SocraticGadfly: Federal shutdown here we come?

April 05, 2011

Federal shutdown here we come?

Even as Speaker John Boehner tries to tell tea partiers a shutdown is a Democratic win, it looks more and more likely, as Beltway leaders say budget dealing is at an impasse.

Of course, this is the same Boehner who's offering a one-week extension in exchange for an additional $12 billion of cuts, talking out of both sides of his mouth at once. No wonder there's an impasse.

Meanwhile, wingnuts aren't buying into Boehner's worries:
“This is not 1995,” Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who is considering a gubernatorial run in the Hoosier State. “We have the internet, we have talk radio, we have an infrastructure to get our message out.” ...

“Look — if liberals in the Senate and in this administration want to continue to play political games instead of accepting very modest budget cuts, then if they’d rather embrace a government shutdown than make a down payment on fiscal responsibility, then I say shut it down,” Pence said on the “Top Line” webcast. “And I still feel very strongly that way.”

“The people who seem to be afraid of a government shutdown … are worried about getting elected in two more years,” Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Tex.) told the Washington Post. “I’m worried about having to go home and tell the folks that I grew up with, and intend to spend the rest of my life with, that I’m a liar.”

Others in this group include Reps. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) and Raul Labrador (Idaho), who called out Boehner during Monday’s session before being battered by his own freshmen colleagues the next morning.
Have fun, Big John.

Also, remember, Majority Leader Eric Cantor reportedly wants Boehner to fail. How much is he undercutting him in private?

And, Pence illustrates yet again how the Internet has its dark side. The tea partiers are in an echo chamber.

No comments: