“ShutDown? ShutDown! Oh, no, that would be too risky. Remember when we got blamed for shutting down the government? Whenever there is a shutdown, we ALWAYS get the blame!”
So the Republican leadership strong-armed their members into passing the CRomnibus (Continuing Resolution / Omnibus) spending bill, giving Obama and Reid everything they wanted in the way of flatulent government spending all the way to September of 2015, the end of the fiscal year. Never mind that the Republicans won big in the November elections and now hold majorities in both houses. Now they can take it easy in DC until next football season, when the Redskins will no longer have RG3 to kick around.
“We just couldn’t take the risk,” they said. Somebody might think we Republicans are MEANIES if we don’t commit to spend another $1.1 TRILLION for such critical programs as a new National Women’s Museum, continuing the corporate crony Import/Export Bank, and other little items like ObamaCare and benefits for illegal immigrants.
John Hayward, in Human Events, succinctly pointed out the lunacy of it all, saying:
There was no reason to give the defeated Democrats anything except a stop-gap bill to fund the government through January, at which point the incoming Republican majorities should have exercised control over everything. If the Democrats don’t like that deal, let them shut down the government in a fit of pique, and tell voters how the party they just threw out of power should be allowed to control their lives for an extra year. Not only would that be smart politics – giving the Republicans more fiscal leverage to stand up for America against Obama’s amnesty, instead of just funding for the Department of Homeland Security – but it would represent more sensible and responsible government. All of this multi-trillion-dollar monstrosity is linked together; all of it should be on the table; the flab should be liposuctioned out of every agency at once in a comprehensive plan for fiscal sanity and increased American liberty.
Why did the Republican leadership do it? Why did they fritter away a golden opportunity to actually shrink government, as the entire GOP promised in their campaign speeches? And, simultaneously, giving support to the knuckle-head programs they were elected to stop?
“Shutdown! OMG, we’ll be accused of SHUUUUUT-DOOOOOOOWN!”
According to Ron Paul, “Most House and Senate members are so terrified of another government shutdown that they would rather vote for a 1,774-page bill they have not read than risk even a one or two-day government shutdown.” Paul says instead of briefly shutting down 20% of the government offices, better we should permanently close major parts of the federal government – starting with the Federal Reserve, and followed closely by the Internal Revenue Service.
The Democrats aren’t afraid of shutting down the government as a tactic. Rush Limbaugh pointed out that they voted to do just that when all 212 Democrat representatives in the House voted against the rule that set the stage for passage of the CRomnibus spending bill. “In other words, 212 Democrats voted against the rule, voted against bringing up the final vote on the omnibus bill. Now, you could say, as I just did, that the Democrats essentially voted to shut down the government, but nowhere would this ever be portrayed as what actually happened,” Rush reported. They weren’t the least bit worried about being blamed for the big SD.
But Boehner and friends shrink in terror at the very thought.
Frankly, I don’t get it. I have lived through a number of government shutdowns, without any negative lingering effects. I know, last time the big SD happened we paid some people double-time-and-a-half to put roadblocks on the highway so tourists could not see Mount Rushmore as they drove through the Black Hills. And we spent extra money on barriers to keep World War II vets from seeing their monument. But everybody got their government checks on time, soldiers and sailors still reported for duty, and as far as I know even the government employees who didn’t go to work got full back pay (bonus!) as soon as the SHUTDOWN crisis was over.
Not all Republicans are weak-kneed milktoasts. 67 GOP congressmen, including my rep Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), voted against the CRomnibus. More Democrats voted against it than for it, but for different reasons. Sadly, the majority of Republican members acquiesced to their leadership. You can see how your congressman voted on this and other key issues at the Heritage Action Scorecard.
Personally, I am all for government shut down. If that’s what it takes to get the budget under control, I say shut ‘er down. And while we are at it, let’s take a good hard look at replacing the Republican leadership.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
Shut it off, shut it off
Buddy, now I shut you down!
You don’t know what it means to win
Two years ago Obama won re-election and the Democrat propaganda machine (war on women, everybody is racist, global warming, gay marriage, blah blah blah) seemed unstoppable. I was in shock and dismay for a long time.
We are in the seventh day of the federal government “Shut Down”. By now, according to the dire predictions of the Democrats on Capitol Hill and the elite media, we should all be dead.
Rockin' On The Right Side 