Holding only a small majority in one of the two houses, they seem to believe that they should get their way, and if they don't, they're going to throw a temper tantrum that shuts down a big portion of the government to show everyone else what big babies they are.
I want to thank the President and the Senate for standing up to the squalling of the infant-like Republicans and refusing to repeal or delay the Affordable Care Act. The President, in particular, has been far too willing to negotiate with the Republicans in the past, even then when they were trying to extort concessions that deny their lack of majority.
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Rock Bottom
Sep 30, 2013 | By
CAP Action War Room
GOP Prepares to Take Us Over the Brink
In just a few hours the federal government
will shut down for the first time in 17 years unless House Republicans
stop wasting time on anti-Obamacare ransom notes and instead agree to a
real compromise — a short-term funding bill at sequester spending levels
— that will keep the government open.
Unfortunately, Republicans appear to care
far more about more dead-end votes on Obamacare than about avoiding a
damaging government shutdown.
Late Saturday,
the House passed a measure that demanded a one-year halt to Obamacare
in return for keeping the government open for just over two months. It
also included a repugnant attack on women’s access to affordable birth control that would allow employers to deny birth control coverage to their female employees.
The Senate rejected this ransom note earlier this afternoon,
but it appears that House Republicans are simply readying another
equally unacceptable anti-Obamacare measure instead of a serious bill to
keep the government open.
Sadly, we don’t have to wait for midnight to come to understand how damaging a government shutdown will be. Republican brinksmanship is already hurting the economy, just as it did during their manufactured debt limit crisis in 2011.
The New York Times reported today that “stock markets fell worldwide on Monday as political disagreements in Washington made a shutdown on Monday
night increasingly likely.” “Investors are worried that even a
temporary government shutdown could endanger an already weak economic
recovery,” the Times added.
The Business Roundtable, a group representing corporate CEOs,surveyed its members and found that “half of top executives said the budget fights were crimping their hiring plans.”
The worst for the economy is of course yet to come:
Fears over the impact to the economy led the
GOP-leaning U.S. Chamber of Commerce and more than 230 other business
groups to write to lawmakers last week “urging them to keep the government open.”
Shutting down the government tonight will
kneecap the economy and hurt millions of Americans, but ironically it
will do nothing to actually stop Obamacare. Indeed, tomorrow
marks the opening of insurance marketplaces that will allow millions of
Americans, many of whom are currently insured or who have never had
insurance, to shop for a quality, affordable health plan.
“An important part of the Affordable Care Act takes effect tomorrow
no matter what Congress decides to do today,” said President Obama late
this afternoon. “The Affordable Care Act is moving forward. That
funding is already in place. You can’t shut it down. ”
Given the Republicans’ spiteful fixation on denying health care to millions of Americans, it’s no wonder that a poll out today
found that the approval rating of Congress has dropped to just 10
percent — an all-time low. Other recent polls have found overwhelming
disapproval for the GOP and its actions:
It’s also no wonder then that if the
government shuts down tonight, the public will, correctly, blame
Republicans. One poll out today found that a majority of Americans (51
percent) say they will blame Republicans in Congress “a lot” if the
government shuts down, which is consistent with the findings of other recent polls.
BOTTOM LINE: It’s sadly
once again clear that Republicans will do anything — including shutting
down the government and sabotaging the economy — in order to stop
millions of Americans from gaining the security of quality, affordable
health care.
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