Potential Government Shutdown

This one is the craziest of them all. Shutting down the government will not stop Obamacare. Let me repeat that: SHUTTING DOWN THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT STOP OBAMACARE.

Shutting down the government WILL hurt the economy and small business owners like me. If congress refuses to fund the government unless it can defund Obamacare, not only will they shut down the government, they will again default on our debt and put us at further risk of credit downgrades and stalled economic growth. WHY must we keep shooting ourselves in the foot like this? I tell the folks who work for me all the time: problems will arise on their own, don't create them. But it seems like our good friends on capital hill don't apply that same wisdom to their work.

Politically I understand that there is a sizeable portion of the electorate who do not want Obamacare to be implemented. A LOT of people don't understand Obamacare and they are scared of it for that very reason. I get it, I really do. The administration did a poor job of explaining it. But the way to make that change is to win elections, to convince voters that you have a better way. Republicans have offered neither: no alternatives to Obamacare for voters to consider (at least not that they are willing to talk about) and no real effort to make adjustments to their platform to be more inclusive; hence, gaining more potential voters.

IF Republicans continue down this path I am predicting now that they will also lose the House in 2014, in spite of the gerrymandering. There are enough people driven more by their everyday living needs than their ideology in this country to do just that. Twice they've shut down the government in the last 30 years and both times they paid for it at the ballot box during the next election. Believe it or not, this too would not be good for the country, as I've stated on many occasions before, because total rule by one party has never worked well for us.

 

I am usually on the other side of your hot opinions but there is not much I disagree with here. The Ted Cruz side of the Reps are playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse. After losing a couple of elections the Republicans needed to find a clear path but this path goes off a cliff.

 

I tend to agree with you Mancha. There is little value in beating your head against a wall. If the the Rs were ready to govern they would put forth reasonable alternatives and stick by them. It takes time to change directions and if Obamacare is the disaster so many of us fear (even the unions are against it)it will fall apart. In fact the way the president keeps delaying implementation which leads me to believe he has no faith in it either.

What they need to do is put forth fair ideas that actually make things better for all. The one proposed here might http://www.gop.gov/indepth/pledge/healthcare as it purports to increase competition which is one path, but at least it is a proposal not a NO WAY move.

Regardless back to NCs point, shutting down the government is not the answer. The few crazies lead by Ted Cruz are bound for destruction. They would rather be leaders of a small rump party than give in to their supposed "ideals". They are more like Taliban than American politicians. It is a shame that there is no one strong enough in the Rs to lead and knock a few heads together.

IMO 2010 was the worst thing that could happen to the Rs as it gave them a false hope that the Tea Party and other extremists were enough to cobble a winning hand together. They need a few more terms in the wilderness to grasp that it takes adults with moral strength to lead. We need another Reagan and GHW Bush and Newt and the like to provide the understanding and true big tent approach to become a majority.

The Ds are fortunate to have the present day Rs as opponents because they are a ship of small time pols who would be crushed by Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, LBJ, Clinton, Tip O'Neil, Everett Dickson, Hubert Humphrey and the like. All of them would be ashamed of the likes of Dirty Harry, Boehner, McConnell, et all. Only Nancy Pelosi as much as I hate to admit it and dislike her politics seems to have the stuff to stand with the past.

In sum NC is right that shutting down the government is wrong, self destructive and in some ways unpatriotic.

 

The Rs passed a CR to fund the govt till December. They chose to defund Obamacare though.
This administration has put more people on welfare and part time payrolls than any other in history. The only people that have made any gains in this economy is the top 1%.

 

Sure it will. At least while it's shut down.

That's one view. The way I see it is "if congress refuses to fund the government unless it CAN fund Obamacare." I know you'll never understand this but figured what the hell, others may.

Let's put that in simple terms. The ever-growing number of people on welfare are beginning to elect people who will continue to give out entitlements. IF our Country continues down this path it will eventually end up as bankrupt as Chicago...and for the same reason.


HOWEVER, my father always said that when you start making decisions BASED ON getting re-elected, it's time you get out. Unfortunately most don't have the integrity he did. For that, I commend the Republicans for doing what their constituants want. This plan (Obamacare) IS NOT the same plan that was initially put in place btw.

 

Tiga, even the shutdown will not stop Obamacare from being implemented. Congress is working on a CR to fund the government of discretionary spending, not mandatory spending. Obamacare is part of mandatory spending. The only way Republicans could actually stop Obamacare is if they shut the government down and left it shut down for good. The longest shutdown in government history to date is 17 days so you begin to see the futility in this exercise.

To your point about the growing welfare roles is nothing new....see Romney's 47% comments from 2012, but they've been repeatedly debunked. At some point you have to stop making excuses for why you are losing elections and start dealing with ways to make your platform more palatable to a majority of voters. Simply discounting your losses as part and parcel of a system run amok is going to be a losing formula.

I agree with your father's sound advice. That said, are you willing to lose relevancy and concede your government to the democrats just so you can cling to your ideological purity? You don't strike me as that impractical, Tiga.

 

Stop getting my hopes up.

 

This is where Obama fails as a leader.

I understand he is a liberal, but his job is to make this country come together. He fails horribly at this. He likes to point fingers, pass blame and lead from behind. Not saying R's don't do this, they do, but an R isn't captain of this ship.

 

I don't know where you get your information from, but the majority of people who accept welfare are old and white which fits the profile for Fox News Viewers and Republican supporters more than people electing others who will continue to give out entitlements.