WillyT
WillyT's JournalHeads-Up !!! - 'Boehner to GOP: Grand Bargain in the Works' - NationalReview
Boehner to GOP: Grand Bargain in the WorksBy Robert Costa - NationalReview
October 2, 2013 6:36 PM
<snip>
House Republicans tell me Speaker John Boehner wants to craft a grand bargain on fiscal issues as part of the debt-limit deliberations, and during a series of meetings on Wednesday, he urged colleagues to stick with him.
The revelation came quietly. Boehner called groups of members to his Capitol office all day, taking their temperature on the shutdown and the debt limit. It became clear, members say, that Boehners chief goal is conference unity as the debt limit nears, and hes looking at potentially blending a government-spending deal and debt-limit agreement into a larger budget package.
Its the return of the grand bargain, says one House Republican, who requested anonymity to speak freely. There werent a lot of specifics discussed...
<snip>
Link: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/360234/boehner-gop-grand-bargain-works-robert-costa
Holy Crap !!! - Andrew Sullivan Is MUST READ Today !!!
The Nullification PartyAndrew Sullivan - TheDish
Oct 1 2013 @ 11:37am
But there is something more here. How does one party that has lost two presidential elections and a Supreme Court case as well as two Senate elections - think it has the right to shut down the entire government and destroy the full faith and credit of the United States Treasury to get its way on universal healthcare now? I see no quid pro quo even. Just pure blackmail, resting on understandable and predictable public concern whenever a major reform is enacted. But what has to be resisted is any idea that this is government or politics as usual. It is an attack on the governance and the constitutional order of the United States.
When ideologies become as calcified, as cocooned and as extremist as those galvanizing the GOP, the American system of government cannot work. But I fear this nullification of the last two elections is a deliberate attempt to ensure that the American system of government as we have known it cannot work. It cannot, must not work, in the mindset of these radicals, because they simply do not accept the legitimacy of a President and Congress of the opposing party. The GOP does not regard the president as merely wrong but as illegitimate. Not misguided illegitimate. This is not about ending Obamacare as such (although that is a preliminary scalp); it is about nullifying this presidency, the way the GOP attempted to nullify the last Democratic presidency by impeachment.
Except this time, of course, we cannot deny that race too is an added factor to the fathomless sense of entitlement felt among the GOP far right. You saw it in birtherism; in the Southern GOPs constant outrageous claims of Obamas alleged treason and alliance with Islamist enemies; in providing zero votes for a stimulus that was the only thing that prevented a global depression of far worse proportions; in the endless race-baiting from Fox News and the talk radio right. And in this racially-charged atmosphere, providing access to private healthcare insurance to the working poor is obviously the point of no return.
And...
The president must therefore hold absolutely firm. This time, there can be no compromise because the GOP isnt offering any. Theyre offering the kind of constitutional surrender that would effectively end any routine operation of the American government. If we cave to their madness, we may unravel our system of government, something one might have thought conservatives would have opposed. Except these people are not conservatives. Theyre vandals.
This time, the elephant must go down. And if possible, it must be so wounded it does not get up for a long time to come.
More: http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/10/01/the-nullification-party/
A Page 1 Problem For Congressional Conservatives - HuffPo
A Page 1 Problem For Congressional ConservativesThe Huffington Post | By Sam Stein
Posted: 10/01/2013 9:24 am EDT
<snip>
WASHINGTON -- Readers of newspapers -- yes, they still exist -- woke up Tuesday morning to dueling headlines. The shutdown of the federal government dominated front pages, with many papers looking into how the situation would reverberate locally...
These headlines certainly weren't what many conservatives had in mind a few weeks ago, when they plotted to delay or alter the health care law through a protracted showdown over the budget. Obamacare survived the showdown. The government didn't.
Today's front pages tell that story. A few of them, taken from the Newseum's website, are below:
<snip>
More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/01/government-shutdown-obamacare_n_4022577.html
Wanna Know Why The Congress Gets Paid During A Shutdown ???
Just moments ago...
Chris Hayes had a nice young analyst/guest on...
And Hayes said that one bone of contention that many people had been writing about, and writing to him about...
Was the question of Congressional Pay during a government shutdown.
Her reply was twofold...
First... congressional pay is "Automatically Appropriated", no need to vote on it.
Second... (and the reason why) is because they have "Constitutional Responsibilities"
If you believe that A + B Equals C...
Then... If A (congressional pay is automatically appropriated) PLUS B (this is so because of Constitutional Responsibilities that must be achieved) to get to C (a healthy well functioning Democracy)...
I might agree...
But when you take B out of the equation...
There is NO C... There is only A.
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