I consider it my job to understand congressional procedure but my eyes just glaze over when I try to understand what the House Republicans are trying to do with the Continuing Resolution and the ObamaCare defunding bills. As best as I can tell, their plan is like a Swiss Watch. They are going to pass a “clean” government-funding bill but with a rule attached that they can’t vote for it when it comes back from the Senate unless the Senate has had a vote on defunding ObamaCare. It’s okay if the Senate doesn’t pass the ObamaCare defunding bill, just so long as they have a vote on it.
The thing about this, and maybe someone can correct me if I am wrong, is that I do not believe the House can force the Senate to vote on anything. All Harry Reid has to do is to tell John Boehner to “stuff it.” And then it’s right back on Boehner’s plate. He’ll either have to change the rule or be responsible for a government shutdown.
In any case, the conservatives revolted against even this crazy plan because they know that it won’t work. But their plan won’t work any better. Their plan is to include the ObamaCare defunding language in the Continuing Resolution itself. Then they expect the Senate to take the blame if they don’t concur. To try to bolster their case, they expect the Senate Republicans to filibuster any Senate version of the CR that doesn’t include the defunding. This way, they can say that the House passed something but the Democratically-controlled Senate didn’t. Except, the reason the Senate wouldn’t have acted is because of a Republican filibuster.
Because this demented logic seems compelling to most of the House Republican caucus, Boehner and Cantor just had to delay the vote on their own ridiculous plan to next week.
ObamaCare is not going away, and neither is The Crazy.
It’s funny – most of us (progressives) would agree that the Senate is useless and awful, most of the time. But is our current situation with the crazy House a real-life version of that Constitutional unicorn, the Senate “cooling saucer” moderating the passions of the lower chamber? Even if the parties are completely polarized. For once maybe it’s good we don’t have a unicameral government because it makes it harder for conservatives to destroy the country.
As for this iteration of GOP’s evil plans (don’t you just imagine Cantor slavering over it in a dungeon somewhere with his aides?), my brain actually refuses to work through the logic. Which is maybe a good strategy for the GOP: devise plans that are so Rube Golderbergian that no one, and especially not their idiot base, is capable of understanding them.
Then the conservatives will be too confused to revolt.
It’s important for us to call senators and representatives about this. Dems need to know we have their back. This article was published on 9/10
Hoyer vows to oppose spending bills that include sequester cuts
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/321423-hoyer-vows-to-oppose-spending-bills-that-include
-sequester-cuts
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) vowed Tuesday to oppose any temporary spending bills that include the sequester cuts….
The warning came on the same day that House GOP leaders floated a stopgap proposal that would prevent a government shutdown by extending current spending levels – including the sequester cuts – into December. Without congressional action, the government would run out of funding on Oct. 1.
The Republicans bill is expected to hit the floor as early as Thursday.
It’s unclear if GOP leaders have the votes to pass the measure through the lower chamber without Democratic support, as a number of conservative Republicans on Tuesday voiced reservations about the proposal. The skeptics are wary that the measure would not gut President Obama’s 2010 healthcare reform law as a condition of funding the government, as many conservatives on and off Capitol Hill are insisting…
According to Brian Beutler, the real idea was to use the ObamaCare defunding ploy to sneak in even yet still more budget cuts. Or maybe that’s still the idea.
So I guess the Republicans are trying to use the threat of either a government shutdown or a default on our debt payments to force the Democrats to agree either to defund ObamaCare or to defund the rest of the government. Either way, they seem determined to demand some kind of unacceptable concessions in exchange for doing their job. At any rate, if Beutler is right then it’s important to keep an eye not just on funding for ObamaCare but for the rest of the government as well.
As Cohn points out, democrats are already thinking about caving.
I suppose that the House Rules Committee can write a rule anyway they want to, even if it is nonsense. Just so long as they get agreement within the caucus and get a vote to make that the rule.
This might work with voters. It’s too confusing for most people so they will accept the 30 second ad,”Senator Foghorn shut down down the rest of the government to fund Obamacare.” Or “Senator Foghorn refused to even vote for reducing government giveaways.”
OT: man, North Korea literally can’t give us one full week of good foreign policy news before going wild for attention again.
North Korea Appears to Restart Plutonium Reactor
Rodman needs to step up his game.
Ha! What a doofus, indeed.
I wasn’t sure about the son Jong-un in the beginning, but he seems to be a straight up scary monster just like his dad. At least if that sketchy report is to be believed.
There’s really no other way the regime wouldn’t implode into a tide of chaos for everyone without a crazy monster as the helm.
There’ll be no soft landing for DPRK.
Please do correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t most of the ACA funded outside of the discretionary Continuing Resolution so the Rethugs can do their worst but still not materially affect the implementation of Obamacare? I’m also reading that the newest hostage demand is that the implementation of the ACA be put entirely on hold for a year. How are they going to get any of that to happen? The leadership may seem pretty powerless but they really cannot let an actual govt shutdown or default on the debt happen or their billionaire overlords would be very, very, very, very unhappy with them.
I just see this as a huge tantrum, trying to avert attention from the fact that come Oct 1 people are going to start signing up for those gummint subsidized health care plans and there ain’t no turnin’ back then.
My fear is these teabeggers are so crazy they are no longer under the control of wall street, and are perfectly willing to take us all down to satisfy some nihilistic urge.
Right, but how exactly would they accomplish this? You have to have some leverage to get this stuff done and I don’t think they really have anything.
In fact I think that the administration is not going to lose a dime to the Rethug/Conservatard wing and once again Obama is going to come out smelling like roses. (Which, full disclosure, I have NO problem with. And totally look forward to seeing as the Syria fiasco works itself out and, let’s face it, works its way out in a way that benefits us all.) Oh, noes. Dang. I completely forgot I was talking about the blah guy who lives in the White HOUSE! Ick. Whatever can we do about that!!
You wouldn’t believe what the ad at the bottom of the page was before I hit reply. You have three guesses and the first two don’t count. 😉
Mine was “John Cornyn – Rated A+ by gun owners of America”
Oh, let the House try to “force” the Senate vote. Unless things have radically changed, the wingnut Lee/Cruz effort to filibuster a budget which includes Obamacare is nowhere near 40 votes. If that’s still the case, Reid should go ahead and call for a straight budget vote. He should move a vote for a budget which reverses or reduces the sequester funding cuts as well. Go to conference in a strong position, Harry.
“Strong” and “Harry” don’t usually appear in the same sentence.
The clue arrived in your choice of the word ‘demented.’ Anyone with experience in dealing with dementia can relate to your struggle to understand what is wrong with those people.
Usually the only answer is to treat them gently, don’t give them any power, and face the fact of what it is.
Luckily for the GOP, “The Crazy” is no longer exempted from coverage as a pre-existing condition.
Follow the money Booman — the crazies are only earning their keep.
Freedom Partners 501(c)6 – last year
Others are a roster of Koch brothers loyalists.