About Us
Mission Statement
Rules of Conduct
 
Name:
Pswd:
Remember Me
Register
 

Latest Entries

Actions Menu

Blog Roll

Other Links

Up or Down
Author: BobR    Date: 2013-10-03 11:07:42

Between 2005 and 2008, President Bush was trying to get some judicial nominees appointed. These need to be approved by the Senate. The Democrats in the Senate were not rubber-stamping them like the Republicans thought they should be. They were mired in hearings and committees, and the process was slow and deliberative. This riled the Republicans no end. The message from them was clear: Up or Down!... Up or Down!

Of course - that's what they demand when it's something they want. What happens when it's something they don't want? Well - we know the answer to THAT one - it's happening right now.

The Republican Speaker of the House has declared that he will not pass a clean spending bill. Every spending bill they've sent to the Senate has had one or more poison pill amendments, and the Senate strips them out, approves the "clean" version and sends it back to the House. The House could vote on the clean bill - there's nothing stopping them - except for the Speaker and a minority of extremist Republican House members.

We've been down this road before. At the beginning of the year, we were set to go over the fiscal cliff. The messy bills went back and forth between the two houses of Congress. We got to zero hour, got past zero hour, and then finally - a clean bill was put up for a vote in the House:
The House’s final up-or-down vote on the Senate bill was due sometime after 11 p.m. Eastern time, according to CNN.

Prospects for passage remained uncertain, but the vote marked a step back from a plan Republicans voiced earlier to amend the Senate bill, a move which might have sunk the deal.

The Senate had approved the compromise bill in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, but after reviewing the details of the deal, many House Republicans said they could not support it because it does not include spending cuts.

Most notably, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said he could not support the agreement.
[...]
Republican leaders decided to poll their caucus members on two courses of action: One would amend the Senate bill and add spending cuts, but the second would be a vote on the clean version of the Senate plan.

Ultimately, the clean version passed with bipartisan support. Of course - it was only a stop-gap measure, and later on we DID go over the "fiscal cliff".

Perhaps that's why Speaker Boehner won't put up a clean bill this time for an Up or Down Vote - he knows it would pass. Many Republican lawmakers are already feeling the heat from constituents:
Lawmakers locked in a political stare-down Wednesday were buffeted by rising anger from across the nation about a partial government shutdown that ruined vacations, sapped businesses and closed military cemeteries as far away as France. Some on Capitol Hill ominously suggested the impasse might last for weeks, but a few Republicans seemed ready to blink.

Republican Rep. Peter King of New York accused tea party-backed lawmakers of trying to "hijack the party" and said he senses that a growing number of rank-and-file House Republicans — perhaps as many as a hundred — are tired of the shutdown that began Tuesday morning and will be meeting to look for a way out.

Some - including Rob Wittman of VA - have openly said they'd like to vote for a clean bill, but they are being denied the opportunity. Just like in January, there are enough reasonable Republicans to vote for a clean bill along with Democrats that it would pass, and everyone could get back to work.

C'mon Speaker Boehner - Up or Down... Up or Down...
 

119 comments (Latest Comment: 10/04/2013 00:07:55 by Raine)
   Perma Link

Share This!

Furl it!
Spurl
NewsVine
Reddit
Technorati

Add a Comment

Please login to add a comment...


Comments:

Order comments Newest to Oldest  Refresh Comments

Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 12:10:14
Good morning.

“We’re not going to be disrespected,” conservative Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., [told the Washington Examiner]. “We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”


That says it all.

Comment by Scoopster on 10/03/2013 12:31:20
Mornin' all..

Oh don't worry, Rep. Stutzman. You'll get something - I would be more specific but there are ladies present.
Oh screw it..
http://www.sherv.net/cm/emo/rude/1/animated-finger.gif


Comment by Scoopster on 10/03/2013 12:32:16
Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 12:35:03
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all..

Oh don't worry, Rep. Stutzman. You'll get something - I would be more specific but there are ladies present.
Oh screw it..
http://www.sherv.net/cm/emo/rude/1/animated-finger.gif



Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 12:42:05
you know. he confuses me at times, but this letter reminded me why he is the leader of the senate.

This is the second time in a week he punched the gut of Boehner.

He embodies the phrase, 'Speak softly, and carry a big stick.'


Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 13:09:26
Comment by BobR on 10/03/2013 13:10:00
Quote by Raine:
Good morning.

“We’re not going to be disrespected,” conservative Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., [told the Washington Examiner]. “We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”


That says it all.

Deja vu Newt Gingrich

Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 13:12:45
Quote by BobR:
Quote by Raine:
Good morning.

“We’re not going to be disrespected,” conservative Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., [told the Washington Examiner]. “We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”


That says it all.

Deja vu Newt Gingrich
And then we have soon to be ex-congressthing Michelle Blechmann:
“This is about the happiest I’ve seen members in a long time because we’ve seen we’re starting to win this dialogue on a national level.”



Comment by clintster on 10/03/2013 13:12:47
Quote by Raine:
Good morning.

“We’re not going to be disrespected,” conservative Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., [told the Washington Examiner]. “We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”


That says it all.


There was another quote by Stutzman from yesterday.
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aeolianx/hemisphere_zps8f95e00e.jpg


But don't you dare call them racists.

Comment by trojanrabbit on 10/03/2013 13:19:54
Good morning.

Thanks for your support Raine.

As long as I sense Lucky wants to be around, I'll do the force-feedings and the fluid injections. If I notice he's stopped grooming himself, or he really turns on me when I approach him, that will be my signal he's had enough. For the time being, apart from the times I'm "assaulting" him, he's pretty much the same old Lucky. When I'm sitting down putting my shoes on before I go to work, he hops up beside me for some combings and love. When I see him on Mrs. Rabbit's rocking chair he rolls over on his back begging for tummy rubs. Open the balcony door and he's listening to the birdies. When those things don't mean anything to him, then it's time.

I've already given up cable partially because I was being forced to buy mostly inane tripe. It seems the "liberal mainstream MSM liberal media" is firmly attached to Kochknob. One nice thing about a digital tuner is that if you don't want to watch a station, you can delete it and voila, it doesn't exist. NBC may be the first to go that way if they don't get their lying assholes in line (do you hear me Fuckchuck Todd and Fuckdavid Gregory?). If my channel lineup consists solely of CBS (NFL), FOX (NFL only), MeTV and ThisTV, then so be it, fuck the rest.

Comment by trojanrabbit on 10/03/2013 13:21:10
Quote by Raine:
Quote by BobR:
Quote by Raine:
Good morning.

“We’re not going to be disrespected,” conservative Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., [told the Washington Examiner]. “We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”


That says it all.

Deja vu Newt Gingrich
And then we have soon to be ex-congressthing Michelle Blechmann:
“This is about the happiest I’ve seen members in a long time because we’ve seen we’re starting to win this dialogue on a national level.”


I would think the major reason Blechmann's happy is that her investigation stops? Amirite?

Comment by Scoopster on 10/03/2013 13:23:37
What.. in the fuck @ that screencap?!

Whatever else happens today, it can't be ANY dumber than reading quotes from that guy.

Comment by Scoopster on 10/03/2013 13:28:03
I stand corrected.
The media, try as it may to ignore these stories, cannot ignore them. Democrats are putting their feet in their mouths and swallowing.
We are learning the President has a White House staff of 90 to take care of him and his family. Right now, only 15 people are there helping.
We’ve learned 93% of the EPA is considered non-essential.
We’ve learned 94% of the Department of Education is considered non-essential.
We’ve learned that after three years of trying, the government still cannot get a website going to register people for healthcare.




Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 13:30:30
Tropical Storm Karen. eep. this is the last thing we need.

Comment by clintster on 10/03/2013 13:32:12
OK, so I went to healthcare.gov to see if I could get in. While waiting, I checked to see if I could apply for Medicaid. Georgia has not expanded Medicaid (of course, because fuck me) so I either need to hope for a job soon or blind myself, declare myself disabled or enter a nursing home.

Methinks even if the GOP gets some kind of concession regarding ACA and the shutdown, there's going to be a YUGE backlash against them for what their state government puppets have done to gum up the works.

Comment by TriSec on 10/03/2013 13:32:16
Morning, comrades.

I'm impressed by the Tea Party Caucus these days. How big are they?

And with that limited power, they're holding 365 million people hostage.

Boenher clearly doesn't have one. (Out of the gutter - I mean backbone.) This would have never happened with a stronger "party" leader there.



Comment by clintster on 10/03/2013 13:34:05
Quote by Raine:
Tropical Storm Karen. eep. this is the last thing we need.


Don't worry, I'm sure the Tea Party Caucus will be there with sleeves rolled up to pitch in the recovery efforts tell the landfall victims they need to pull themselves up by the bootstraps.

Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 13:35:25


Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 13:36:59


Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 13:39:57
Quote by clintster:
OK, so I went to healthcare.gov to see if I could get in. While waiting, I checked to see if I could apply for Medicaid. Georgia has not expanded Medicaid (of course, because fuck me) so I either need to hope for a job soon or blind myself, declare myself disabled or enter a nursing home.

Methinks even if the GOP gets some kind of concession regarding ACA and the shutdown, there's going to be a YUGE backlash against them for what their state government puppets have done to gum up the works.
Clint, just curious, what's the feel on the ground in Georgia with this shutdown?

Do you think there will actually be backlash in the state?


Comment by clintster on 10/03/2013 13:40:12
Newsbusters so desperately wants to be Media Matters for the right. Bless their hearts.



Comment by clintster on 10/03/2013 13:45:43
Quote by Raine:
Quote by clintster:
OK, so I went to healthcare.gov to see if I could get in. While waiting, I checked to see if I could apply for Medicaid. Georgia has not expanded Medicaid (of course, because fuck me) so I either need to hope for a job soon or blind myself, declare myself disabled or enter a nursing home.

Methinks even if the GOP gets some kind of concession regarding ACA and the shutdown, there's going to be a YUGE backlash against them for what their state government puppets have done to gum up the works.
Clint, just curious, what's the feel on the ground in Georgia with this shutdown?

Do you think there will actually be backlash in the state?


Seems like the feeling is divided along urban/rural lines, at least right now. I can see public opinion swerving against the GOP here if the shutdown continues.

Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 13:46:44
Like I said yesterday (with regard to this caller having to go to work and not knowing if he is going to get paid) federal workers are just damn pawns in the GOP game.



Comment by clintster on 10/03/2013 13:46:52
http://aug-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/superphoto/superphoto/100313MCKEETOON_web.jpg


From today's Augusta (GA) Chronicle, which is usually a more conservative paper than this.

Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 13:49:38
Quote by clintster:
http://aug-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/superphoto/superphoto/100313MCKEETOON_web.jpg


From today's Augusta (GA) Chronicle, which is usually a more conservative paper than this.
Woah.



Comment by Mondobubba on 10/03/2013 13:56:10
Quote by TriSec:
Morning, comrades.

I'm impressed by the Tea Party Caucus these days. How big are they?

And with that limited power, they're holding 365 million people hostage.

Boenher clearly doesn't have one. (Out of the gutter - I mean backbone.) This would have never happened with a stronger "party" leader there.



You mean the Dirty Thirty? Charlie Pierce had profiles of the dumber members of the Tea Party Caucus in his "Esquire" blog. I have a link around here somewhere...

Oh here it is, "Meet the Morons Who Caused the Shutdown."

From the mouth of Jim Bridenstine:

Just because the Supreme Court rules on something doesn't necessarily mean that that's constitutional. What that means is that that's what they decided on that particular day given the makeup of the Court on that particular day. And the left in this country has done an extraordinary job of stacking the courts in their favor. So what we have to do as a body of Congress is say, "look, just because the courts" - and I hear this all the time from Republicans - they say that the court is the arbitrator and after the arbitration is done, that's the rules we have to live under and we can go forth and make legislation given those rules. That's not the case. A perfect example if Obamacare. Obamacare is not constitutional, the individual mandate.



He doesn't even know how government works! He is completely unaware of judicial review!

Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 13:57:25
Quote by trojanrabbit:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by BobR:
Quote by Raine:
Good morning.

“We’re not going to be disrespected,” conservative Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., [told the Washington Examiner]. “We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”


That says it all.

Deja vu Newt Gingrich
And then we have soon to be ex-congressthing Michelle Blechmann:
“This is about the happiest I’ve seen members in a long time because we’ve seen we’re starting to win this dialogue on a national level.”


I would think the major reason Blechmann's happy is that her investigation stops? Amirite?
I hadn't even considered that... interesting.


Comment by wickedpam on 10/03/2013 14:01:18
Morning

running through on my way to the store - be back in a bit!

Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 14:06:39
57 years in congress, Rep. John Dingell of Michigan:

"The American people would get better government out of Monkey Island at the local zoo than we're giving them today,"

Also, THIS:
The stock market ended lower as Wall Street CEOs, Europe's central banker and traders pressed for a solution. Chief executives from the nation's biggest financial firms met Obama for more than an hour Wednesday, some of them plainly frustrated with the tactics at play in Congress and with the potential showdown coming over the debt limit.

"You can re-litigate these policy issues in a political forum, but we shouldn't use threats of causing the U.S. to fail on its obligations to repay its debt as a cudgel," Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, said after the meeting.


Now, here's the deal -- if CORPORATE phucking AMERICA has a problem with the GOP we have a REALLY BIG PROBLEM. (sorry for all the caps.)




Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 14:14:32
Quote by Scoopster:
I stand corrected.
The media, try as it may to ignore these stories, cannot ignore them. Democrats are putting their feet in their mouths and swallowing.
We are learning the President has a White House staff of 90 to take care of him and his family. Right now, only 15 people are there helping.
We’ve learned 93% of the EPA is considered non-essential.
We’ve learned 94% of the Department of Education is considered non-essential.
We’ve learned that after three years of trying, the government still cannot get a website going to register people for healthcare.


heya scoop, took me a while but I found our audicon:

{ idiotic } <-for future reference.


Comment by Scoopster on 10/03/2013 14:19:10
Quote by Raine:
[ { idiotic } <-for future reference.

For some reason I haven't figured out yet (I suspect some setting in NoScript) audiocons don't ever show up for me.

Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 14:20:32
Because I love you all, use this link every time someone posts another stupid thing said by a teatard.

Comment by Mondobubba on 10/03/2013 14:20:58
Quote by Raine:
57 years in congress, Rep. John Dingell of Michigan:

"The American people would get better government out of Monkey Island at the local zoo than we're giving them today,"

Also, THIS:
The stock market ended lower as Wall Street CEOs, Europe's central banker and traders pressed for a solution. Chief executives from the nation's biggest financial firms met Obama for more than an hour Wednesday, some of them plainly frustrated with the tactics at play in Congress and with the potential showdown coming over the debt limit.

"You can re-litigate these policy issues in a political forum, but we shouldn't use threats of causing the U.S. to fail on its obligations to repay its debt as a cudgel," Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, said after the meeting.


Now, here's the deal -- if CORPORATE phucking AMERICA has a problem with the GOP we have a REALLY BIG PROBLEM. (sorry for all the caps.)





The big problem with these tea party assholes is they are populist who don't trust gummit or big bidness. They don't care what the likes of Lloyd Blankfein have to say since they exist in a world that doesn't hear inputs for the reality based community. They are dangerous because the are true believers.

Since the House made a big deal out of doing away with earmarks, The Boner has almost nothing he can do to control these ass hats. I would hazard a guess that a good number of the clowns have little or no federally funded activity in their districts, so The Worst Speaker in History® can't turn off that spigot to keep them in line.


Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 14:21:23
Quote by Scoopster:
Quote by Raine:
[ { idiotic } <-for future reference.

For some reason I haven't figured out yet (I suspect some setting in NoScript) audiocons don't ever show up for me.
I hope the link I just gave helps. it probably is a NoScript thing)


Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 14:28:53
Quote by Mondobubba:
The big problem with these tea party assholes is they are populist who don't trust gummit or big bidness. They don't care what the likes of Lloyd Blankfein have to say since they exist in a world that doesn't hear inputs for the reality based community. They are dangerous because the are true believers.

Since the House made a big deal out of doing away with earmarks, The Boner has almost nothing he can do to control these ass hats. I would hazard a guess that a good number of the clowns have little or no federally funded activity in their districts, so The Worst Speaker in History® can't turn off that spigot to keep them in line.
That's a great point, Mondo.

He can however, do the right thing.

He can ignore the damn non-binding Hastert rule and say fuckitall -- he might lose his speakership -- in return for his soul.

What I do not understand at this point, I really don't -- is that if these baggers (and the GOP as a whole) are really corporatists -- why are they ignoring the will of Wall Street? I'm not trying to be obstuse; The baggers were bought and paid for by the likes of the Koch brothers and the gang of Super pacs.

Is this a case of being a true believer of the hype? is it possibly the snake eating its tail?


Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 14:39:05
Comment by Mondobubba on 10/03/2013 14:43:43
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
The big problem with these tea party assholes is they are populist who don't trust gummit or big bidness. They don't care what the likes of Lloyd Blankfein have to say since they exist in a world that doesn't hear inputs for the reality based community. They are dangerous because the are true believers.

Since the House made a big deal out of doing away with earmarks, The Boner has almost nothing he can do to control these ass hats. I would hazard a guess that a good number of the clowns have little or no federally funded activity in their districts, so The Worst Speaker in History® can't turn off that spigot to keep them in line.
That's a great point, Mondo.

He can however, do the right thing.

He can ignore the damn non-binding Hastert rule and say fuckitall -- he might lose his speakership -- in return for his soul.

What I do not understand at this point, I really don't -- is that if these baggers (and the GOP as a whole) are really corporatists -- why are they ignoring the will of Wall Street? I'm not trying to be obstuse; The baggers were bought and paid for by the likes of the Koch brothers and the gang of Super pacs.

Is this a case of being a true believer of the hype? is it possibly the snake eating its tail?


I think that the Bagger rank and file (this includes members o' congress) don't view them as creatures of Freedomworks etc. They truly believe they are independent actors who aren't funded by the Koch brothers.

Comment by Scoopster on 10/03/2013 14:50:59
Comment by Mondobubba on 10/03/2013 14:52:48



That would be cool.

Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 14:55:23
Quote by Scoopster:
Asshole.

Pawns in their game.

And make no mistake -- what has been happening at the WW2 memorial is staged. they are now using WW2 vets to propagate the bullshit. let me see if I can dig up those links.

Comment by Scoopster on 10/03/2013 14:59:31
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Scoopster:
Asshole.

Pawns in their game.

And make no mistake -- what has been happening at the WW2 memorial is staged. they are now using WW2 vets to propagate the bullshit. let me see if I can dig up those links.

Yep I've got it.. That bint is truly shameless.

Comment by Mondobubba on 10/03/2013 15:00:17
Quote by Scoopster:
Asshole.



Did you look at the comments? Disturbing Prince animated gifs Oh and Walter White throwing a pizza on the roof.

Comment by Mondobubba on 10/03/2013 15:03:34
Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 15:14:33
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Scoopster:
Asshole.

Pawns in their game.

And make no mistake -- what has been happening at the WW2 memorial is staged. they are now using WW2 vets to propagate the bullshit. let me see if I can dig up those links.
here.

Here.

and here.

And if that doesn't convince you, let us take a look a Palin political projection: (aka: PPP)
“My Call For Civil Disobedience Around The ‘Barrycades,’” Palin blamed President Barack Obama for shutting down the memorial and others as a publicity stunt.

“It’s beyond shameful to see Barack Obama disrespect and mistreat our World War II veterans so blatantly. Obama’s political stunt to ‘shut down’ their memorial by barricade is to elicit an angry response to generate bad publicity for people the president uses in his continual blame game,” Palin wrote on Wednesday.
Palin posted a link to a picture on Twitter of a single piece of fencing around the World War I memorial in contrast.

“The difference is obvious. There aren’t any World War I veterans alive today to mistreat in a shameful political stunt. He’s deployed more guards to bar our World War II heroes from their memorial than he sent to Benghazi when our consulate was under attack,” Palin said.
They are horrible awesome terrible people.

They care so much about our WW2 vets that they don;t want to fund our nursing homes that need federal funding.

PIGS. EVERY DAMN ONE OF THEM


Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 15:17:46
Quote by Scoopster:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Scoopster:
Asshole.

Pawns in their game.

And make no mistake -- what has been happening at the WW2 memorial is staged. they are now using WW2 vets to propagate the bullshit. let me see if I can dig up those links.

Yep I've got it.. That bint is truly shameless.
OK, you did it in one link.


Comment by BobR on 10/03/2013 15:21:09
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Scoopster:
Asshole.



Did you look at the comments? Disturbing Prince animated gifs Oh and Walter White throwing a pizza on the roof.

the level of douchiness is matched only by the awesomeness of the comments

Comment by TriSec on 10/03/2013 15:23:16
I'm telling you; I'm waiting for the first American to actually die because of the shutdown (if it hasn't happened already). I'd like to see the Republicans dodge that one.

(And I posted a link back about day one quoting a federal worker here at the JFK Building. To paraphrase: "I live paycheck to paycheck; I"m scared.")

Starving families, check.
Utilities being cut off, check.
Evictions, check.

Nice work, asshats.



Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 15:31:32
Not for nothing, but can we seriously stop saying that WW2 vets STORMED the memorial? They are WORLD WAR TWO VETS.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BVgH-nbCEAEu9PK.jpg


Some one had to say it. Sue me.

Comment by wickedpam on 10/03/2013 15:33:54


to see Carol Burnett, cause that alone would be awesome, or to the Kennedy Center?


Comment by Raine on 10/03/2013 15:35:56
Quote by wickedpam:


to see Carol Burnett, cause that alone would be awesome, or to the Kennedy Center?
Burnett, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, Amy Pohler just to name a few.

and both, to answer your question. I SO WANT TO GO.

But at a cool grand a ticket, that ain't gonna happen.


Show All

Rev 3.7; Copyright � 2007-2017 by BobberBlogs�