Thanks to clueless for this cartoon.
When in history has a federal law ever been held hostage so the government wouldn’t be shut down?
The sheer hypocrisy of the House Republicans acting surprised that the government shut down. I hope everyone takes a good look at the seriousness of the actions of that crew. That’s why there are no exceptions. Rule of Law goes well with hardball.
Tim Kaine was on Morning Joe just a few minutes ago telling us about the impact of the government shut down on places you just wouldn’t think about. Senator Kaine got much communication from people on Chincoteague Island, over on the Eastern Shore over the shutdown. Why on earth? That’s a conservative area in the middle of nowhere, isn’t it?
Chincoteaque relies heavily on tourism and that tourism comes from Wallops Island where NASA is based, Wallops Island National Wildlife Refuge, Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, and Assateague Island National Seashore. 97% of NASA is closed. The other areas are totally closed. In essence, there is little reason during the shutdown to go to Chincoteague and the residents who rely on tourism and associated activities like fishing are suffering. Their economy which only has a finite part of the year to prosper has dried up.
Obviously this shutdown has been planned since the 2010 elections. In fact, many of the 80 hardliners, the banana republicans, campaigned on the notion of shutting down the government to get their own way.
Are these people just plain stupid or are they un-American? Is Obamacare really the issue or is destruction of the country the real issue. Many people have suggested that the Republicans have painted themselves into a corner and want out. Some of them apparently don’t. They are giddy to quote several of them.
Those who want the government closed clearly don’t want to assume the responsibility of governance. The slash-and-burn, scorched earth policy we have just seen will run into the more serious issue of raising the debt ceiling. Failure to raise the debt ceiling will have far more perilous consequences than shutting down the government, which, unless we have a volcanic eruption or a meteor strike, is simply a costly inconvenience and an embarrassment. Failure to raise the debt ceiling could have a catastrophic impact not only here in the United States but also around the world.
The Republicans need to send a clean bill to the Senate that funds the full government so we get back to doing business as Americans. These close encounters with brinkmanship must stop. These encounters are bad for the economy, bad for Americans, bad for our standing in the world and bad for the country in general.
