Boehner Gets It Over With, Agrees to Tie Overall Budget to Obamacare Funding

[brooklynite]

Source: Business Week

Bad news for anybody hoping to avoid another budget crisis: Late Tuesday afternoon, National Review‘s Robert Costa broke the news that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will cave to the Republican Party’s right wing and introduce a continuing resolution that strips funding for Obamacare. Senate Democrats will block this, and then … well, nobody knows for sure. If somebody doesn’t figure out something by Sept. 30, the government will shut down.

Here’s the good news about the bad news: Boehner ‘s latest move was almost preordained. It doesn’t necessarily mean that national parks, DMVs, or the U.S. Army will have to put up “Closed” signs, come Oct. 1.

It isn’t that Boehner and House GOP leaders prefer to put their names behind a measure that stands almost no chance of becoming law. It’s that they never had a choice. Enough Tea Party conservatives are adamant about attaching a defunding provision to any continuing resolution that they can stymie any Boehner alternative. (They did so last week.) When I spoke to Representative Tom Graves (R-Ga.) shortly before this news broke on Tuesday, he said that more than 60 Republicans had signed on to his one-year defunding plan.

The reason this development isn’t as bad as first appears is that it was bound to happen at some point in the process—and there’s still time to pass the Graves plan (or some variant), see it fail in the Senate, and then come up with a more palatable alternative to keep everything running smoothly. That probably won’t happen without lots of threats, drama and anger. This is Congress, after all. But at least theoretically, indulging the right wing’s desire to pursue its defunding strategy ought to make it easier for Boehner to cobble together a majority for whatever funding bill comes in its wake.

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-18/boehner-gets-it-over-with-agrees-to-tie-overall-budget-to-obamacare-funding

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Under the circumstances, I sort of wonder WHY Boehner wants to be Speaker...

[tazkcmo]

1. Why Boner wants to be speaker.

Free orange stuff.

[elleng]

4. He probably doesn't, any more.

[AAO]

32. Free green stuff, if you ask me.

[tazkcmo]

36. Good answer!!! n/t

[Botany]

2. So they are willing to shut down the government to stop people from getting health care?

This could give us the House in 2014 .... go for it Boner.

[elleng]

5. COULD, if voters remember that THEY did this.

Hope so.

[Botany]

6. Wait till granny doesn't get her SSI check

Bottom line the repugs know that the A.C.A. will work and they are
shittin' kittens.

[tabasco]

29. So true

They have gone into overdrive with their attacks just before the marketplaces open on October 1.

[RedCloud]

3. The greed and insanity of Koch snorting puppets strikes again.

[pampango]

7. Boehmer "will cave to the Republican Party’s right wing". Has been and will be said many times.

What a sorry excuse for a "leader". I suppose the "silver lining" is the republican's shooting themselves (and the country) in the foot will remind everyone how out of touch and controlled by wackos their party is.

[L0oniX]

8. Defund the Pentagon first!

[Thor_MN]

9. Doggammed idiots complain about government spending, while blowing over $60 million on FAIL.

Each of their now 42 attempts to kill the ACA costs over a million and a half...

[Koko Ware]

10. Then the taxpayers of the United States should sue the Republican Party seeking redress

for failure to do its duty as mandated under the Consittution. A cool $1.2 billion should cover it. The Republican Party will have to pay it, and once the USSC declares the lawsuit upheld in 2016, it will spell the death knell of the Republican Party.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

13. 60 mil could buy a lot of hot lunches for school kids going without.

Shame.

[Cryptoad]

11. I must be demented

but I am enjoying watching the dying shivers of an Evil Creature!

[Berlin Expat]

12. I think what

Boehner is calculating is they go ahead with the vote, it passes, and goes on to the Senate. After the Senate gets done laughing themselves into tears and rejects it, it gets sent back to the House.

Boehner then can say to the Teahadis, "OK, Sit down and STFU; you had your vote."

It's a risky political move, in that he's taking hold of a tiger by the tail and he knows it. This could - and likely will -backfire on the GOP in ways they're not foreseeing.

Aside from the GOP being blamed for a government shutdown (yet again) if Boehner does tell the Teahadis to STFU, and then reaches out to the Democrats to get things done, it will produce a fatal split within the GOP. The GOP will destroy itself in infighting during the primaries. In the best case scenario, one which I'm keeping my fingers crossed for to transpire, the Tea Partiers will actively run third-party candidates during the 2014 mid-terms, badly splitting the GOP and maybe - just maybe - whittling their majority down to a tiny handful or.......dare I dream?.....causing an electoral debacle for the Republicans that even their gerrymandered districts can't save them from.

At least, with any luck.

[PearliePoo2]

15. Nice post...I like your scenario.

The gerrymandered districts carved out by the filthy Re-Thugs get to the heart of this stinking mess.
Tea-hadists is an apt name for these treasonous, moronic cretins!

[Berlin Expat]

18. Glad that you

liked it; it's one of many scenarios as possible outcomes. The Law of Unforeseen Consequences and all that.

The Teahadis - the hardcore fanatics of the GOP base - are failing to think this through. They have become blinded by their single-minded, monomaniacal populist-reactionary ideology. It is an almost inevitable consequence that they will be hoisted on their own petard, or as the old saw goes, give them enough rope, and they'll hang themselves.

If the Tea Partiers really do aggressively pursue a third-party strategy against the GOP come 2014, the GOP will be in deep, deep trouble, and yes, under that scenario, even the GOP's best efforts at having gerrymandered the electoral map may not be enough to save them.

I really think there exists a strong possibility that the Teahadi wing of the GOP could well pursue an aggressive third-party strategy for the 2014 mid-terms, particularly if the GOP leadership finds themselves compelled to cooperate with the Democratic Party in order to move legislation. I have little doubt that the Teahadis will mount aggressive primary-season campaigns against those whom they perceive of as 'ideologically impure' - and if they fail in that endeavor, they will either go third-party, or perhaps simply stay home come Election Day 2014.

[Lochloosa]

17. Love the scenario....

[mindwalker_i]

19. However, the teabagger have a serious hard-on (boehner?) for shutting it down

I'm not sure they would STFU after just a vote on it, since I'm sure they know the Senate and Obama would reject their "proposal." Given that, they expect to go ahead with the shutdown and force Obama and the rest of the Dems to go along with repealing the ACA, and if ANY Republican doesn't go all the way with this blackmail, the TBs are going to go all medeival on their asses.

The only way out is for the non-TB Republicans to break off, which would have very serious political consequences for them. And given past history, I just don't see that happening, at least not without a huge amount of pressure from the public. In order for the public to give a rat's ass, it needs to feel significant pain, which a government shutdown would do, actually.

The chaos that would be created frm this would be enormous. However, as painful as it would all be, I'm looking forward to it because it would, eventually, force the country to deal with the fact that the Republican party is completely incapable of running government or even contributing positively to it. It's like America has a tumor in its right ass-cheek. The longer we let it sit there, the more pain and agony it's going to cause, eventually resulting in the death of the patient - namely us. A lot of pain now, but still less than the eventual amount, would be preferable.

[Berlin Expat]

20. Therein lies the

risk that Boehner is running; that the Teahadis won't just "sit down and shut up", but rather they will press ever-forward.

I agree that the only way out for the GOP at this point is to essentially purge their party of these wackos; but of course, that would risk alienating a not-insignificant part of their base and possibly lead to a third-party political movement directed largely against the GOP itself.

As the GOP is now discovering, they've created a Frankenstein's monster that's run amok and has now returned to the lab, threatening to destroy its creator.

[mindwalker_i]

21. Exactly, Frankie's had it up to here

and he ain't takin' it no more.

[Berlin Expat]

23. If you remember the

ending of the novella, the Creature discovered that the death of his creator, Dr. Frankenstein, brought him no comfort or solace; rather, his alienation and misery had only increased over time. The Creature is last seen drifting away on an ice floe into the darkness.

I think that if the Teahadists fail in either capturing the GOP once and for all, or fail in achieving any meaningful electoral success, they will - like the Creature - simply fade back into the political landscape. There have been these movements before; the Anti-Masonic Party, the Know-Nothings, the Bull Moose Party. The political cemetery is filled with the gravestones of those movements who sought to change America for good or ill.

In the end, the Tea Party movement is no different. It is a manifestation of the occasional flare-up of demagogic populism and reactionary sentiment. In time, it too will fade and be little more than a footnote in the history of early 21st Century American politics.

I believe that the 2010 mid-terms was the last gasp of the reactionary old-guard, their unusually loud death rattle; I admit, I could of course, be totally wrong, but I have a feeling that the 2014 mid-terms will prove that political 'gut feeling' of mine correct.

We shall see.

[mindwalker_i]

25. Hmm, that would be nice, but I don't think it'll happen that way

I must admit, first of all, that I kind of want this all to blow up. It would present an opportunity for the ugliness of the Republicans and especially the tea baggers to be on full display, and would allow the whole country to see how bad that is for them. It would also be a great opportunity for liberals to reassert themselves. We're the ones who need to "take back the country!"

It's kind of like with global climate change or peak oil: nothing is going to change until people as a whole feel the pain. But when that happens, it's an opportunity to create better systems, to re-prioritize what we consider important. It's a very optimistic view, admittedly.

[Berlin Expat]

27. Let it blow up

and let the American public see these people exactly for who and what they are. I have no problem with that at all; I figure that when people see their true colors, that's when they'll 'fade into history'.

[Thor_MN]

22. So what kept him from doing that any of the 41 other times?

Don't get me wrong, I'd like that to happen, but

[Berlin Expat]

24. Political calculations,

I believe. Boehner himself doesn't want to shut down the government; deep down, he knows it will end up with disastrous consequences for the GOP.

But now, the Teahadis are really pushing it. Simply put, it's appeasement, and he's hoping that the TP wing of the GOP will be mollified if they get their vote on the record.

[Thor_MN]

26. So, 42 is the magical number of times that Teabaggers need to be told STFU before they do?

That's going to be useful next time I run into one.

[AAO]

33. Boner doesn't have the balls to say STFU to the Teabaggers. hehehe boner... balls... hehhehe...

[Enrique]

14. would DMVs really be affected?

or was that a goof by this reporter?

[another_liberal]

16. This move could well cost the GOP its House majority next November.

Unless, of course, they choose to back down at the last minute.

[Historic NY]

28. After the SS checks etc, don't show up in the banks or mail...

the baggers will wish they never tried this. But I say those imortal words of * "bring it on".

[Stryst]

31. of course they won't regret it

Because six months after Grandma has to make a choice between medicine and paying property taxes, her house will be seized and auctioned off. Good bye earned equity, and hello new revenue stream for a rental property agency. And it won't even cost any political capitol, because when the 2014 mid-terms come up, the GOP will just bring up guns and gay marriage again.

[pampango]

30. Krugman: GOP leaders are weak, apparently helpless in the face of dingbat Jacobins ...

So, now we face the imminent threat of a government shutdown and/or a U.S. government default because Republicans refuse to accept the notion that duly enacted legislation should be allowed to go into effect, and repealed only through constitutional means. Oh, and the cause for which most of the GOP is willing to threaten chaos is the noble endeavor of ensuring that tens of millions of Americans continue to lack essential health care.

Hmm. Maybe I was right? Nah. GOP craziness may now be obvious, but recognizing it too early still brands you as unreliable and partisan.

It’s true that the situation has changed some from 2003. Back then the Republicans were radical but rational: the Bushies exploited the unwillingness of conventional wisdom to recognize the new asymmetry in American politics to push through things they wanted, like tax cuts and a war on false pretenses. These days GOP leaders are weak, apparently helpless in the face of dingbat Jacobins who imagine that sabotage governing can get Obama to undermine his one major achievement.

But the key point is that we are now in insane political terrain. Pundits dove into the Syria affair with an obvious sigh of relief — this sort of thing, with all the bloviation about presidential leadership and so on, was comfortable territory. But for America at least it was very much a side issue; the political confrontation, which now seems almost guaranteed to produce at least a few weeks of chaos, is the central thing.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/things-come-to-a-head/

[MindMover]

34. Worst speaker in the history of the House ....

[blkmusclmachine]

35. Here we go again...

Bipartisanship You Can Believe In!

[Hubert Flottz]

37. Boehner is just the teabagger's pimp.

To big a lush to raise a finger to defend the US Constitution like he swore he would. To big an ass kisser to say NO, to the likes of Dick Armey's/Koch's renegade racist Army in Washington. He's not really orange, he's yellow...no balls at all.