It's time we admitted it. These Tea Bagging Bastards are Completely Crazed and Deluded.
There's no talking to them. There's no arguing with them. There's no negotiating with them. Unlike Iran and Assad - neither of whom are willing or able to cause 45,000 Americans do DIE every year due to a lack of Health Care - they simply can't be reasoned with.
There are more than a few Republicans who now openly say that breaking through the Debt Ceiling is "No Big Deal". http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
1) Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.): “I think, personally, [not raising the debt ceiling] would bring stability to the world markets.”
2) Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah): "I think the administration could work on who gets paid and who doesn't in a way that would pull us through. I don't think the markets have been spooked so far, and I personally believe that if they realized there was a legitimate attempt to make the government work, they would be less likely [to be spooked]."
3) Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.): "The federal government still has about 85 percent of the revenues we spend coming in, and all they have to do is prioritize that they're gonna pay debt service first. And that leaves some prioritization for federal programs. I'm not as concerned as the president is on the debt ceiling, because the only people buying our bonds right now is the Federal Reserve. So it's like scaring ourselves."
This is sadly, not a joke. It's the job of Congress to craft the budget. It's the job of Congress to
set the priorities and decide what will be paid for and what won't. Even if the House does take up the Senate's CR, that would already be a "Win" for Republicans because it includes the
Sequester Cuts - the Sequester that "Wasn't Supposed to EVER Happen" - but even with that in place John Beohner
won't have the vote.
"We Have to Get Something Out of This, I Don’t Know What That Even Is"
They don't even know what they want? Yes, they do. They want to prove a point. They want to prove their Number 1 Meme.
"GOVERMENT IS TOO BIG".
[To Them] We don't need Government to be this big, this "Intrusive" (To Irresponsible, Greedy Corporations). So to them, the Shutdown is the Point. The Shutdown IS THE WIN. As Rep Jim Jordan said this weekend "The Sequester has been one of the good things" - because putting people out of work is their idea of "Good". Forcing Federal Workers to do their jobs Without Pay is "Good".
The fewer Government Workers we have providing low-cost services to all persons who need them without preferences or prejudgements the more privateers there can be to provide those same, or lesser, services - to a select few whom they CHOOSE - at a profit along with giant Tax Cuts to subsidize them in the process. Case in Point: Medicare "Advantage".
They're trying to prove that everything and everyone will just purr right along without that Big Bad Government, and if they do that - if the country can survive without a functioning Federal Government smoothly and without major incident they will have made their point and there will be no way to argue against massive Permanent Cuts to major Federal programs.
That's what they Want. But it's not what they're going to Get.
The problem is that the Ransom will not be Paid. It doesn't matter what it is. It doesn't matter if it's Defunding ObamaCare, or Delaying the Individual Mandate or making the Sequester Cuts permanent - they're not getting it. Not from Obama. Not from Harry Reid.
And the longer the Shutdown goes on, the longer that the actual pain, not just the phony pain of the cancelled White House Tours or closed of National Memorials, but when we begin to see Parks and Monuments that Generate Revenue in the Local Economy, and we see Cancer and Scientific Research Stunted and we see the National Weather Service having Difficulty Responding Properly to Tropical Storms....
* Weather research to support forecasting operations has stopped, as most researchers are furloughed.
* Travel to major meetings, where forecasting methods and research are presented and discussed, has been canceled or will be canceled (unless government re-opens)
* Public outreach efforts have been canceled, such as training weather observers (spotters), school visits and office tours.
* Vacant positions at understaffed offices are not being filled.
* Preventative maintenance on weather radar and instruments (such as Automated Surface Observation Systems, used at many airports) has stopped in many cases.
* Janitorial services have stopped at some offices. In one case, forecasters were mopping bathroom floors.
And the CDC is at risk of being
hampered in it's response to a Salmonella Outbreak.
The bacteria traced to three of the firm's California poultry plants have sickened 278 people nationwide, mostly in California. The Heidelberg strain of salmonella appears to be especially virulent. As my colleague David Pierson reported, 42% of victims have been hospitalized, double the normal rate. One big problem: Some of the salmonella strains appear to be resistant to antibiotics.
Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued the initial Public Health Alert, monitoring food-borne illnesses is the job of the CDC. Thanks to the Republican shutdown, the agency was operating with a skeleton crew when the outbreak appeared.
At that level, an agency official told Food Safety News, monitoring multiple disease outbreaks became "untenable." The CDC recalled 30 staff members Tuesday to bring its epidemiology and monitoring services back up to speed. It says now that the shutdown isn't affecting the investigation, but there's no question that it was late to the party
And Kids are getting
Kicked out of Head Start while even Billionaire Investors can't swoop in and stop it...
The bottom line, however, is that angel investors like the Arnolds cannot possibly offer a sustainable solution to the funding crisis threatening thousands of our poorest children. Our elected officials simply must find a fiscal solution that protects, preserves and promotes the promise that quality early learning opportunities like Head Start offer to nearly one million at-risk children each year.”
More than 11,000 additional children are at risk of losing access to Head Start services if the shutdown continues through October.
And Nutrition Programs like SNAP, WIC and Meals on Wheels for the Elderly are
put at Risk.
The federal government has also stopped sending funds to states for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which provides cash benefits to more than four million people. No states had ceased making TANF payments as of Sunday, but Michigan announced early in the shutdown that it could run out of funds within a couple weeks if the shutdown continues.
In Connecticut and other states, officials have warned that funds for their low-income energy-assistance programs, which help the poor heat their homes, could run dry in November if the shutdown continues, forcing them to either suspend the programs or somehow find cash from other sources. Low- to moderate-income applicants for mortgages tend to have their loans underwritten by the Federal Housing Administration—which, during the shutdown, hasn’t been underwriting new loans. The distribution of U.S.D.A. rural-housing loans has also stalled. And the processing of applications for disability benefits, a program of particular importance to people with low incomes, has been delayed because staff members aren’t on hand to go through newly filed paperwork.
.. the more people begin to see just how much the Federal Government
Plays a Positive Role In their Lives and Community, the more the Republicans come closer to Losing not just this particular fight, but their entire
Raison D'etre.
If Government IS useful, if Government IS necessary, what the hell do we need Republicans for? What "Good" are they? For anyone?
Not that Republicans have thought about this that far or even care what it's going to cost for everyone to find that out.
It doesn't matter to them that this Shutdown may Harm the Credit Ratings of 800,000 Federal Workers. It doesn't matter to them that Deficit was Already Going Down , but that creating this shutdown has now Increased the Deficit because it has raised the interest rate on the debt. It doesn't matter to them that getting us this close to default itself will slow growth and potentially put us back into recession, and actually going over through the debt ceiling will put us Back Into a New Great Depression.
They don't Care.
They just want to Break the Government, because the Government is "Evil", the Government is "Wrong".
Unfortunately for them, they are the ones who are Wrong.
The Government Programs that have been enacted over the past 70 Years since the beginning of the New Deal are NOT. THE. PROBLEM.
In 2000, we had a Balanced Federal Budget. It had been Balanced for Two Years at that point. The Vote that created that Budget back in 1993 didn't receive A SINGLE REPUBLICAN VOTE. Vice President Al Gore had to cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to get that Bill Passed, and almost immediately after it was signed by President Bill Clinton the Deficit Began to Fall for the first time since the Carter Administration.
Source: Congressional Budget Office via cfr.org
So what Happened in 2000?
Republicans and George W. Bush happened. They passed a series of Tax Cuts that Gutted the growing Surplus, again requiring a Tie-Breaking Vote in the Senate this time cast by Vice President Dick Cheney. This Budget situation we have now is Entirely Based on the Policies THEY HAVE WROUGHT. But rather than fix them properly by adopting a rational and sensible policy like Clinton's that taxes people - WHO HAVE MORE MONEY THAN THEY CAN EVER SPEND - they've decided to Blow up the Country, Blow up the Government and put the World's Economy At Risk.
They're Hell Bent on Destruction. Destruction is the Goal.
And I think they're going to get it. Oh, they just might cave at the last minute and either let a Discharge Petition Through or Boehner just might let a Bi-Partisan Coalition pass the Senate CR. And if they do - we'll be right back in the same place in another six weeks.
I suspect strongly, even if it doesn't happen this week, they will HAVE their pound of flesh. And when they get it, it won't be anything like the Randian Fantasies of a Non-Governmental Corporate Utopia that are dancing around in their heads.
It's gonna be a disaster.
And with luck, they'll pay for it. Dearly. In 2014. Welcome to the Dawning of the P.R.M. The Permanent. Republican .Minority..
It couldn't happen to a more deserving pack of Wack-Tools.
Vyan