General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNYT Editorial: John Boehner’s Shutdown
By Tuesday morning, the leadership failure of Speaker John Boehner was complete. In encouraging the impossible quest of House Republicans to dismantle health care reform, he pushed the country into a government shutdown that will now begin to take a grievous economic toll.
At any point, Mr. Boehner could have stopped it. Had he put on the floor a simple temporary spending resolution to keep the government open, without the outrageous demands to delay or defund the health reform law, it could easily have passed the House with a strong majority including with sizable support from Republican members, many of whom are aware of how badly this collapse will damage their party.
But Mr. Boehner refused. He stood in the well of the House and repeated the tired falsehood that the Affordable Care Act was killing jobs. He came up with a series of increasingly ridiculous demands: defund the health law, delay it for a year, stop its requirement that employers pay for contraception, block the medical device tax, delay the individual mandate for a year, strip Congressional employees of their health subsidies. All were instantly rejected by the Senate. Theyve lost their minds, Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, said of the House Republicans. They keep trying to do the same thing over and over again.
Finally, at the last minute, when there was still time to end the charade with a straightforward spending bill, Mr. Boehner made the most absurd demand of all: an immediate conference committee with the Senate. Suddenly, with less than an hour left, he wanted to set up formal negotiations?
<snip>
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/02/opinion/john-boehners-shutdown.html?_r=0
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,035 posts)the last two paragraphs:
Earlier in his presidency, Mr. Obama made the catastrophic mistake in the face of just this sort of extortion to believe in Mr. Boehners willingness to be reasonable. This time, however, the cynical games of the Republicans are not going to work.
The Republicans reckless obsession with destroying health reform and with wounding the president has been on full display. And, as the publics anger grows over this entirely unnecessary crisis, it should be aimed at a party and a speaker that are incapable of governing.
spooky3
(34,458 posts)Snake Plissken
(4,103 posts)The dems could win by 2 touchdowns and the media calls it a win for the GOP
spooky3
(34,458 posts)They can't control the media but they can do a MUCH better job of selling their position.
SunSeeker
(51,572 posts)He could end it by letting a clean CR get a vote in the House--it would pass immediately.
Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)There's a simple solution.
Just let the House vote on that bill.
SunSeeker
(51,572 posts)Response to cali (Original post)
Warren DeMontague This message was self-deleted by its author.