I am really getting tired of Chris Matthews plugging his book.

I swear, every program on MSNBC has him on plugging that book! How boring and self serving.

I believe the teaparty intends to destroy the US

Then they will build their "new country" out of the ashes. Slavery returns, only white males have power, gays are stoned to death, you must be a Christian, and prayers will be monitored. Ted Cruz will be President, Sarah Palin will be first lady.

Life in the teanut country.

We MUST take our country back from these nutcases!

We all need to call our reps NOW!

I called my house rep, a conservative republican who wants to repeal Obamacare. This is my 5th call to that office in 5 days. Today the person who answered the phone told me that based on their data, only about 20 percent of the people calling were angry with the party or Mr. Republican for the shutdown. She said they felt the 70 percent blaming republicans number being put out there is grossly exaggerated.

Ok, what that tells me is, people are not calling, they are coming here and other places to vent, but not calling the people we need to call to make them listen.

They listen to the TP people who call them all the time. They organize better than we do, they make it seem like there are more of them than there are of us. We need to do the same, ring their phones till they are sick of us.

She may have been talking the party line, but it sounded honest to me. I was nice to her, I apologized for the job she had to do but I had to make myself heard. She didn't want to hear.

"The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party" by Michael Holt

is a must read right now. I know it is a hefty book, I found it this summer in a used bookstore, but it is like reading what is happening today. Today's Republican party is going to be taken down by the same forces that destroyed the Whig party, chapter 14 is a very telling chapter if you can't handle the whole thing.

I've been here a while but I have a question

who or what is meta?

Am I the only one who is terrified?

We are not rich people, we are more able to pay our bills than most people, and we are grateful for that but for the most part live paycheck to paycheck. We have taken care of elderly parents which took a toll on our savings. We both had student loans that took a big chunk of our money for a long time. We still have my husband's retirement which is in the market and bonds but I am terrified what all of this will do to that nest egg we have sacrificed to save.

I am not working due to health issues, but am thinking of trying to find something just to give us more of a cushion. My doctor is not real pleased but I have to do what I have to do.

You know 20 years ago we would be considered very upper middle class, now we feel like we are lower middle class if that. We are both educated but it doesn't seem to matter anymore. Every time I go to the grocery store it costs more than the last time. Gas costs more, home repairs everything.

This debt ceiling thing scare the crap out of me, I am afraid to lose what little we have accumulated. Am I alone in this feeling? I know there are people in much worse shape, but we are a couple of paychecks away from being in pretty terrible shape.

I want to scream at everyone concerned, this is not a game it is our lives!

Another shutdown casualty Medical Research.

I think a lot of people forget how much medical research is funded by NSF and NIH. They also do not realize how many people those grants employ, either outright or partially. My husbands lab alone employs 5 and helps employ 10 more in his department. Not to mention the tuition assistance it gives graduate students.

Shutting down the government to these nuts is not giving welfare checks to these invisible welfare queens, who wear expensive clothes and drive fast cars. In fact it affects lots of people they never thought of.

Idiots!

Has there been any polling on Ted Cruz since this stuff hit the fan?

Rep. Farenthold idiot from Texas!

Was just on MSNBC. Did Texas send all of their idiots to Washington? This guy looks like a hillbilly!

Question regarding Debt Ceiling

Do any of you believe the rich people who back the Republicans, and Democrats for that matter will risk their wealth by allowing the country to default on our obligations on October 18th? I cannot believe they would risk their fortunes in what could be an international financial meltdown to make a point.

I may be wrong, and am open to being educated on this subject.