Government Shutdown

[rawhide]

What the hell is going on here? We're in a politics forum and everyone for the last page of posts has been making sense and basically agreeing. Those ne'erdowells in Washington better look out if this keeps up.

What the hell is going on here? We're in a politics forum and everyone for the last page of posts has been making sense and basically agreeing. Those ne'erdowells in Washington better look out if this keeps up.

 

Obama's still a Muslim.

[HuskerLuke]

What the hell is going on here? We're in a politics forum and everyone for the last page of posts has been making sense and basically agreeing. Those ne'erdowells in Washington better look out if this keeps up.

What the hell is going on here? We're in a politics forum and everyone for the last page of posts has been making sense and basically agreeing. Those ne'erdowells in Washington better look out if this keeps up.

 

Obama's still a Muslim.

 

Before anything blows up, I wasn't being serious.

[carlfense]

Just to be clear: you endorse shutting down the legislative process when elections don't go your way? Thanks.

...

Pelosi endorsed shutting down the legislative process when elections didn't go the Democrats' way. See her statement above.

Are you ever going to get around to backing up your claim or are you going to just continue hoping that no one notices?

 

I'll ask again if you need a reminder.

 

Security personnel would be one example. You shouldn’t have to rack your brain to come up with more.

 

Security was your excuse as to why the monuments should be closed this time when they weren't in the 90s.

Does it take more or less security to guard a park that is closed to the public? I can think of other factors and I suspect that you can as well but I wouldn't expect you to admit this.

[carlfense]

Who blamed the GOP for defeating a bill to restore National Park funding?

 

This guy:

 

Didn't the House reject a bill that would have specifically funded (and kept open) Federal monuments and national parks?

 

Or is that something that we just ignore because it gets in the way of Luke and BRB's herpaderp-a-thon trying to convince us that starving children and mothers are inconsequential?

 

Ok, so he was wrong.

Actually he was right and HuskerLuke was wrong. The House (which Luke apparently interpreted as "GOP") did initially reject the bill.

[sd'sker]

Both parties suck and every single one of them is to blame and if you're hardcore red or blue you're part of the problem as well. These people can't work together so we need A LOT of new people who can. I'm sick of their crybaby blame everyone else bull$hit and I don't care what their excuses are.

the worst part is that we as citizens are much more alike, politically, than we are different. i was just getting my oil change and talking to a nice guy. we probably voted differently, but we were in agreement on the core issues and problems; we had a nice political discussion. the media and politicians want us to believe that our differences are wide and deep. but that fact of the matter is that we mostly see things for what they are and only on a few issues are our differences deep, but still very narrow. it is all just a game and the voters are always the losers. imo.

[HuskerLuke]

Are you ever going to get around to backing up your claim or are you going to just continue hoping that no one notices?

 

I'll ask again if you need a reminder.

 

Among the many shutdowns during the Reagan administration, one occurred because the Democrats tied their desired Contra funding levels and their anti-talk radio Fairness Doctrine (in other words, stuff that had little if anything to do with the budget) to the continued funding of the government. As I said, nothing new under the sun.

 

Now, do you or do you not condemn the Wisconsin and Indiana Democrats for shutting down the legislative process when they didn't like the result of an election? You seem happy to blast Republicans for childish obstructionism. What about criminal obstructionism?

 

Does it take more or less security to guard a park that is closed to the public? I can think of other factors and I suspect that you can as well but I wouldn't expect you to admit this.

Yes I can think of other factors, namely Obama wanting this to hurt as much as possible.

The National Park Service has ordered the closure of a Virginia park that sits on federal land, even though the government provides no resources for its maintenance or operation.... According to Anna Eberly, managing director of the farm, NPS sent law enforcement agents to the park on Tuesday evening to remove staff and volunteers from the property. “You do have to wonder about the wisdom of an organization that would use staff they don’t have the money to pay to evict visitors from a park site that operates without costing them any money,” she said. The park withstood prior government shutdowns, noting in a news release that the farm will be closed to the public for the first time in 40 years.

 

Same situation as the others, just more stark: here we have a park that the federal government doesn't spend a dime on. The park provides all of its own staff, and yet the NPS sent agents to kick people out and send workers home.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Both parties suck and every single one of them is to blame and if you're hardcore red or blue you're part of the problem as well. These people can't work together so we need A LOT of new people who can. I'm sick of their crybaby blame everyone else bull$hit and I don't care what their excuses are.

the worst part is that we as citizens are much more alike, politically, than we are different. i was just getting my oil change and talking to a nice guy. we probably voted differently, but we were in agreement on the core issues and problems; we had a nice political discussion. the media and politicians want us to believe that our differences are wide and deep. but that fact of the matter is that we mostly see things for what they are and only on a few issues are our differences deep, but still very narrow. it is all just a game and the voters are always the losers. imo.

That's what I'm getting at and a few here and have tried to take it a different direction. I'd take an average joe as a politician than these rich scumbags cause they have no idea what the rest of us are going through. Average joe does.........

[sd'sker]

That's what I'm getting at and a few here and have tried to take it a different direction. I'd take an average joe as a politician than these rich scumbags cause they have no idea what the rest of us are going through. Average joe does.........

maybe we need a demarchy. you used to at least be able to think that politicians, but now they seem legitimately stupid for the most part. they get elected by being extreme demagogues.

[BigRedBuster]

Are you ever going to get around to backing up your claim or are you going to just continue hoping that no one notices?

 

I'll ask again if you need a reminder.

 

Among the many shutdowns during the Reagan administration, one occurred because the Democrats tied their desired Contra funding levels and their anti-talk radio Fairness Doctrine (in other words, stuff that had little if anything to do with the budget) to the continued funding of the government. As I said, nothing new under the sun.

 

Now, do you or do you not condemn the Wisconsin and Indiana Democrats for shutting down the legislative process when they didn't like the result of an election? You seem happy to blast Republicans for childish obstructionism. What about criminal obstructionism?

 

Does it take more or less security to guard a park that is closed to the public? I can think of other factors and I suspect that you can as well but I wouldn't expect you to admit this.

Yes I can think of other factors, namely Obama wanting this to hurt as much as possible.

The National Park Service has ordered the closure of a Virginia park that sits on federal land, even though the government provides no resources for its maintenance or operation.... According to Anna Eberly, managing director of the farm, NPS sent law enforcement agents to the park on Tuesday evening to remove staff and volunteers from the property. “You do have to wonder about the wisdom of an organization that would use staff they don’t have the money to pay to evict visitors from a park site that operates without costing them any money,” she said. The park withstood prior government shutdowns, noting in a news release that the farm will be closed to the public for the first time in 40 years.

 

Same situation as the others, just more stark: here we have a park that the federal government doesn't spend a dime on. The park provides all of its own staff, and yet the NPS sent agents to kick people out and send workers home.

 

 

I'm interested in knowing why many government web sites are shut down immediately. Like I said earlier, the Ex/Im bank web site was shut down. Now, I see it's back up. Hmmm...why all of a sudden can the web site come back up when the government was shut down? It sure appears that someone is trying to play games with the entire issue.

[Junior]

Oh someone is definitely playing games with the issue.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/03/congressman-park-ranger-memorial_n_4037524.html

 

Yesterday, it became pretty obvious that if you wanted to catch the eye of any Beltway reporter to discuss what you were enduring during the shutdown, you had to go on down to this memorial to make your case. Unfortunately, that's where many members of Congress decided to while away their day as well. As Ryan Reilly reported, heroic members of Congress turned out to boldly grandstand at the memorial, pretending just as hard as they could that its temporary closure was the most dire effect of the shutdown ... for which ... they voted. Yes, that was by far the most surreal thing about it. Gawker's Tom Scocca turned the best phrase about the whole mess, describing those lawmakers as committing "an act of civil disobedience against themselves."

 

But Mark Segraves, reporting for NBC News' Washington affiliate, managed to capture the howler highlight of the Great World War II Memorial Bleat-n-Repeat -- Rep. Randy Neugebauer's (R-Tex.) Wednesday confrontation of a poor park ranger on the scene -- who was doing nothing more than her job -- blaming her for the closure he voted for and telling her that she should be ashamed of herself.

 

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bachmann-republicans-about-the-happiest-they-ve-been-in-a-while-during-shutdown

 

 

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) on Wednesday said she wasn't worried about Republicans caving to pressure to end the government shutdown because "this is about the happiest" she's seen her conservative colleagues in a long time.

Appearing with colleague Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), Bachmann told Fox News host Sean Hannity that she believes there has been "strong unity" between conservatives on almost every budget vote.

 

"This is about the happiest I've seen members in a long time, because we see we are starting to win this dialogue on a national level," she said.

 

 

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/10/cruz-shutdown-protest/70123/

 

 

In just a few days of governing by hashtag, Ted Cruz has gone from asking for a government shutdown to protesting one now that it's happened and people think it's dumb. Last week, the Texas senator wanted to #MakeDCListen by shutting down the government unless Democrats agreed to defund Obamacare. On Wednesday, he wanted Congress to #LetTheVetsIn — as in, open the World War II memorial so veterans could visit. The memorial, like other national parks, was closed by the shutdown.

 

If you've forgotten, Republican leaders were initially opposed to shutting down the government. House Speaker John Boehner spoke out against it. But Cruz and other conservatives campaigned for the strategy. In a speech September 19, Cruz said the last shutdown had a pretty a good outcome: "If House Republicans hadn't stood up in 1995, we wouldn't have seen those kind of public policy results that benefit the country," Cruz said. "Because Republicans stood their ground."

 

So... who's playing games?

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Michelle Bachmann is a complete and total moron and nutbag. Anytime she talks most don't listen and Cruz was on Meet the Press last Sunday and is just another fake politician concerned about his own pockets and trying to become president. Could hardly stand to listen to him.........

[BigRedBuster]

 

So... who's playing games?

 

 

Both sides!!!!

 

And, if you think I'm going to support anything the nut job known as Michelle Bachman (or any other Republican in this mess) says then you are horribly wrong. They are all a bunch of power hungry idiots.

[knapplc]

The fact that members of Congress are still accepting their paychecks while hundreds of thousands of workers aren't is not going over well - and it shouldn't.

 

The World Herald did a story on the local lawmakers who are and aren't accepting paychecks during the shutdown. Some quotes from the article:

 

In an online post Wednesday, Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, wrote that he had taken many calls from Iowans questioning why members are paid while furloughed Americans go without.

 

“I couldn't agree more,” Latham wrote.

 

He wrote that he was declining his pay until the shutdown ends and has introduced legislation to eliminate pay for members of Congress and the president during any shutdown.

 

Latham is joined by Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., [who] told The World-Herald he has asked the government to hold his paychecks during the shutdown.

 

But local members of Congress who are accepting their paychecks - $174,000 per year at the lowest wage - are:

 

Deb Fischer, R-Neb - who thinks Latham and Smith are engaging in "theatrics"

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa - who thinks he should be paid because he's "working"

Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb - who says giving up his salary would be a "feel-good gesture"

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa - who is also accepting his check because he's "working"

 

But the taker-of-the-cake has to be Lee Terry, R-Neb. Mr. Terry offered a quote that will last a long time, methinks:

 

Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., was blunt when asked if he would continue collecting his paychecks during the shutdown.

 

“Dang straight,” he said.

 

Terry suggested it's an irrelevant question because the situation would be resolved before long.

 

What about the other members who were donating or forgoing their pay?

 

“Whatever gets them good press,” Terry said. “That's all that it's going to be. God bless them. But you know what? I've got a nice house and a kid in college, and I'll tell you we cannot handle it. Giving our paycheck away when you still worked and earned it? That's just not going to fly.”

 

I suppose the bold helps Terry sleep at night. I couldn't do it. I'd be right there with Latham and Smith, acting in solidarity with innocent workers who have no paycheck through zero fault of their own.

 

As for the rest of the folks continuing to collect paychecks when it was their actions who put those hundreds of thousands out of work - I have no voice in many of their districts, but come voting time I'll definitely be remembering the stance of people in my district on this subject.

[Junior]

The fact that members of Congress are still accepting their paychecks while hundreds of thousands of workers aren't is not going over well - and it shouldn't.

 

The World Herald did a story on the local lawmakers who are and aren't accepting paychecks during the shutdown. Some quotes from the article:

 

In an online post Wednesday, Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, wrote that he had taken many calls from Iowans questioning why members are paid while furloughed Americans go without.

 

“I couldn't agree more,” Latham wrote.

 

He wrote that he was declining his pay until the shutdown ends and has introduced legislation to eliminate pay for members of Congress and the president during any shutdown.

 

Latham is joined by Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., [who] told The World-Herald he has asked the government to hold his paychecks during the shutdown.

 

But local members of Congress who are accepting their paychecks - $174,000 per year at the lowest wage - are:

 

Deb Fischer, R-Neb - who thinks Latham and Smith are engaging in "theatrics"

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa - who thinks he should be paid because he's "working"

Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb - who says giving up his salary would be a "feel-good gesture"

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa - who is also accepting his check because he's "working"

 

But the taker-of-the-cake has to be Lee Terry, R-Neb. Mr. Terry offered a quote that will last a long time, methinks:

 

Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., was blunt when asked if he would continue collecting his paychecks during the shutdown.

 

“Dang straight,” he said.

 

Terry suggested it's an irrelevant question because the situation would be resolved before long.

 

What about the other members who were donating or forgoing their pay?

 

“Whatever gets them good press,” Terry said. “That's all that it's going to be. God bless them. But you know what? I've got a nice house and a kid in college, and I'll tell you we cannot handle it. Giving our paycheck away when you still worked and earned it? That's just not going to fly.”

 

I suppose the bold helps Terry sleep at night. I couldn't do it. I'd be right there with Latham and Smith, acting in solidarity with innocent workers who have no paycheck through zero fault of their own.

 

As for the rest of the folks continuing to collect paychecks when it was their actions who put those hundreds of thousands out of work - I have no voice in many of their districts, but come voting time I'll definitely be remembering the stance of people in my district on this subject.

 

I sent an email to my representative (John Shimkus R-Illinois) and not surprisingly haven't heard back.

[Whistlebritches]

I've come to the conclusion that this shutdown isn't going to be resolved until the debt ceiling on October 17th is taken care of. Neither side is going to want to give up anything leading into that fight.