We’re in day three of the shutdown and, besides closing public access to open air memorials and blocking access to privately owned parks and memorials, nothing much has happened.
Oh, people are being hurt. People chosen specifically by Obama, like the military, who, on a hunt and miss selection, have had their commissaries closed—commissaries and other facilities, like golf courses—except for Obama’s favorite golf course at Andrews AFB outside Washington, DC.
For those who don’t know what the commissary is, it’s a supermarket for military dependents. The prices aren’t all that much cheaper anymore. Commercial groceries, Walmart, has matched prices in most locations. No, the issue is that in some locations, the nearest civilian grocery is 60 miles away!
The House ‘Pubs are standing their ground. I’m surprised, frankly. Perhaps it is due to Senators Cruz and Lee meeting with House conservatives providing leadership missing from Boehner and Cantor.
Harry Reid blocked the CR. He blocked the 2nd and 3rd revisions because each either defunded Obamacare or defunded parts of it, or delayed its initiation. Now, the House is sending up specific funding items aimed a specific functions—fund the military, National Guard and Reserves, fund the National Parks, fund medical research. Each time, Reid had blocked those efforts.
It’s time to lay aside the entire effort to fund the government by Continuing Resolution. Let’s either fund the government piecemeal, which Harry Reid hates, or submit a budget—one the defunds Obamacare and cuts, drastically, Obama’s bureaucracy.
It’s time to do one or the other or keep the government shut down. The House has the responsibility for funding legislation. Let’s use that responsibility as originally intended by the Founders, as checks and balances against a tyrannical executive branch.
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The House ‘Pubs are standing firm…for the moment. I sincerely hope they continue to do so. One ‘Pub representative said, “It’s not about Obamacare anymore.”
GOP stands firm against funding bill, will link to debt ceiling fight
By DAVID M. DRUCKER | OCTOBER 3, 2013 AT 10:55 AM
House Republicans are unlikely to blink in the standoff over Obamacare that precipitated a government shutdown, fearing that acceding now to Democratic demands for a “clean” spending bill would weaken their hand in upcoming negotiations over the the debt ceiling.
Those Republicans said Wednesday that the spending impasse that shut down the government early Tuesday is less about conservatives’ desire to derail Obamacare than it is about strengthening their hand in the debt-ceiling talks. That borrowing limit must be raised by Oct. 17 to prevent the government from defaulting on its financial obligations and Republicans say any future agreement to reopen the government would link the spending bill and the debt ceiling.
“This is not just about Obamacare anymore,” centrist Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., said.
“We’re not going to be disrespected,” conservative Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., added. “We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”
In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s government shutdown, House Republicans pushed for a short-term budget bill that would fund the government at current levels, but also fully and permanently defund Obamacare. President Obama and Senate Democrats rejected that proposal and three others that would have at least slowed implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
House Republicans now say they won’t agree to a funding bill unless Senate Democrats agree to meet in a conference committee to hash out their differences. They rebuffed a proposal from Senate Democrats Wednesday to form a conference committee only after the funding bill was approved and the government reopened.
With the third day of the shutdown dawning and the deadline to raise the debt ceiling fast approaching, House Republican leaders believe maintaining party unity over the budget bill is paramount. Any divisions or concessions would only bolster Obama’s hand in the debt ceiling talks.
House Republican leaders will drive their rank and file particularly hard to support a debt ceiling proposal that includes provisions on tax and entitlement reform and other GOP priorities. They also don’t want to cut short the epic battle against Obamacare that conservatives have long sought. For those reasons, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is unlikely to put up a “clean” budget bill that funds the government without Democratic concessions.
“The [budget bill] is now part of the debt ceiling fight and we may see a shutdown that extends to mid-October,” said a veteran Republican operative with relationships on Capitol Hill. “Boehner could not pass a [budget bill] with mostly Democratic support now and then have any chance of holding Republicans on the debt ceiling.”
House GOP leaders and most of their rank and file never supported conservatives’ efforts to use the budget bill and the threat of a government shutdown to defund Obamacare, fearing a political backlash. Polls consistently show most people oppose the strategy and would blame Republicans if the government closed.
But having gone as far as they have, House Republicans now say they won’t back down. And they expect to score political points in the process.
The article continues at the website. It continues with the statement that House ‘Pub leaders were surprised when Reid blocked their efforts to fund the government piecemeal.
Really?
If that is true, Boehner and Cantor are more stupid than I ever believed.
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Obama really pissed Mark Levin off yesterday. I don’t know how many of you listen to his radio show, but yesterday’s broadcast was a jewel. On the air, Levin read an article that Obama had specifically ordered the National Park Service to close the WW II Memorial in Washington, DC. These orders were issued after a ‘Pub congressman asked Obama to exclude the Washington memorials from the shutdown. Honor Flights, for WW II veterans, had been scheduled for this and coming weeks and the ‘Pub congressman saw no reason why these aging veterans should be disrespected.
But disrespect them is exactly what Obama did. Not only did he order the open-air memorials closed, he ordered that anyone who violated the barricades were to be arrested.
That was too much for Levin. The more he read, the louder grew his voice. The link below is to a website that provides the audio of that portion of Levin’s show. It is great!
Mark Levin: You lay one damn hand on a WWII vet, I’ll bring half a million people to DC [VIDEO]
10:33 PM 10/02/2013
Conservative talker Mark Levin has a stern warning for President Barack Obama and his administration: Don’t mess with the World War II veterans.
Levin, author of “The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic,” told his audience on his Wednesday radio show should there be any action taken against those veterans for visiting the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, even with the government shutdown, he would bring 500,000 people to march on the Washington, D.C. in response.
“I want to tell you folks something — I want to say this loud and clear to the people who are on Capitol Hill who are listening, to this administration: You lay one damn hand on one of those World War II vets at that memorial, I’ll bring half a million people to that damn memorial,” Levin said. “You got that? I’m sitting here stewing thinking about this — playing these damn games. You will ignite a movement in this country like you have never seen before — the biker patriot army, veterans from all over the country, every single war and battle in this country — Republican, Democrat, Independent, whatever.”
“I’ll be damned if one president with his feet up on the desk in the Oval Office, with a smirk on his face, looking at his golf cart — I’ll be damned if this president or anybody else is going to shut down that World War II Memorial, period,” he continued. “These men are in their 80s and 90s, so let me repeat: You lay one hand on one of those men and arrest them for going to their memorial, which they fought, which was not paid by you, dammit — was paid by the American people — we will come out of every town and city in this nation, we will come out of every county on both coasts, both borders and we will march on Washington against your tyranny. You have been warned.”
Levin iterated that the sentiment was heartfelt and was in no way a stunt.
“This isn’t intended to be controversial,” he added. “This isn’t intended to be a joke. This is exactly how I feel in my heart and soul. I take this very personally. My grandfather fought at Iwo Jima and he fought at Guam. And my great uncle fought at Guadalcanal. And I’ll be damned if this community activist is going to shut down their memorial. They beat the Germans. They beat the Nazis. They beat the Japanese. They beat fascist Italy. And I’m not going to allow as one person, this administration, these people to beat them now that they’re in their 80s and 90s. No damn way.”
Good on ya, Mark.