Government Shutdown Is Coming!
John Boehner is stuck between a rock and a teabag. The Tea Party’s fondest desire is about to come true – government shutdown!
President Obama and Congressional leaders cited limited progress but still had yet to reach a budget deal to avert a government shutdown after a emergency late-night meeting at the White House Wednesday.
Emerging from a meeting with Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Obama said the talks were “frank and constructive” but failed to produce the necessary compromises to strike a deal.
“I remain confident that we will be able to complete a deal,” Obama said in an impromptu appearance before reporters. “But it’s going to require a sufficient sense of urgency from those involved that a government shutdown has real consequences for real people.”
Nobody wants a shutdown. Nobody but Republicans, that is:
A second poll today finds that most Americans want a budget shutdown compromise and — like the NBC/Wall Street Journal polls written about here earlier — many Republicans are against one. A new Gallup Poll shows the dilemma facing House Speaker John Boehner and other Republican bigwigs who don’t want to see their party lose independent swing voters in 2012:
With Congress facing a midnight Friday deadline to pass a federal budget before a partial government shutdown occurs, a new Gallup poll finds Americans rooting for a deal. By 58% to 33%, more Americans want government leaders who share their views on the budget to back a compromise and avert a shutdown rather than hold out for a budget they agree with.
A poll showed that the blame for a government shutdown would be spread around.
A plurality of 37 percent say they would blame congressional Republicans if the current budget disagreement leads to a shutdown of the federal government, while 20 percent say they would blame President Obama and another 20 percent would blame congressional Democrats.
This will change when commercials about incidents like this start running, as well as videos of Republicans like Michele Bachmann talking about how they want a shutdown start airing.
House Republicans huddled late Monday and, according to a GOP aide, gave the speaker an ovation when he informed them that he was advising the House Administration Committee to begin preparing for a possible shutdown. That process includes alerting lawmakers and senior staff about which employees would not report to work if no agreement is reached.
Sure they cheered. Congress will still get paid. In the real world, people will suffer.
I guess we didn’t compromise hard enough.
But, sheesh, look at the number of people who say that we should “agree to a compromise budget plan, even if that means they pass a budget you disagree with.” 68% of Dems feel this way?
How do you (generic you) explain those numbers?
We’ve (Democrats) have no fight. We’ve basically thrown in the towel. Lying on the mat, waiting for the Republicans to get tired of kicking us.
“while 20 percent say they would blame President Obama and another 20 percent would blame congressional Democrats.”
does that statistic mean that 40% would blame Obama AND congressional dems?
I usually try to refrain from using words like “evil” and “the enemy” when talking about fellow Americans, but i really cant see any other description for the Baggers and guys like Paul Ryan. They are shameless about their crusade to cut aid to those who need help, while REDISTRIBUTING wealth to those who already have everything. They convince people to vote against their own self interests by making them feel ashamed for accepting help, or convincing them they they too can be super rich someday (most never will) and they wont want to pay a lot of taxes when that day comes. It is absolutely sickening. I cant understand why rich people would support the republicans, they are the only ones who the party truely serves…. not even the throngs of crazy christians who want an American theocracy…. those poor dopes are just getting used for votes.
I have my problems with the president right now, and lots of problems with the democratic leaders, but the driving goal now should be to excise this cancer from our nation. Harry Reid is a bad haircut that we can worry about once the tumor that is Paul Ryan has been sent home to steal lunch money from 2nd graders.
The issue of total spending is a little different from the other Democratic surrenders. There is nothing inherently Democratic about fighting for high spending, and we should not let Republicans put us in that position. I’m all for spending cuts that make sense.
So there is plenty of room to compromise with Republicans on spending. But when we are done compromising we need to tell Republicans “If you want more cuts, write up an amendment with your name on it to take the money out of the defense budget or corporate welfare.”
The White House failed to communicate a clean separation between temporary spending to address the recession, and the ongoing structural costs of government. All Obama had to do was define additional spending for Medicare, unemployment, etc. as “relief” payments which would end when the crisis was over. But instead he allowed Republicans to portray the temporary spending as an expansion of permanent government spending.
Remember, for Republicans it’s not about spending at all – it’s about defunding their political enemies. Which is just about everybody.
For the life of me I can’t understand why Obama and Reid won’t hold spending cuts hostages for tax increases on the rich. Nothing would make the issues clearer.
So far I’ll give Obama credit for not giving in to the GOP policy riders on the budget, like attacking unions, NPR, Planned Parenthood, various abortion issues, etc.
But Obama’s style is to capitulate behind closed doors and tell us about it after it is done, before Democratic groups can mobilize. So we will find out soon.
“If you want more cuts, write up an amendment with your name on it to take the money out of the defense budget or corporate welfare.”
That is exactly what a leader who is a strategic thinker would do.
“For the life of me I can’t understand why Obama and Reid won’t hold spending cuts hostages for tax increases on the rich. Nothing would make the issues clearer.”
DC Republicans and Democrats all (ultimately) work for the rich. Democrats try to not be as brazen about it.
I wish people would stop calling the Dems spineless. They aren’t spineless at all. They didn’t get to their positions of power, the highest in the land, b/c they are pussies. They got there b/c they are masters of politics. B/c they are powerful, calculating people. To think they got there b/c they are spineless pussies is just bullshit.
Their silence on these issues speaks volumes.
It is a fair point. For them to be spineless would suggest that there were some closely held principles which they abandoned out of cowardice. It is fantasy world thinking to imagine that successful Democratic politicians have the same worldview and concerns as normal people.
Paul Ryan’s budget is based on Heritage Foundation numbers that predict a boom in revenues and jobs due to tax cuts and spending cuts. I am not making this up.
Love how that Pew Poll just got dismissed!
One of the things that gets missed in the breathless reporting on the possible shutdown is that this effects not just the 800K +/- Federal workers, but also effects a whole lot of government contractors. Private sector employees. Depending upon who you read, there are somewhere between 6 to 7 private contractors working for the government for every Federal direct employee. Most of the contractors are making plans to lay people off shortly after the government shuts down. Not all of these will be let go immediately, but a whole lot will be. More than this economy needs, you know? And they won’t be getting any retroactive pay, either, when the government starts up again.
sounds like Randy Boy has been sharing the word of Aqua Buddha
“Paul Ryan’s budget is based on Heritage Foundation numbers that predict a boom in revenues and jobs due to tax cuts and spending cuts”
Yes, and the Heritage Center’s analysis is sheer fantasy: http://tinyurl.com/3qqug7m
aw c’mon dana…. just because that model has never ever ever ever ever ever ever worked before doesnt mean it cant work now. You just have to use the Reagan approach. Forget everything and plow forward with a plan that is the product of a compromised brain.