Tag: Government shutdown

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Republicans Are Willing to Default in Order to Destroy

Let it be Known that THIS President is Fed Up! He’s just about reached his Boiling point and so has America.

In his press conference on Tuesday, President Obama reiterated his position of Not negotiating with the Republican hostage takers unless they “do their jobs” and put an end to the Government Shutdown and their threats of not raising the Debt Ceiling.

President Obama did not mince words in his opening statement calling on Republican Speaker John Boehner to take the bill to a vote, something he had been asking Boehner to do since the shutdown began. The President spoke on Tuesday and said he was Willing to negotiate and have open discussions with Boehner and any other Republican on any issues, even the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) but not under extortion threats and not until they ended the shutdown.

The President also spoke on the looming Debt Ceiling crisis that is set to take us over the cliff on October 17th. During his opening comments, Mr Obama read statements by bankers, investors, the Treasury Dept., economists and even billionaire Warren Buffet, a staunch supporter of the President.

In those statements, the president described the potential outcome of defaulting on the nation’s debt. The president used words like insane, catastrophic, irresponsible and Buffet comparing the Default to the likes of an Atomic Bomb going off in America’s financial district.

With these highly qualified and financially successful individuals expressing such dire outcomes to this unfathomable inaction of not raising the Debt Ceiling, the Republicans have shown NO indication of giving in to the desires of the President, the Democratic and Independent members in Congress or the hundreds of thousands of Americans already suffering from the Government Shutdown. To be clear, some Reublicans have gone on record to say the Debt Ceiling is not a big deal.

Rep. John Fleming, (R) of Louisiana said of the economist predictions of castrophic events if the Debt Ceiling isn’t raised, “Many times they’re wrong. So I don’t think we should be running government based on economists’ predictions.” Rep. Richard Burr, (R) of NC made similar comments about not taking the Debt Ceiling seriously. Tom Coburn, (R) of Oklahoma was made an even worse assessment of the Debt Ceiling crisis by saying on an CNN interview that there is NO DEBT CEILING.

So, with the Republicans and Tea Party cheering on these self inflicted crises one after another, why would they – the same people who champion themselves as being Patriotic, Responsible and “Country loving” Americans – allow this Country to fall into Default? Why did they shutdown the Government and place thousands in financial dismay and/or ruin?

The shutdown has not only caused furloughs to hundreds of thousands, but is also affecting WIC programs and children that depend on that program for food and other necessities. It has affected the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in being able to pursue the aggressive viruses and diseases. And now, it is affecting loved ones who have had service men and women killed in the line of duty.

The Republican Party and Tea Party members are demanding the President negotiate with them or they will not end the shutdown AND will allow this country to Default on its obligations. Obama said yesterday that America has never defaulted in the last 225-years so why are the Republicans so Willing to let it occur now?

It’s not about Negotiations. It’s about Destroying a President.

The President said the Democrats have attempted to negotiate with Republicans 19-times only to have them squash talks with more of their wants but not giving anything in return.

No, the Republicans and Tea Party members are so willing to let this Country and the Amerian people suffer to destroy President Obama. Their plan is to tarnish, defame, discredit, nullify and destroy Obama’s legacy.

They are trying to kill this country and all of Obama’s successes will become null and void in their eyes and in their hopes, the Americans as well.

It’s a careless, irresponsible and harmful gamble by the Republicans and Tea Party members, but they seem oblivious or just plain ignorant to what may be their political demise.

Polls show that Americans are placing the government shutdown blame on Replublicans at 39% in the latest Pew Poll while 30% blamed Obama. But Republicans aren’t listening to Polls nor Americans because the end game is shutting down a President. And to think, the shutdown began with Obamacare but has now shifted to the Debt Ceiling.

What the outcome will bring is unclear but to the rest of the World, America’s Bright and Shiny Star is becoming a dull rock on a dusty hill.

We can’t, as President Obama said Tuesday, continue to manufacturer these crises every 3-months. Government wasn’t meant to operate in this fashion. But we have a group of people in Congress that have yet to accept This President as a Legitimate Leader of the Free World.

In reading some Twitter feeds on yesterday, one stuck out the most. It said, “The Black race has been more willing to Overcome and Work with the white race even after the Atrocities performed against them vs The White race Accepting a Black Man as President and working With Him.” Poignant indeed.

While No One Wants to Believe this is Racially motivated by the Republicans and Tea Party members, it’s been amazing to see how white America has reacted on Twitter and other social media outlets. If our white brothers and sisters are crying racism against the President, it’s clearly racism.

So what do we do about it? We Vote! Outvote the Extremists that elect these Extreme Members of Congress. We Expose them for who and what they are and Vote Them Out!

They say it’s time to take back Their country? Well I say It’s Time We Expel, vote out extremism and allow this Country To Move Forward! Now IS THE TIME! Vote America! If you want TRUE CHANGE, VOTE Out THE EXTREME!

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Politics

President Obama To GOP – “We’re not going to pay a ransom for America paying its bills.” – Video

President Obama on Tuesday said he’s willing to sit down and talk with Republicans over anything they wish to negotiate after they re-open the government and drop the threat of letting the nation default on its loans, if only for a few weeks.

“I will not eliminate any topic of conversation, and I’ve shown myself willing to engage all the parties involved, any leader on the issue,” Mr. Obama said from the White House press briefing room. “The only thing I will say is that we’re not going to pay a ransom for America paying its bills. That’s something that should be non-negotiable.”

After eight days of a government shutdown, with the deadline to raise the nation’s debt limit less than two weeks away, Washington has found itself incapable of overcoming their partisan disagreements. The stalemate stems from the Republican Party’s insistence on dismantling or delaying parts of the Affordable Care Act as part of these fiscal policy matters.

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Death Benefits to Military Families Withheld Because of GOP Shutdown

(Left to right) Pfc. Cody J. Patterson, Sgt. Patrick C. Hawkins, 1st Lt. Jennifer M. Moreno and Special Agent Joseph M. Peters were killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan on Sunday.

In what veterans call an outrageous slight after the ultimate sacrifice, the shuttered federal government is withholding a $100,000 payment normally wired to relatives of fallen soldiers — including the families of five killed in Afghanistan over the weekend.

The payment, known as the death gratuity, is typically sent to families of the fallen within three days to help them cover funeral costs or travel to meet the flag-draped coffins of their loved ones.
The families of five American service members killed over the weekend in Afghanistan have been notified that they will not receive the payment. A relative of one of the five called it “devastating.”

The families of five U.S. troops killed overseas this weekend will not receive the usual “death gratuity” due to the government shutdown. A typical $100,000 compensation is wired to families within 36 hours to help with funeral and other expenses.

“Impacting grieving families when they are at their absolute weakest point is just disgusting,” said Joe Davis, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the largest organization of combat veterans in the United States.

“Veterans, military personnel and now their families are not to be used as leverage in this political game of blame,” he said. He called on leaders in Congress to “put the country ahead of their politics.”

Congress passed a law last week to pay the military during the shutdown. Pentagon officials studied it to assess whether it might cover the death gratuity and determined that it was not possible, a defense official told NBC News on Tuesday.

Republican aides in Congress said that they were drafting legislation to restore the death gratuity, and that it could be put to a vote as early as Wednesday. The aides also said that they believed that last week’s law had covered the payment.

But for now, the $100,000 payment, meant to tide families over until military survivor benefits kick in, is being withheld for relatives of the killed over the weekend in Afghanistan, four from the Army and one from the Marines.

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John Boehner: The President won’t talk to me, so I will let the nation default

You can’t make this stuff up!

On Sunday John Boehner basically said that because the president of the United States is not talking to him, or is not “having a conversation” with him, he, John Boehner, is willing to let the nation default on its debt. A move that many economists have said would result in worldwide catastrophe.

Don’t just take my word for it, this is what John Boehner said on Sunday’s show;

“That’s the path we’re on. … I don’t want the United States to default on its debt. But I’m not going to raise the debt limit without a serious conversation about dealing with problems that are driving the debt up.”

“The nation’s credit is at risk because of the administration’s refusal to sit down and have a conversation.”

Republicans are doing everything they can to make sure that the presidency of the first black man in the White House result in failure. There’s no other logical explanation. They cannot say it’s because of his policies why they’re against him, because before he was even sworn and any of his policies took effect, Republicans were already holding meetings trying to figure out how to make the President a failure.

They have said no, and have put up stumbling blocks to every policy the president tried to initiate. Even policies they once supported. And even with all their lies and misinformation about the president, Mr Obama was still able to pass and sign historic legislations into law.

And that brings us to this present government shutdown and the catastrophe of a default. Republicans know that when they force the nation into its first default, their propaganda machine over at Fox News will help them place the blame squarely at the feet of Barack Obama.

In there effort to make this man a failure, Republicans will destroy the full faith and credit of the United States of America. They will destroy the very fabric of this country. They will destroy everything you know and love about this great nation.

Yes al Qaeda. You needed people who were willing to be internal terrorists in the United States? Well you got them and they’re called Congressional Republicans.

Just sit back and watch in amazement as these fools do everything they can to accomplish what you couldn’t on September 11 2001.

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Domestic Policies Healthcare News Politics Teaparty

Orange Alert

Here’s a surprise: the shutdown was planned months ago. So the pleadings and forthright looks we’ve been getting from Ted Cruz and the orange-tinged scoldings from John Boehner and the laments of the lack of compromise by Republicans everywhere have been fakes. Falsehoods. Frauds. Wait for it…Lies.

What the Republican Cadre, because it’s no longer a viable political party, has done is reprehensible. From the beginning, and I mean 2009, they have tried to obstruct President Obama’s agenda and wait out the electoral clock for four, and now eight years while they plot their way back to power. Thank heavens that they don’t, in fact, know how to do that effectively on the national stage. They will continue to win House seats, though a new poll suggests otherwise, but they’ve fallen farther behind when it comes to women and Hispanics, and we know how viable you are when that happens. In the meantime, all they have is obstruction.

Any talk of compromise or negotiation is not to be trusted. They don’t want to delay the health care bill, they want it gone. They also want Dodd-Frank repealed and for the XL pipeline to be built and they want no new taxes in any economic or tax bill they’d support. And who won the 2012 elections?

But, oddly, they seem to love Medicare and are falling over themselves to fund some parts of the federal government if they believe it will help them. Wait long enough, and they’ll CR themselves into opening the whole thing in a week or so.

Just to make things worse, Boehner is now disavowing his comments from last week that suggested some compromise. He and the far right will now take us to default if the president won’t do as he says. The  crash is coming, it won’t be pretty and the GOP will take the fall.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest

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Politics

The Egos In The GOP Are More Important Than The Full Faith and Credit of The United States

I sat today and listened as the Republican House Speaker John Boehner talked to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos about the government shutdwon, and I couldn’t help thinking that Mr. Boehner – sometimes described in other media outlets as a “reasonable man” – is one pompous, egotistical ass!

Boehner and the House Republicans followed the leadership of a freshman Senator and allowed the United States government to shut down last week Tuesday. Now, almost seven days into the shutdown, Boehner is indicating that he and his republican accomplices have no intention of re-opening the government, even if it means America defaults on its debt!

The absolute final date for America to default is October 17th. That means that these so-called Congressional leaders must come together and figure out a way to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. But Republicans have put a padlock on the nation’s government, and they are refusing to unlock and open the door until President Obama succumb to their demands and dismantle a law that is already giving millions of Americans healthcare.

Stephanopoulos asked the question on different occasions throughout the interview. What’s the end game? Would Republicans let the nation default on its debt if President Obama refuse to bow down to their demands?

Boehner answered, “That’s the path we’re on. … I don’t want the United States to default on its debt. But I’m not going to raise the debt limit without a serious conversation about dealing with problems that are driving the debt up. It would be irresponsible of me to do this.”

So Mr Ego here is telling America… telling the world for that matter… that he and his Republican cohorts are willing to allow this nation to default for the first time in our history. And of course, he’s doing this “for the American people!”

No Boehner, you are not doing this for the American people.

The American people want to live and be healthy! We want to purchase healthcare and pay our monthly policy bill so that in the unfortunate event that we are hospitalized, we would not have to sell our home or file bankruptcy to avoid paying the bill!

What we want is for the government of the greatest nation on earth to function, and to function for we the people!

What the American people want is majority rule! That’s why we have elections. We do not want a minority party that will force the majority in the government or the majority of the people to do things their way by shutting down the government, and then threaten defaulting on the nation’s debt because they think they have a made-up, imaginary mandate that must be carried out!

Like President Obama said in a CNBC interview, “I am exasperated with the idea that, unless I say that, ‘Twenty million people, you can’t have health insurance,’ these folks will not reopen the government.  That is irresponsible!”

The President explained in that interview that he is ready to talk with Republicans, but only if the reopen the government using a clean continuing resolution or CR to allow the government to pay the bills that Congress already racked up.

“Until we get that done, until we make sure that Congress allows Treasury to pay for things that Congress itself already authorized, we are not going to engage in a series of negotiations.”

“It is not acceptable for one faction of one part in one chamber to say, ‘Either we get what we want or we’ll shut down the government.’  Or even worse, ‘We will not allow the U.S. Treasury to pay its bills and put the United States in default for the first time in history.’”

“If we get in the habit where a few folks, an extremist wing of one party, whether it’s Democrat or Republican, are allowed to extort concessions based on a threat of undermin[ing] the full faith and credit of the United States, then any president who comes after me, not just me, will find themselves unable to govern effectively.”

But apparently, the egos in the Republican party is more important than the full faith and credit of the United States!

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SNL: John Boehner And Michele Bachmann Sings about Shutting Down The Government Remix

Leave it up to Saturday Night Live to come up with this idea. Remixing a Miley Cyrus song and turning it into a song about the biggest political event in our nation today – The Republican Government Shutdown.

The stars of the parody music video below are the usual culprits – Republican House Leader John Boehner and Republican Minnesota House Rep. Michele Bachmann, singing about how they shut down the government.

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Judge Slaps Down Issa’s Request to Ignore the Shutdown and Pursue his Case

A federal judge was less than amused when Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) requested that a lawsuit he filed two years ago be allowed to move forward in spite of the fact that federal courts have been immobilized by the Republican shutdown of the U.S. government. According to Think Progress, Judge Amy Berman Jackson refused to consider violating the shutdown to handle the case, saying that it’s ridiculous for Issa to make the request, considering his caucus’ role in ordering the government to close.

Issa filed a motion as part of his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s failed investigation into supposed misdeeds by the Department of Justice in the “Fast and Furious” operation. Issa is still attempting to order Attorney General Eric Holder to hand over confidential documents or risk being held in contempt of court.

The motion insisted that a “Contingency Plan provides that Department employees may continue to work on matters necessary to the discharge of the President’s constitutional duties and powers,” and therefore his actions against President Barack Obama and the Justice Department should not be affected by the federal work stoppage.

Judge Jackson responded, “There are no exigent circumstances in this case that would justify an order of the Court forcing furloughed attorneys to return to their desks. Moreover, while the vast majority of litigants who now must endure a delay in the progress of their matters do so due to circumstances beyond their control, that cannot be said of the House of Representatives, which has played a role in the shutdown that prompted the stay motion.”

In other words, Jackson told Issa that if he wants to continue his quixotic campaign against the White House and Department of Justice, he and his cohorts in the House should lift the shutdown order.

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President’s Weekly Address – End This Government Shutdown Now

In this week’s address, President Obama said that Republicans in the House of Representatives chose to shut down the government over a health care law they don’t like. He urged the Congress to pass a budget that funds our government, with no partisan strings attached. 

The President made clear he will work with anyone of either party on ways to grow this economy, create new jobs, and get our fiscal house in order for the long haul – but not under the shadow of these threats to our economy.

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President Obama Slams Republicans on Their Government Shutdown – Video

On Twitter, the Republicans are calling this “more campaigning.” But whatever they think it is, President Obama is darn good at it. Today in Maryland, the President took his show on the road and informed the American people of the recent Republican government shutdown, and the simple process Republicans should take to bring the government back.

Video

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Jon Stewart Is Angry With The Republican’s Government Shutdown

Like most of America, Jon Stewart is angry with the GOP.

One day into a government shutdown triggered by House Republicans, 800,000 workers have been furloughed and many government programs, like the Women Children and Infant’s nutritional supplement program, are suspended. “It’s like taking candy from a baby,” said Stewart on “The Daily Show.” “Except instead of candy, it’s food.”

Meanwhile, conservative political pundits like Fox News’ Todd Starnes are laughing at anyone who’s upset by the shutdown. “If you believe the Democrats, it’s time to buy the potted meat and Tang and get in your survival bunker,” he said on “Hannity,” with a hearty chuckle.

Stewart responded to the segment with open disdain, saying simply, “F*ck you.”

“I know that for you, potted meat and Tang is shorthand for sh*t you wouldn’t possibly imagine eating unless there was a catastrophe,” he said. “For the people actually affected by the government shutdown, it’s the shit they eat that they can no longer afford.”

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook

h/t Salon

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President Obama Calls Out Republicans’ “Ideological Crusade” on Obamacare

President Obama slammed House Republicans on Tuesday, accusing them of shutting down the government over an “ideological crusade” on healthcare.

Speaking to reporters in the Rose Garden, an irate Obama placed blame squarely on congressional Republicans and said the shutdown did not have to happen.

The longer it continued, he warned, “the worse the effects will be.”
Obama also maintained that he would “not give in to reckless demands” from House Republicans to repeal or delay the Affordable Care Act.

“They don’t get to hold the entire economy hostage over ideological demands,” Obama said.

He characterized the shutdown as boiling down to Republicans efforts to roll back ObamaCare.

“This more than anything else seems to be what the Republican Party stands for these days,” Obama said.

“I know it’s strange that one party would make keeping people uninsured the centerpiece of their agenda but that apparently is what it is. And of course what’s stranger still is that shutting down our government doesn’t accomplish their stated goal.”

Contrary to Republican beliefs, Obama said, the healthcare law “hasn’t destroyed our economy.”

Obama also reiterated that he would not negotiate over raising the debt ceiling. The Treasury Department has said Congress must lift the borrowing limit by Oct. 17.

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