When The Captors Want The Hostage Dead, Is It Kidnapping?

[peristaltor]

The sheer silliness of even casting a shadow of a glimmer of a sliver of blame on the Democratic Party members in Congress regarding this shutdown thing is laughable enough. There is more than enough evidence that the Tea Party has run with this ball all the way. I won't bother recounting it here

Comments

[rimpala]

Only the tea party will express glee in the destruction of our economy, then it's fan boys will insist it wasn't their fault.

In fact they'll insist it was Obama's fault, that he wanted the default to happen.

And we will never have nice things, ever. Say hello to the rest of your lives, in recession.

[mrbogey]

'Only the tea party will express glee in the destruction of our economy, then it's fan boys will insist it wasn't their fault.'

Obama has destroyed this economy. Stop kissing the whip. Wasn't Detroit enough of a wake-up call?

Democrats own 80% of the Federal gov't but still won't accept even a sliver of blame for the failures of their policies. It's like dealing with children who think that parents are mean because they won't give them everything they want.

[soliloquy76]

How did Obama destroy Detroit? Detroit was fucked long before Obama came along.

[kylinrouge]

Obama crashed the economy, Obama destroyed Detroit, what's next? Obama caused 9/11?

[mrbogey]

'The sheer silliness of even casting a shadow of a glimmer of a sliver of blame on the Democratic Party members in Congress regarding this shutdown thing is laughable enough.'

That's ridiculous.

That both sides put forth solutions to end it shows neither side as a party wanted it.

[soliloquy76]

That one side used it as a bargaining chip shows that they were at least willing to allow it to happen if they didn't get what they wanted.

[soliloquy76]

We're talking about shutdown, not default. Given the rhetoric of some Congress members, it wasn't a foregone conclusion that this would end like it did. Quite a few Republicans were denying that default would be a big deal, or saying that we could just prioritize payments to bondholders (as if not paying government employees, veterans, seniors, etc was acceptable or wouldn't carrying a heavy economic price, too).

[jerseycajun]

Glenn Beck posits the Administration wants the same thing by not being willing to concede to what the GOP sees as smaller and smaller terms.

I don't drink his Kool Aid or, as in what this post seems to posit, the bizzaro Glenn Beck theory.

Don't be like Glenn Beck, or bizzaro Glenn Beck.

[fizzyland]

Except that this was all about repealing/defunding/delaying the ACA, for the 40th+ time.

Why are you listening to Glenn Beck? His credibility level is up there with crazies who launch into rants on the bus.

[cheezyfish]

Was it? How can you be so sure? Is it not conceivable that the shutdown was about leverage in the debt ceiling fight?

[telemann]

Oh it's easy to be sure? How? Because Speaker Boehner said it himself.

House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) interview with ABC News on Sunday in which Boehner did not deny that in July 2013 he offered Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) a continued resolution for government spending at levels below what Democrats wanted - while continuing to fund the Affordable Care Act - only to renege on the offer later.

“I and my members decided that the threat of Obamacare and what was happening was so important that it was time for us to take a stand."

[sandwichwarrior]

So here is a question.

Do you think there is any point in having a "debt ceiling" at all? and is that purpose helped or hindered by raising it whenever the president or congress feels the desire to do so?

[kylinrouge]

No, there is no point. In fact, it was automatically raised until 1995 which was, of course, shortly before the last shutdown.

[sandwichwarrior]

So why have it?

[kylinrouge]

As we've seen in this case, leverage. Fearmongering. Politics.

[kylinrouge]

Republicans Shut Down the Government for Nothing: "The GOP will actually get less out of the final deal being brokered than the party would have gotten had House conservatives never staged their revolt on Obamacare."

"Obamacare will not be repealed. Obamacare will not be defunded. Obamacare will not be delayed. The individual mandate will not be delayed. The medical-device tax will not be repealed. The health-insurance subsidies given to members of Congress and their staffs will not be taken away. "

Good job, GOP!

[cheezyfish]

Obamacare will not be repealed. Obamacare will not be defunded. Obamacare will not be delayed. The individual mandate will not be delayed. The medical-device tax will not be repealed. The health-insurance subsidies given to members of Congress and their staffs will not be taken away.

Oh, they were offered these things?

[fizzyland]

No and nor should they have been.

[cheezyfish]

I know they weren't, which was the point of the comment.