Rachel Maddow blasts GOP intransigence: ‘Elect Republicans and they will burn the place down’


MSNBC host Rachel Maddow outlined the Republican path toward grinding the government to a halt on Monday night, pointing out that on multiple occasions over the past few years, GOP lawmakers and candidates swore they would do just that.

“There is nothing about the last few weeks of political back-and-forth that explains why this is happening. There’s nothing about health reform, specifically, that explains why this is happening.

“What is happening tonight is happening tonight because this is what Republicans want to do,” Maddow said pointedly. “This is what they promised to do. This tactic — ‘Let’s Roll!’ — is an end in and of itself, and that is why there’s no talking them out of it. Elect Republicans and they will burn the place down.”


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/30/rachel-maddow-blasts-gop-intransigence-elect-republicans-and-they-will-burn-the-place-down/

In January, demoralized House Republicans retreated to Williamsburg, Virginia, to plot out their legislative strategy for President Obama’s second term. Conservatives were angry that their leaders had been unable to stop the expiration of the Bush tax cuts on high incomes, and sought assurances from their leaders that no further compromises would be forthcoming.

The agreement that followed, which Republicans called “The Williamsburg Accord,” received obsessive coverage in the conservative media but scant attention in the mainstream press. (The phrase “Williamsburg Accord” has appeared once in the Washington Post and not at all in the New York Times.)

But the decision House Republicans made in January has set the party on the course it has followed since. If you want to grasp why Republicans are careening toward a potential federal government shutdown, and possibly toward provoking a sovereign debt crisis after that, you need to understand that this is the inevitable product of a conscious party strategy.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/09/house-gops-legislative-strike.html

Indeed, the debate happening in Washington right now is not even between Democrats and Republicans. It’s not even about the deficit, or the budget, or government spending priorities. Rather, it is one strictly occurring between Republicans who are trying to find some magic bullet to destroy “Obamacare” – the country’s fiscal health be damned.

In the House of Representatives, bills that would allow the government to continue to operate were amended with provisions defunding or delaying Obamacare. This is, for Democrats, a nonstarter. The reason is obvious: the Affordable Care Act is the president’s signature achievement and he is not going to sign a bill that undoes or even delays it.

Nor should he. Obamacare is the law of the land. It was passed by Congress, signed by the president, upheld by the US supreme court, and it is already going into effect. There is no reason for President Obama to be cowed by such legislative extortion.

Yet, rather than accept the reality of Obamacare, Republicans are using the prospect of a government shutdown and/or a default on the nation’s debt to try to stop it.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/30/dont-fall-prey-to-both-sides-ism-republicans-are-to-blame-for-government-shutdown/

The GOP knows Obamacare will help the middle class.

After refusing to pass a clean CR and bringing the United States one step closer to a government shutdown, House Republicans decided to stomp their feet and hold their breath and demand that the Senate get back to work immediately during a press conference this Sunday -- and of course, once again try to blame the Democrats for the results of not giving into their hostage taking.

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/house-republicans-hold-presser-demanding-s

But there is a critical flaw in Republicans' argument that they are just carrying out the will of the people: If the House of Representatives -- the "People's House" -- was allowed by GOP leaders to work its will by casting a straight up-or-down vote on the bill passed by the Senate to avert a government shutdown, that bill would become law.

Shortly after House Republicans unveiled their latest gambit targeting Obamacare in exchange for funding the government, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) went off-script by throwing his support behind the Senate bill, which is known as a clean continuing resolution, because it continues government funding without major amendments to other legislation.

"Let's see what the Senate sends back," Dent told reporters Saturday. "If they send back another clean CR, I suspect -- again, I'm not making a decision on what's going to be on the floor -- a clean CR would likely to be on the floor at some point."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/30/house-clean-continuing-resolution_n_4014229.html#slide=1943770

If Obamacare is so bad, Why not implement the program and let the voters judge for themselves? Is it really worth fighting so hard against it as to destroy the economy? Or is Obamacare such a good program that the GOP puppet masters have the GOP reps fight tooth and nail to keep the American voters in the dark by not implementing it. Maybe people will actually like Obamacare?

These so called elected representatives are not looking out for the middle class. If Obamacare was so bad why not let it become implemented? Then the GOP can run against it.

No, The GOP Reps know that Obamacare is good for the middle class. The GOP must stop Obamacare at every turn even to the point of destroying the economic upturn.

On a Thursday conference call, a group of House conservatives consulted with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas about how to respond to the leadership’s fiscal strategy. Sources who were on the call say Cruz strongly advised them to oppose it, and hours later, Speaker John Boehner’s plan fizzled.

It’s the latest example of Cruz leading the House's GOP members.

http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/ted-cruz-now-controlling-house-republic

If Americans aren't sure whether Congress can head off a shutdown of the government in the next three days, they're not alone. The Republican-led House of Representatives didn't know whether it was possible either, as of Friday evening.

The Senate has passed a bill that keeps federal employees on the job until Nov. 15 -- but strips the House GOP's attempt to defund the Affordable Care Act. It's now the lower chamber's turn to deal with the legislation.

That has presented House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) with one of the toughest quandaries of his reign since the showdown over the country's debt in 2011.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/27/house-republicans-government-shutdown_n_4005823.html