Monday Open Thread 9.23.13
Eugene Robinson at the Washington Post writes Obama must not yield on Obamacare, debt ceiling or shutdown:
I happen to believe that Obamacare is a great accomplishment, providing access to medical insurance to millions of Americans who lack it and bringing the nation much closer to universal health care. It’s an imperfect law, to be sure, but it could be made much better with the kind of constructive tinkering that responsible leaders performed on Social Security and Medicare.
Even if Obamacare were tremendously flawed, however, it would be wrong to let a bunch of extremist ideologues hold the country hostage in this manner. If Republicans want to repeal the reforms, they should win the Senate and the presidency. If not, they’re welcome to pout and sulk all they want — but not to use extortion to get their way.
I agree. And at this point, I am fully preparing to have both the government shut down and have America default. And the President must too. I am ready for anything that ends the Modern Republican Party once and for all. And by Modern Republican Party I am referring to every Republican who does not agree with former Republican Senator Judd Gregg in his comments below, and of course everyone who describes themselves as a Tea Partier.
“Most Americans these days are simply ignoring Republicans. And they should. The self-promotional babble of a few has become the mainstream of Republican political thought. It has marginalized the influence of the party to an appalling degree. […]
An approach to the debt ceiling that says one will not vote for its extension unless ObamaCare is defunded is the political equivalent of playing Russian roulette with all the chambers of the gun loaded. It is the ultimate no-win strategy.
You cannot in politics take a hostage you cannot shoot. That is what the debt ceiling is. At some point, the debt ceiling will have to be increased not because it is a good idea but because it is the only idea.
Defaulting on the nation’s obligations, which is the alternative to not increasing the debt ceiling, is not an option either substantively or politically.
A default would lead to some level of chaos in the debt markets, which would lead to a significant contraction in economic activity, which would lead to job losses, which would lead to higher spending by the federal government and lower tax revenues, which would lead to more debt.”
One of the Modern Republicans that must be destroyed if the country is to survive is Ted Cruz. This morning, he is busy angering the sane Republicans in the Senate.
Sen aide tells me a dozen+ GOP sens are fuming this am over Cruz making a vote to proceed (CR cloture) seem like support for law they hate— Robert Costa (@robertcostaNRO) September 22, 2013
Yes, that’s right. Senator Cruz now says the right thing to do from an evil fascist perspective (i.e. the Tea Party’s perspective) is to filibuster the bill that the House passed last week WITH the Repeal Obamacare language. The very same bill that he demanded the House pass. So Ted Cruz is going to filibuster his own fracking bill.
[T]he new stop-Obamacare plan now entails filibustering the defunders’ own bill. They can do this with just 41 votes in the Senate, if they can get them. But consider how terrible this situation is for the Republicans. If they fail, it will be because a handful of Republicans joined with Democrats to break the filibuster, betraying the defunders. This means the full force of the defund-Obamacare movement – which is itself very well funded by rabid grassroots conservatives eager to save the country from the final socialistic blow of Obamacare — will come down on the handful of Senate Republicans who hold its fate in their hands. The old plan at least let angry conservatives blame Democrats for blocking their goal of defunding Obamacare. Now the defunders can turn their rage against fellow Republicans, creating a fratricidal, revolution-eats-its-own bloodletting.
The Fix reports that, unless “there is a major shift among Republicans in the Senate, Cruz won’t [even] be able to find those 40 votes.”
So now Ted Cruz wants Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to bail him out.
After months of fiery rhetoric, Cruz and his allies are scrambling to salvage their strategy. For starters, Cruz wants Reid to make an exception to Senate rules that would make it easier for Republicans to block Obamacare funding. […]
Cruz is asking Reid to subject the vote on removing the Obamacare provision to a 60-vote threshold instead of “abusing his power.” That sort of agreement would require the consent of all 100 senators, which isn’t going to happen.
“The Senate, generally on controversial votes, we work out an agreement for it to be subject to a 60-vote threshold,” Cruz said on “Fox News Sunday.” Otherwise “the majority is going to run the minority over with a train.”
Reid’s parliamentary strategy is “basic Senate procedure,” said a Democratic leadership aide on Sunday. “No one is taking him seriously on this.”
If Reid does anything other than telling Cruz to go fuck himself and then punching him directly in the face, he should resign.
Cruz is drunk with power and now demands the world bow before him, in doing so he has angered more than a few GOP senators, expect some sort of payback for young Ted. I think there will be a shut down, and it is not going to benefit the Republicans just like in the nineties. I can’t wait for full implementation of Obamacare, I think most Americans are going to like it.
And McConnell waives the White Flag.
Politics is the seedy side-show, health care is the headliner. In the Delaware Exchange published rates the thing of great interest is the elimination of the 4k deductible that was hoisted on Highmark BCBS members. I would gladly take a 10.00 copay over that deductible any day, everyday.
The McConnell statement is perfect for Cruz. He’ll now soak up the really big teabag money and make a pretty good showing in the GOP primary as the guy who bugs the crap out of the beltway insiders.