GOP Threatens Govt. Shut Down
For years, the Republican Party has tried to defeat President Obama’s signature health care plan, AKA “Obamacare.” For years, the Republican Party has failed. Now, they are throwing a temper-tantrum and have threatened to shut down the entire government on September 30th unless they get their way. Oh, when will they ever learn!
The GOP lost the last 2 presidential elections — now they are seemingly ready to completely throw away the 2014 mid-term election too. Obamacare passed, is the law of the land and will take affect in 2014. With a Democratically controlled Senate, there is NO WAY it can be repealed. NO WAY. So why then are the crackpot Republicans on a suicide mission?
If the government were to shut down, military families would not get paid. Air traffic controllers would not get paid. Government employees would not get paid. Instead, the Republican Party would reap all of the blame with no benefit whatsoever. The Wall Street Journal editorial page called the GOP plan a “kamikaze” strategy and interestingly, many Republicans agreed. It has set the stage for a GOP civil war that can not end pretty.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia and a contingency of others, including 7 conservatives from Indiana, believe the fight against Obamacare is worth it — even at the cost of closing the federal government. Sadly (for them), not all of their Republican colleagues agree with such sentiment.
“People are not going to blame the president for shutting down the government,” said Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. “The White House and Democrats have the upper hand here.” Conservative Sens. Tom Coburn, Richard Burr, and Kelly Ayotte also think it’s an exercise in futility. Even GOP attack dog Karl Rove understands it’s a lost cause that Republicans should avoid like the plague.
Republican Congressman Peter King of New York was highly critical of Cruz, saying the senator was “carrying out a fraud with the people.” Sen. John McCain also chimed in, saying “Cruz can do whatever he wants to with the rules of the Senate….I can tell you, in the United States Senate we will not repeal or defund Obamacare, and to think we can, is not rational.”
In a campaign-style speech at a Ford plant in Kansas City, MO last week, President Obama accused conservative Republicans of holding the nation hostage by trying to make passing a federal budget and increasing the debt ceiling contingent on defunding health care reforms.
“The debate that’s going on in Congress is not meeting the test of helping middle-class families,” Mr. Obama said. “They’re focused on politics. They’re focused on trying to mess with me. They’re not focused on you. You don’t have to threaten to blow the whole thing up if you don’t get your way.”
And yet the Republican Party has threatened to “blow up the whole thing” unless they get their way. This unbelievable act of stupidity should make any Democrat running for congress in 2014 and the “Hillary for President” handlers extremely happy.
I want these dumb jacks to shut it down. Then they can pay the price like the last two times they pulled this same stunt. Like they say, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.