate with
terrorists (his
negotiations with
Iran notwithstanding),
House Republicans were
forced to
shut down the federal government for the
first time since then-Speaker
Newt Gingrich was
relegated to the back of
Air Force One in 1995.
Without a doubt, the most visible and devastating consequence of this latest game of brinkmanship is the closure of America's national parks—which has enraged a lot of vacationers; newbies and veterans alike.
However, there have also been a number of less conspicuous (and clearly less important) negative consequences, such as: 800,000 "non-essential" workers being furloughed; Head Start programs being suspended; and millions of Americans' health and safety being endangered.
But that's not to say it's been all bad; on the bright side, the shutdown has had a slimming effect on Fox News.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Treasury Secretary Jack Lew; Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY); Roundtable: Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), Republican Strategist Mike Murphy, Steve Inskeep (NPR) and Rich Lowry (National Review).
Face the Nation: Treasury Secretary Jack Lew; Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX); Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Roundtable: Gwen Ifill (PBS), Dana Milbank (Washington Post), Jim VandeHei (Politico) and John Dickerson (CBS News).
This Week: Treasury Secretary Jack Lew; House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH); Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY); Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC); Roundtable: Cokie Roberts (ABC News), Paul Gigot (Wall Street Journal), Soledad O'Brien (Starfish Media Group), Former "Car Czar" Steve Rattner and Jonathan Karl (ABC News).
Fox News Sunday: Treasury Secretary Jack Lew; Rep. Pete King (R-NY); Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA); Roundtable: Brit Hume (Fox News), Former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), Kimberley Strassel (Wall Street Journal) and Juan Williams (Fox News).
State of the Union: Treasury Secretary Jack Lew; Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX); Roundtable: Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD), Rep. Steve king (R-IA), Democratic Strategist Stephanie Cutter and Ross Douthat (New York Times).
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a report the alarming state of the federal disability program, which has exploded in size in the last six years and could become the first federal benefits program to run out of money (preview); never-before-seen footage of America's first battle against al Qaeda 20 years ago (preview); and, a report on the large number of asteroids in space big enough to destroy a city, of which scientists only know where one percent of them are (preview).
On Comedy Central...
After spending the better part of the week ripping the GOP for causing the shutdown, Jon Stewart turned his ire towards Fox News for aiding and abetting them.
The Daily Show
Monday: Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sebelius
Tuesday: Author/Activist Malala Yousafzai
Wednesday: Actor Michael Fassbender
Thursday: Author Brian Jay Jones
And Stephen Colbert celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month, Fox News style.
The Colbert Report
Monday: Skipper, Oracle Team USA James Spithill
Tuesday: Actor Paul Giamatti
Wednesday: Actor Tom Hanks
Thursday: Co-Authors Reed Albergotti & Vanessa OConnell
Elsewhere...
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) shared her half-baked solution to the shutdown stalemate with Wolf Blitzer.
BLACKBURN: We wanted solutions. We wanted the Senate to work with us on the budget, on the CR, on the debt ceiling. We want them to work with us on getting this out of control spending under control.
WOLF BLITZER: I got to wrap it up. You just heard the president say he wants to negotiate. He wants to work with you on all of these issues.
BLACKBURN: Come on down. I'll bake him cookies .
Meanwhile...
Ann Romney explained how the shutdown could have been avoided all together.
Ann Romney said the government would not have shut down if her husband Mitt had been elected president in 2012.
"We would not be in a shutdown," Romney said during an interview on "Fox & Friends."
Romney said her husband would have "stopped Obamacare," keeping Congress from a government shutdown.
And, never one to be left out...
Sarah Palin shared some words of wisdom from the Founding Fathers.
Since the debate over the budget began, a common argument from conservatives — renewed today by Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska — suggests that only the House has the right to decide what the budget should look like. This is obviously incorrect and easily corrected.
Palin jumps into the fray in her most recent Facebook exposition. "Gee Whiz," she writes, "If Even Little Ol' Me Understands U.S. Government 101 but MSM Doesn't…" Then she links to an essay by Thomas Sowell, senior fellow at the conservative Hoover Foundation. It is titled, "Democrats Chose the Shutdown," and outlines a little of the ol' U.S. Government 101.
Fade to black.
- Trix