It’s Not a Game!

Or is it?

From Talking Points Memo:

The reason Congress is mired in repeated fiscal crises is that Republicans have thwarted budget conference negotiations since April, when the two chambers passed their own deeply divergent budget resolutions. Senate Democrats have requested conference negotiations 18 times and Republicans have denied their request each time.

“After blocking Senate Democrats’ attempts to start a budget conference 18 times over the past six months, Republicans are now scrambling to start a conference committee with mere minutes to go before a government shutdown,” said Senate Budget Chair Patty Murray (D-WA).

I am so tired of self-important bloviators engaging in PR and theatrics at the expense of governing. I’m furious with self-described “patriots” and “Christians” who pontificate about the Constitution and morality, and then proceed ignore both and to play games with the lives and health of ordinary Americans.

And I’m frustrated that the rest of us can’t seem to do anything about it.

8 Comments

  1. The rest of us cannot do anything right now. But those that send stupid people in 3 corner hats to Washington can… next time they vote.
    STOP sending morons to DC. (and to Indy)
    And there are the votes for a clean bill NOW.
    It just needs to get to a vote.
    Poor John B is too terrified of the tea baggers to bring it to a vote.
    SAD end to this mans career.

  2. The GOP is playing this sitution like a game; but there certainly are no balls involved in this one.

  3. No Balls involved. But they certainly, have everyone by the “Short and Curly’s”.
    (English expression that roughly translates as “between a rock and a hard place”)

  4. I watched a brief film clip on MSNBC this morning of Jimmy Fallon doing interviews of people on the street. He asked if they liked Obamacare, most responded NO; they were then asked if they liked the Affordable Care Act, they answered YES. Those who were asked if they preferred Obamacare or the ACA, most chose the ACA. This is an example of the results of GOP and Tea Party brainwashing with their lies and misrepresentations.

    Did anyone else catch the brief (one time that I saw) news report that Obamacare required doctors to question patients about their sexual habits and sex partners? I didn’t bother researching the ACA about this nonsense because these questions are required by Public Health laws of anyone diagnosed with an STD. Doctors must also report measles, mumps, chicken pox, whooping cough, TB and a few other diseases to Public Health.

    If it were possible to legislate “truth in advertising” in politics or common sense; the GOP would vote against both resoundingly.

  5. No only are they playing games with the lives and health of ordinary Americans, but then you have to hear them talk about how much “fun” this is, or how “excited” they are because the shut down is “exactly what we wanted.”

    Then you have the Fox News pundits talking about how the impact of the shut down isn’t that bad. Who cares about the estimated 200 million dollars a day the shut down is estimated to cost? You’d think the so’called “conservatives” would be more worried about that, but since its being perpetrated by the republicans it’s, “no big deal.”

  6. It’s not just that the GOP refuses budget conference; they’re completely unable to pass their own appropriations bills, despite a 232-200 advantage in the House. Eight appropriations bills have failed in the House this year, including some that haven’t even reached mark-up stage.
    The whole episode proves one incontrovertable fact: the Tea Party can get elected, but it cannot govern.

  7. Of course, you probably all know by now that it was Jimmy Kimmel who did the street interviews; not Fallon. I don’t watch any of them unless it is a film clip on MSNBC – sorry about that, I will try to be more careful in the future.

  8. This afternoon Gov. Pence was quoted as saying shutting down the government was worth it; or words to that effect. Surprised??

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