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How Long Will the Shutdown Last?

How Long Will the Current Government Shutdown Last?

  • Total voters
    44
The Tea Party members are very defiant. They increasingly see the situation as a must win.
 
Deacon923 said:
Bama, are you furloughed or essential?
Click to expand...

I'm active duty, which pretty much automatically makes me 'essential'. They voted to pay me despite the shutdown, so I would be at work either way, if I didn't happen to be on leave this week.

My post was more out of frustration, rather than about fiscal reasons.
 
They are in a corner. No good out. But if you're a TPer, shuttin' down the gubmint is a victory. So there.



600
 
It better not lost very long - I'm in the process of getting a new visa and I doubt the Austrian government (motto: "we just elected a neo-nazi party to 20% of our parliament, but at least we can still stay open for business) is going to take "I'm sorry, my government can't process basic paperwork atm" as my excuse for overstaying my current visa.

Fuck this congress for holding average citizens like myself hostage on this pointless crusade.
 
E.J. Dionne Jr.: Mission accomplished: The tea party shutdown


Quote:
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...Can anyone now doubt who is responsible for Washington’s dysfunction? The Republican right still does not accept the legitimacy of Barack Obama’s presidency. That is why the government shut down...

The issue here is not that Congress failed to reach a “compromise.” The Democrats already have compromised, lopping some $70 billion [this number has been updated from an earlier version] off their budget proposal, to the dismay of many liberals. That was meaningless to a tea party crowd that seems to care not a whit about the deficit, despite its fulsome talk. It will be satisfied only if Congress denies heath-care coverage to some 25 million Americans, which is what “repealing Obamacare” really means.

It needs to be said over and over as long as this stupid and artificial crisis brewed by the tea party continues: Financing the government in a normal way and avoiding a shutdown should not be seen as a “concession.” Making sure the government pays its debt is not a “concession.” It’s what we expect from a normal, well-functioning, constitutional system. It’s what we expect from responsible stewards of our great experiment. The extremists who have taken over the House do not believe in a normal, constitutional system. They believe only in power...

My conservative colleague Michael Gerson had it exactly right this morning: “We are no longer seeing a revolt against the Republican leadership, or even against the Republican ‘establishment’; this revolt is against anyone who accepts the constraints of political reality.”

I would only add: This is also revolt against anyone who accepts majority rule and constitutional constraints...

There is only one way for this to end: Republicans who know better need to tell the far right, “Enough.” They need to overcome their abject fear of Republicans who are under Cruz-control and their cheerleaders in Rush Limbaugh’s world. They need to exit the boulevard of self-inflicted wounds.

We now know where the tea party’s political experiment ends. If this shutdown does not end the tea party’s reign of intimidation, we will face one unnecessary crisis after another as the extremists keep ripping up the roots of our great constitutional system.
----------

Now, it's easy to suppose that last assertion is hyperbole. But I don't think so. If we can't do any better than this, we have to consider if we might be better off transforming into more of a parliamentary system.
 
Qunnipiac Poll states 72% of the public oppose government shutdown because of Obamacare. That number will grow every day.

Could the GOP make Obamacare far more popular than it would have been?
 
Henry Blodget: I've Finally Figured Out Why Some Crazy Republicans Want To Shut The Government Down!



Quote:
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...But now, on the eve of the shutdown, the "giddy" behavior the Tea Party extremists are displaying is becoming even more comprehensible.

Why?

Because the first parts of the government that will be shut down are the parts of the government that the Tea Party extremists say they hate!

Specifically:

*The Environmental Protection Agency. The Tea Party extremists don't care about the environment and hate the organization dedicated to protecting it. So the fact that the EPA will have to furlough all but 1,069 of its 16,200 workers is great news to them. (Rebecca Ballhaus of the Wall Street Journal).

*The National Labor Relations Board. The Tea Party extremists hate the NLRB, which tries to make sure that the country's workers are treated fairly. So it's presumably awesome that the NLRB will furlough all but 11 of its 1,611 staffers. (WSJ)

*Food stamps for Women, Infants, and Children. The Tea Party extremists hate food stamps. So they'll be happy a special federal "WIC" food stamps program will be shut down. (Some bad news for Tea Party folks here, though. The broader food stamps program will continue.) (USA Today)

*The Commodities Futures Trading Commission. The Tea Party extremists don't think we should have industry rules or regulators, so the fact that only 8 of the CFTC's 650 workers will come to work and get paid after the shutdown is downright exciting. (WSJ)

*National parks and museums will close. The Tea Party extremists don't care about nature. And museums are for elitists. (WSJ)

*Internal Revenue Service audits. The Tea Party extremists hate, hate, hate the IRS. So they'll be pleased that annoying IRS bureaucrats won't be able to hassle free people and confiscate more money from them. Unfortunately, they'll still owe taxes. And the IRS will still exist.

*The Census Bureau will stop collecting data. Who needs data? (WSJ)

*Applications for small-business loans won't be processed. The Tea Party extremists don't think the government should make small-business loans. (WSJ)

And so on...

Meanwhile, the parts of the government that Tea Party extremists love will keep right on cranking:

The military! Active duty service-members won't get furloughed. Only some civilians. (Sorry, civilians, you don't count. And you work for the government, so Tea Party extremists hate you.)
Border security (yes!), the Coast Guard, federal law enforcement, the National Security Agency, and prison guards. There won't be any cutbacks here. (Thankfully.)
Laws. Most of the Justice Department will still come to work.
Air traffic control and mail delivery.

The only bummer for the Tea Party extremists is that Social Security checks will still be delivered and Medicare bills will still be paid. The Tea Party extremists say they hate Social Security and Medicare, so this will be awkward for them.

But not that awkward. Because actual Americans like Social Security and Medicare, so the Tea Party extremists won't have to explain to their constituents why the government checks that they love so much have stopped coming.

In short, the order in which the government will be shut down appears to be almost perfectly designed to have the Tea Party extremists be able to say that, after the shutdown, the country will be better off.

So now their selfish, irresponsible behavior is actually starting to make sense!

And as BI Executive Editor Joe Weisenthal pointed out yesterday, this order of shutdown may make the shutdown last longer than it ordinarily would.

Why?

Because the Tea Party extremists will be able to say that they're happy about the new status quo!
----------
 
ConnorEl said:
Henry Blodget: I've Finally Figured Out Why Some Crazy Republicans Want To Shut The Government Down!



Quote:
----------
...But now, on the eve of the shutdown, the "giddy" behavior the Tea Party extremists are displaying is becoming even more comprehensible.

Why?

Because the first parts of the government that will be shut down are the parts of the government that the Tea Party extremists say they hate!

Specifically:

*The Environmental Protection Agency. The Tea Party extremists don't care about the environment and hate the organization dedicated to protecting it. So the fact that the EPA will have to furlough all but 1,069 of its 16,200 workers is great news to them. (Rebecca Ballhaus of the Wall Street Journal).

*The National Labor Relations Board. The Tea Party extremists hate the NLRB, which tries to make sure that the country's workers are treated fairly. So it's presumably awesome that the NLRB will furlough all but 11 of its 1,611 staffers. (WSJ)

*Food stamps for Women, Infants, and Children. The Tea Party extremists hate food stamps. So they'll be happy a special federal "WIC" food stamps program will be shut down. (Some bad news for Tea Party folks here, though. The broader food stamps program will continue.) (USA Today)

*The Commodities Futures Trading Commission. The Tea Party extremists don't think we should have industry rules or regulators, so the fact that only 8 of the CFTC's 650 workers will come to work and get paid after the shutdown is downright exciting. (WSJ)

*National parks and museums will close. The Tea Party extremists don't care about nature. And museums are for elitists. (WSJ)

*Internal Revenue Service audits. The Tea Party extremists hate, hate, hate the IRS. So they'll be pleased that annoying IRS bureaucrats won't be able to hassle free people and confiscate more money from them. Unfortunately, they'll still owe taxes. And the IRS will still exist.

*The Census Bureau will stop collecting data. Who needs data? (WSJ)

*Applications for small-business loans won't be processed. The Tea Party extremists don't think the government should make small-business loans. (WSJ)

And so on...

Meanwhile, the parts of the government that Tea Party extremists love will keep right on cranking:

The military! Active duty service-members won't get furloughed. Only some civilians. (Sorry, civilians, you don't count. And you work for the government, so Tea Party extremists hate you.)
Border security (yes!), the Coast Guard, federal law enforcement, the National Security Agency, and prison guards. There won't be any cutbacks here. (Thankfully.)
Laws. Most of the Justice Department will still come to work.
Air traffic control and mail delivery.

The only bummer for the Tea Party extremists is that Social Security checks will still be delivered and Medicare bills will still be paid. The Tea Party extremists say they hate Social Security and Medicare, so this will be awkward for them.

But not that awkward. Because actual Americans like Social Security and Medicare, so the Tea Party extremists won't have to explain to their constituents why the government checks that they love so much have stopped coming.

In short, the order in which the government will be shut down appears to be almost perfectly designed to have the Tea Party extremists be able to say that, after the shutdown, the country will be better off.

So now their selfish, irresponsible behavior is actually starting to make sense!

And as BI Executive Editor Joe Weisenthal pointed out yesterday, this order of shutdown may make the shutdown last longer than it ordinarily would.

Why?

Because the Tea Party extremists will be able to say that they're happy about the new status quo!
----------
Click to expand...

GB-mission-accomplished.jpg
 
Oh great. The house Pubs want to fund popular bits of government in piecemeal fashion to force the senate/President to vote "against" them.


Damn, this is madness.


Quote:
----------
...New House GOP strategy

However, sources in the House Republican leadership told CNN on Tuesday they plan a series of votes to fund specific government departments and programs, starting with spending for veterans, the District of Columbia and the

Some conservatives led by GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas have called for such a strategy, which would force opponents to vote against authorizing spending for popular programs like veterans affairs.

Under the scenario described by Cruz, the piecemeal spending plan would be a way to defund Obamacare on a step-by-step basis.

Reid called this effort "just another whacky idea from tea party Republicans," while White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage vowed the president would veto any such bills...
----------
 
ConnorEl said:
Henry Blodget: I've Finally Figured Out Why Some Crazy Republicans Want To Shut The Government Down!
Click to expand...

I think this is an underrated argument. While I'm 100% not in favor of the shutdown or the Tea Party or the GOP's silliness in the House, I will be interested to see how things turn out during the shutdown and with all these services curtailed. The TP was emboldened in the aftermath of sequestration.
 
I mean fox is calling it a "slim down" and the one TP wingnut in my FB feed pretty much verified everything in the article. So, yeah, if you are a rep in a TP district all this is fine .

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 4
 
Here's the thing. If the goal is to derail Obamacare...it's very hard to see that happening. If Obama caves, he's totally toast for the remainder of his term and he will have no hope for a desirable legacy. Not happening.

And...I still say if the Pubs could derail Obamacare, such an accomplishment would end up biting them in the political ass. Especially since they have nothing better to offer for healthcare reform.

So the deal has to be a desired "slimdown"... (potentially suicidal) austerity by tantrum and trickery. All well intended, of course.
 
ConnorEl said:
Oh great. The house Pubs want to fund popular bits of government in piecemeal fashion to force the senate/President to vote "against" them.


Damn, this is madness.



Quote:
----------
...New House GOP strategy

However, sources in the House Republican leadership told CNN on Tuesday they plan a series of votes to fund specific government departments and programs, starting with spending for veterans, the District of Columbia and the

Some conservatives led by GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas have called for such a strategy, which would force opponents to vote against authorizing spending for popular programs like veterans affairs.

Under the scenario described by Cruz, the piecemeal spending plan would be a way to defund Obamacare on a step-by-step basis.

Reid called this effort "just another whacky idea from tea party Republicans," while White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage vowed the president would veto any such bills...
----------
Click to expand...

All three failed in the house
 
WFFaithful said:
What is the next grand plan?
Click to expand...


From the updated article:

Quote:
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The Republican-led House offered its latest gambit on Tuesday night but failed in separate votes to approve piecemeal funding for three specific programs -- the District of Columbia, veterans affairs and national parks.

The votes required a two-thirds majority for passage, which would have required hefty Democratic support. That did not materialize, though House leadership aides say the plan is to bring up the same measures again Wednesday in a way that would require only a simple majority to pass.

Aside from conservative political calculations that putting those measures up for a vote would put their ideological foes in a tough spot, there appears to be little practical impact of these exercises since the Democratic-led Senate wasn't about to acquiesce and the White House promised a veto.
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So it's basically the same plan. It will fail again, just in the Senate.
 
Just so some asshole can claim "you voted AGAINST funding DC, veterans affairs, or national parks."


What a bunch of shit.
 
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