Government Shutdown Fever

Posted on January 14, 2013 at 5:00 pm by JM Ashby

We may be headed for a government shutdown in the near future unless Republicans blink at the last second, and a shutdown would would harm a lot of people in a variety of ways, but we may need to go down that road so childish, selfish, shitkickers in congress can “get it out of their system.”

GOP officials said more than half of their members are prepared to allow default unless Obama agrees to dramatic cuts he has repeatedly said he opposes. Many more members, including some party leaders, are prepared to shut down the government to make their point. House Speaker John Boehner “may need a shutdown just to get it out of their system,” said a top GOP leadership adviser. “We might need to do that for member-management purposes — so they have an endgame and can show their constituents they’re fighting.”

Yeah. We may need to screw the whole world economy to get it out of their system, because they have an itch, and the only cure is a government shutdown.

Sorry, college students. Sorry, small businesses. Sorry, veterans. Sorry, troops currently serving overseas. They need to get it out of their system. Like a flu bug, except you’ll be the ones who are suffering through it.

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  • http://drangedinaz.wordpress.com/ IrishGrrrl

    It’s infuriating how blind and self-involved members of Congress are. It’s ALL about them and their itch.

  • SlapFat

    What’s also infuriating is that the Democrats gave away what was pretty much their only bargaining chip in getting the debt ceiling raised via Congress: the “fiscal cliff.” Since they made that deal there’s pretty much nothing they can do to leap over Republican obstruction on this issue if they want to get it done via Congress. They screwed up tactically and now the best hope of getting it done is for the President to just raise it himself. I hope he does.

    The GOP used a 4 year stall strategy to make the Obama administration look as inefficient as they could, and it looks like they’ll extend it to 8 years. It didn’t always work but they definitely make every step take as long as humanly possible in the name of….. nothing. False equivalence perpetuated by cable media made everyone roll their eyes at both parties instead of blaming the people causing the problem: the Republicans.

    • JMAshby

      I don’t buy this leverage argument. It’s pretty clear the Republicans don’t care about actual policy. They only care about perceptions. The president is setting expectations and perceptions right now.

      • SlapFat

        They only care about perceptions.

        Precisely. What would the perception have been as the American public watched the GOP hold tax cuts and the debt ceiling hostage in the name of their ideologue modus operandi? There would have been total outrage and fury directed at them! Now the only thing that is being heard is the sighing and hand-wringing of the populace lamenting “both sides.” It was a total blown chance to use a populist take down against the GOP. Many people don’t appear to have bought the argument in D.C. either, particularly among Democrat strategists, so I’m not too surprised you’re not into it either.

        The President is more daring than people give him credit for. He’s seems to be surrounded by alot of wimps and weak advisers, unfortunately. How he’s going to get anywhere with raising the debt ceiling, aside from doing it himself citing the 14th amendment, remains pretty murky.

    • MrDHalen

      Democrats actually did well in the fiscal cliff deal. Unchaining middle class taxes & unemployment from entitlement cuts, the debt ceiling, and the budget, was an unbelievable win. Now the Republicans must play chicken with the lives of not just us, the little people, but their 2 biggest supporters, Big Business & Social Security Retirees.

      I think this is one of the biggest goals of the President’s second term, forcing the Republicans to face & purge the crazy.

      • SlapFat

        Democrats actually did well in the fiscal cliff deal.

        Was this one of the portions of the deal you would call doing well? I thought it was a seriously botched chance to show how Republican madness could be tamed.

        • MrDHalen

          Getting $1.9 billion in cuts restored down the road will be a lot easier than getting the Republicans to agree to tax increases for the wealthy again or extend unemployment for people who need it.

          The Republicans madness is on full display right now, via their debt ceiling hostage threats. Forcing them to deal with their own crazy wing, is the only way for them to tame it.

  • JWheels

    So it’s more than half in favor of screwing everyone royally, but it only would take a relatively small handful of Republicans crossing party lines in order for the Democrats to have a majority able to pass a clean debt ceiling increase, if such a measure could be brought to the floor.

  • bphoon

    We may need to screw the whole world economy to get it out of their
    system, because they have an itch, and the only cure is a government
    shutdown.

    And it worked so well for them last time.