Tag: Government shutdown

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Domestic Policies Healthcare News Politics Teaparty

Let’s Fake A Deal

In the end, we got a terrible economic deal, but a nice political gift. Congress essentially kicked the problem down the road and ensured that early January would mark the beginning of other round of hostage-taking on the part of the right, more attacks on the health care law, and an intransigence on raising revenue in a fiscal deal that will raise hypocrisy to a new level, after they lambasted the president for not negotiating on the debt. Which he did. Anyway.

Even worse is listening to chastened Republicans talk about the importance of bipartisanship and how they hope that Democrats learn the lesson that they shouldn’t do this when they’re in the GOP’s position. Remember: Only the right can shut down the government and scare the world into thinking we’d default on our loans.

The good news is that this deal was worse for the Republicans than even I thought it would be. It was clear that this gambit was not going to help them, and Ted Cruz made it even better for the left because he was convinced that everyone outside of the major cities agreed that the ACA was from the devil and needed to be exorcised. The president stood his ground and public opinion shifted severely away from the GOP. It will take quite a bit of work on their part just to maintain their ranks in the Congress next year. They can kiss the Senate goodbye and might even lose the House, gerrymandered or not.

That this all occurred at the same time that the ACA rollout produced disastrous results makes the episode even sweeter, and is the political equivalent of rubbing salt in right wing eyes. If they had played it straight, they could have earned two years of political capital and would have had the Democrats on the run. But the right made sure that the computer problems will be mostly fixed by the time they’re ready to renew their attacks, and most people won’t pay attention anyway.

The only positive redemption I can see is if the GOP makes the debt and deficit an issue that only they can solve. The public is on their side on that argument, but that would also include cuts to Medicare and Social Security that will not go down well. The shutdown showed that Americans were upset because national parks were closed. Does the GOP think we’d also like to privatize entitlements? I think not.

Let’s hope that Barack Obama keeps his spine straight and forces the right to accept a deficit deal mostly on his terms and without significant consequences for the health care bill. He can also push the immigration bill while the right is down and hope that enough of them see fit to change their minds. Probably not, but it’s fun to dream.

In any case, enjoy the next six weeks. Then it all starts again.

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Piers Morgan Politics

Piers Morgan Battles Marsha Blackburn Over Republican’s Government Shutdown – Video

Ladies and gentlemen, Marsha Blackburn, a member of the trusted Republican party, went on CNN’s Piers Morgan show and continued showing just how puny her brain is. The two went at it when it came to who should be blamed for the 16 days government shutdown and they went at it when Blackburn insisted that the Republicans shut down the government “for the American people.”

Morgan asked Blackburn if the government shutdown was done with Americans and the world economy in mind or was it done to further Ted Cruz’s political ambitions, to which Marsha answered, “we shouldn’t talk about personalities,” before she rambled on.

“Oh come off it Marsha!” Morgan injected. He then asked about the debt ceiling and wondered what Marsha would be doing to avoid America going into default.

Blackburn answered that she didn’t want to see the nation default then went on about her plans to talk with fellow Republicans to see what could be done to avoid a default. She then said that “every economists around here” tells her that we have to get in control of the debt. Morgan hit back, “every economists around here tells me what is going on is utter nonsense, and should never have gotten this far.”

Morgan went on, “there are many issues to deal with, Obamacare, the American economy and all sorts of things. What you don’t do is shut the government down over what is a law.”

Video

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Politics

Breaking: Deal To Reopen Government Reached… Reportedly

WASHINGTON — Congress was heading towards a climatic resolution Wednesday to reopen the federal government after a 16-day partial shutdown as well as avert an unprecedented debt default.

House and Senate leaders were negotiating how to maneuver a package through both chambers and get it to President Obama’s desk before the Oct. 17 default deadline. However, there was an air of certainty on Capitol Hill that a formal deal was at hand between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Senate leaders were on track to unveil a narrow package that includes a stopgap spending measure through Jan. 15, a suspension of the debt ceiling until Feb. 7, and a framework for formal budget negotiations to begin. Negotiators are tasked with reporting out by Dec. 13 recommendations for longer-term spending levels and deficit reduction

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Politics

Peter King: “it was madness to follow Ted Cruz”

In an interview with CNN host Anderson Cooper on Tuesday, Republican Rep.Peter King continued scolding his party for their dumb decision to follow first year Senator, Ted Cruz and his failed efforts to take away health care from the American people.

“The game is over,” King told Cooper. “We have to get this done. [House Speaker] John Boehner’s (R-OH) tried everything he can, but there’s some people in our party, no matter what he tries to do, they won’t go along.”

After Boehner’s failed attempt on Tuesday to put a bill forward ending both the government shutdown and avoiding the imminent deadline on raising the U.S. debt ceiling, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) are reportedly ready to bring their own agreement, a development King said he would support.

“I’ve said all along, this is madness — it was madness to follow Ted Cruz,” King said to Cooper. “It was absolute madness to say we want to shut down the government, to defund Obamacare. It never made sense and now all we’re down to, apparently, is trying to pass a [continued resolution] to take away healthcare from congressional employees. That’s what we shut down the government for. It makes no sense.”

Cooper then pointed out that King has made multiple statements to that effect, before asking him if he felt that a Senate bill including funding for the new law could pass the House now.

“As certain as I can be of anything, I’m certain of that,” King answered. “If it comes to a vote on the House floor, we’ll probably get all the Democrats and certainly enough Republicans to get it through.”

“And you’re confident Speaker Boehner would allow it to come to the House,” Cooper pressed.

“I don’t know what John would do,” King conceded. “But I would think, though, if he’s gonna be involved in expediting the process at all, he probably then would allow it to come to a vote in the House floor. It’s getting too close to the wire.”

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pat robertson Politics

Ted Cruz On Republican Government Shutdown – God’s Will be Done, As It Will Be – Video

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said over the weekend that he had prayed to God to guide him in the shutdown fight and was sure that “his will be done as I know it will be.”

Televangelist Pat Robertson opened Monday’s edition of The 700 Club by describing the Oct. 17 debt ceiling deadline as a “countdown to Armageddon.”

“The Democrats, instead of holding spending down, now say, ‘We want freedom to spend more, we’ve got to spend more,’” Robertson explained. “They need a fix. It’s like a heroin addict, you’ve got to have your fix. And they need a fix. So, they want the sequester taken away as a price for re-opening the government. It is shocking!”

“This is crazy,” he added. “What we’re looking at is a party of people who are spendoholics: $17 trillion in debt, ladies and gentlemen. It’s insupportable. The interest on the debt is going to be mounting and encompass the entire federal budget pretty soon. Something’s got to be done.”

The TV preacher said that the drastic across-the-board spending cuts in the so-called “sequester” were “the most effective means of scaling back the spending of ours that’s taken place in decades. So the Republicans, they couldn’t possibly give it up. If they did, they’d be insane.”

At the same time, Robertson warned that a default on U.S. debt would “rocket around the world” and “mean chaos for every single citizen.”

“It’s going to mean the value of your pensions is going to go down, the value of your home will go down, the value of your home will go down, the value of what you’re going to have to borrow is going to go up extraordinarily, you’ll pay much higher interest rates,” he observed. “I mean, it’s going to be chaotic. And these guys are playing games and I hope the Republicans on this one will stand fast, they’ve got to stand fast and say no more.”

At the Values Voter Summit over the weekend, CBN’s David Brody spoke with Cruz about his role in instigating the government shutdown, which has been seen as complicating debt limit negotiations.

“Where do you see God in all of this fight that’s going on in your life right now?” Brody asked the Texas senator.

“Well, David, you know at every stage, my prayer to God is that His will be done,” Cruz insisted. “As it will be.”

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Politics

Bill Clinton on Shutdown – People Need to “Work Together”

(CNN) — Former President Bill Clinton weighed in Monday on the legislative impasse at the heart of the government shutdown, admonishing the “constant conflict” that has come to define American politics.

Speaking at a convention of the National Community Pharmacists Association in Orlando, Clinton said he liked the crowd because of the practicality of their profession.

“I worry that our politics has gotten impractical. That’s about the nicest word I can think of,” Clinton said.

Convictions are a good thing, Clinton said, as are political beliefs and support of one policy over the other.

The comments are some of the first Clinton has made on the spat over government funding, debt and Obamacare since before the partial shutdown took effect October 1.

In an interview with ABC at the end of September, Clinton took a hardline approach to the looming shutdown, calling on President Barack Obama to call a congressional Republican “bluff” on defunding the Affordable Care Act.

Obama could have stopped the shutdown, Clinton said at the time.

“But the price of – the current price of stopping it is higher than the price of letting the Republicans do it and taking their medicine,” he said.

Clinton on Monday was far less confrontational and far more the elder statesmen who has seen and done it before, having been President during the last federal government shut downs in 1995 and 1996.

Instead of conflict, Clinton urged cooperation.

“Nobody’s right all the time. And the more complex problems are the more you need people to work together,” he said.

But politics is often a zero-sum game where there are winners and losers and especially in Washington, working together is often far less attractive than some notion of winning.

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Politics

New Poll: Another Record in Republican Disapproval

A new high of 74 percent of Americans disapprove of the way the Republicans in Congress are handling Washington’s budget crisis, up significantly in the past two weeks and far exceeding disapproval of both President Obama and congressional Democrats on the issue.

The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll finds that criticism of the GOP’s handling of the budget dispute has grown by 11 percentage points since just before the partial government shutdown began, from 63 to 70 and now 74 percent – clearly leaving the party with the lion’s share of blame. Indeed 54 percent now “strongly” disapprove.

By contrast, 53 percent disapprove of Obama’s work on the issue, essentially flat since the crisis came to a head and a broad 21 points lower than disapproval of the Republicans. Fewer, as well, strongly disapprove of Obama’s performance, 39 percent.

The Democrats in Congress, for their part, remain positioned between the two: Sixty-one percent disapprove of their handling of budget talks in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, unchanged from last week and up 5 points from the week before.

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House of Representatives Politics

Unbelievable Video – House Republicans Changed House Rules To Keep Government Shutdown

It is absolutely astonishing! In a recent House session, persistent questioning from a House Democrat forced Republicans to admit that they changed the rules of the House with the sole goal of keeping the government shut!

In the video below, Maryland Democrat Christopher Van Hollen stepped to the House floor and asked about a Standing Rule governing the House – Rule 22, Clause 4. That rule states:

When the stage of disagreement has been reached on a bill or resolution with House or Senate amendments, a motion to dispose of any amendment shall be privileged.

That rule simply meant that any member of the House can offer a motion to dispose an amendment – in this case, the disagreement over the continuing resolution which cause Republicans to shut down the government. Using that House Rule, Mr. Van Hollen than asked that the House take up the Senate legislation on the budget and continuing resolution and “open the government now!”

The Teaparty Representative, Rep. Jason Chaffetz notified Mr. Van Hollen that under “Section 2 of House Rule 368,” only the Speaker of the House or his designee may offer such a motion to dispose.

Jason Chaffetz later admitted that Rule 22 Clause 4 was “the standing Rule of the House,” but that the House will not follow that rule because “the House has altered that operation of that standing rule.”

Further questioning by Mr. Van Hollen confirmed that on October 1st, right around the time the Republicans shut down the government, Rule 368 went into effect.

Rule 368 states;

Any motion pursuant to Clause 4 of Rule 22 relating to the House joint resolution may be offered only by the Majority Leader or his designee.

In other words, on October 1st, exactly when Republicans shut down the government, they also changed the rules in the House with a new rule that would only allow the Republican Leader or his designee the exclusive right to offer any motion, as stated in Clause 4.

 

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Politics weekly address

President’s Weekly Address – Let’s Get Back To Work For The American People

President Obama used this weeks weekly address to discuss his recent meetings with Republicans at the White House. The President urged Congress to pass a budget, and allow Americans to get back to work.

Over the past few days, I’ve met with Republicans and Democrats from both houses of Congress in an effort to reopen your government and remove the dangers of default from our economy.

It’s a positive development that House Republicans have agreed on the need to avoid the economic consequences of not meeting our country’s commitments. Because once the debt ceiling is raised, and the shutdown is over, there’s a lot we can accomplish together.

We’ve created seven and a half million new jobs in the past three and a half years. Now let’s create more. We’ve cut our deficits in half over the past four years. Now let’s do it in a smarter, balanced way that lets us afford to invest in the things we need to grow.

The truth is, there’s a lot we can agree on. But one thing we have to agree on is that there is no good reason anyone should keep suffering through this shutdown. I met with some really innovative small business owners on Friday who’ve already lost contracts, lost customers, and put hiring on hold – because the pain of this Republican shutdown has trickled down to their bottom lines. It’s hurting the very citizens that our government exists to serve. That’s why a growing number of reasonable Republicans say it should end now.

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Politics

Koch Brothers Throw Republicans Under the Bus

We all know that the Koch brothers are financially responsible for the Teaparty and all they stand for. And we all know based on reporting from the New York Times that this government shutdown was planned months ago by the Republican leadership and their Teaparty brethren.

Their government shutdown to defund Obamacare plan however, has not panned out the way they expected, as more and more Americans continue to blame and abandon the GOP’s crazy antics. New Polling data shows that Republicans are paying a huge price for shutting down the government and now the financial foundation of the Teaparty wants nothing to do with the shutdown.

In a letter from the Kochs, the brothers are saying that that a government shutdown was never their idea, and that Republicans and the Teaparty were on their own.

“Koch believes that Obamacare will increase deficits, lead to an overall lowering of the standard of health care in America, and raise taxes,” the letter said. “However, Koch has not taken a position on the legislative tactic of tying the continuing resolution to defunding Obamacare nor have we lobbied on legislative provisions defunding Obamacare.”

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Politics

Republican Shutdown Adding Unnecessary Costs to Treasury

A lot of the market indicators of how much the financial world is worrying about a debt default have been quite calm over the last week. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index, for example, is only about 1 percent below its close eight days ago, when the government shutdown began.

But in the less widely followed — but in many ways more important — market for Treasury bills, things are starting to get scary. These are short-term IOU’s of the U.S. government, bills issued for 30, 60 or 90 days. They enable Uncle Sam to manage cash flow much the way a homeowner might use a credit card. They also form the backbone of trillions of dollars in transactions: Major corporations and banks use them as a place to park short-term cash; they are held by money market mutual funds; and they serve as collateral for millions of transactions in markets around the world.

Normally, the interest rate the government pays on bills is around the same as the short-term interest rates in other money markets (for example, the interest rates banks charge each other for overnight cash, or the interest rate that the Federal Reserve targets). Both of those are near zero right now, which is why on Sept. 30, eight days ago, the interest rate on Treasury bills maturing Oct. 17 was a mere 0.03 percent. Nothing, in other words.

But since then, the possibility that the Treasury might have trouble paying or might not be able to pay its bills over the next few weeks has grown — and the interest rate has skyrocketed. It was at 0.16 percent at Monday’s close. On Tuesday the rate so far has been almost double that, as high as 0.297 percent.

There are reports, including this one from Reuters, indicating that some of the biggest money managers in the world are starting to avoid U.S. government debt that matures in the near future out of fear they will not be repaid promptly.

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Politics

Poll: Republican Favorable Ratings at Record Lows

If it wasn’t  for their families, Republicans’ favorable ratings would be hovering somewhere around 1%.

Only 28 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Republican Party, according to findings from Gallup released Wednesday.

That number represents a nadir for either party since Gallup began asking the question in 1992 and a 10-point drop for the GOP from a month ago. Sixty-two percent said they have an unfavorable opinion of the Republican Party.

Conversely, Gallup found that Americans are more split when it comes to Democrats. Forty-three percent said they have a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, compared with almost half — 49 percent — who said they have an unfavorable opinion.

According to Gallup, which recently found support for the tea party dropping to a record low, about one in four Americans view both of the two major parties unfavorably.

The chart below tracks the public’s views of the two parties in Gallup’s polling since the early 1990s

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