When terrorists take hostages, the worst thing a responsible person can do is to give in to their demands. First there is no guarantee that the will release the hostages. Second, there is a virtual guarantee that they will take more hostages and make more demands. By now, that should be crystal clear to the President and congressional Democrats. When Republicans took the unemployed hostage, Obama and the Democrats caved in and gave them $billions for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. As soon as the new Congress opened, Republicans screwed the unemployed anyway. Now they have taken hostage the faith and credit of the United States.
The House and Senate are headed for a budget collision that could shut down the federal government as early as next week.
The main snag is a looming impasse over proposed spending cuts – including big budget whacks for New York.
"Unfortunately, [House] Speaker [John] Boehner seems to be on a course that would inevitably lead to a shutdown," Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.] said on CNN Sunday.
The plan the House passed Friday axes $61 billion and calls for massive cuts to education funding for New York:
– $36 million in special education funds
– $466 million in college Pell grants
– $30 million in aid to schools in low-income neighborhoods
– 12,000 slots in preschool Head Start programs
Similarly stark cuts are proposed for health care funding, homeland security, transportation and nearly all other government programs.
The plan threatens to leave the Democratic-controlled Senate at loggerheads with the Republican-controlled House. It also raises the prospect of a shutdown if they fail to cut a deal by March 4, when the federal government would run out of money.
Congress never passed a budget for this year and instead relied on so-called continuing resolutions to keep funds flowing. The $61 billion cut Boehner pushed through last week would lead to a budget that’s about $100 billion less than what President Obama requested.
Democrats say that is just too much because the resolutions they’ve already passed are on pace to slash $41 billion for the year… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <NY Daily News>
Agent Orange Boehner and Bought Bitch Mitch McConnell refuse to take government shutdown off the table. While I admit a government shutdown would be catastrophic, it would be no worse than the suffering that Republicans would inflict on Main Street with their Draconian policy, while refusing to even discuss the inequities in the tax code that are far more responsible for the current financial crisis than the programs Republicans would gut. Under no circumstances can they be allowed to get away with it. If Obama and the Democrats cave-in again, we can only imagine what the Republicans will take hostage next.
12 Responses to “When Terrorists Take Hostages…”
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“It also raises the prospect of a shutdown if they fail to cut a deal by March 4, when the federal government would run out of money.”
IMPOSSIBLE! Just print up some MORE, as usual! 🙄
Raising the debt ceiling is the authorization to print up more money, backed with bonds.
I sure hope Obama calls their bluff, as Clinton did before him, and holds their feet firmly over the fire as he blames them for everything shutting down. For if Obama takes the nonconfrontational approach again, instead of being everyone’s President (as he’s trying to be), he will have cast himself as NOBODY’S President and will be reviled by all, not just the Republicans. Grow a pair this time, will ya, Mr. President?
Jack, if Obama does, I think Agent Orange will be as successful as Gingrinch was when he did it.
David “Dances-With-Rove” Gregory on Meet the Press yesterday was in his usual Teapublican sycophancy mode, providing them cover by saying Obama is providing “no leadership” and only wants the Teapublicans to “go first” so Obama “Can, frankly, demagogue them come election time. Is that leadership?”
Excuse me, Gregory – but who submitted a budget recently? And why don’t you ask all your fellow Teapublicans who endlessly bellowed about it during the last election: “WHERE THE HELL ARE THE JOBS YOU PROMISED?”
Gregory is a corporate shill, so of course he’ll back a Republican Regime.
time for Obama to grow some balls– and stand up to the domestic terrorists— never give up
A big Amen to you, Phyllis!
I don’t know – the last time they shut down the government, it didn’t work out well for the Repubs and I didn’t even notice. It’s just going to make them look stupid, IMO.
Lisa I agree. I’m just afraid Obama will surrender before Republicans can butt-bugger themselves.
It’s not just Obama that is the problem. The Democrats have been growing steadily gutless for the past two to three decades. It has come to the point that they are too scared to confront the Republicans over the livelihood of the American people.
It is time for a new political party that is willing to truly represent the people. The Republicans don’t give a rat’s ass about the American people, unless said people were business owners or simply wealthy. The Democrats lack the guts to stand by us. We need a new party . . . now.
Welcome, Rosie! 🙂
I partially agree. Some are and some aren’t. New parties have had no success in the last hundred years, because the deck is stacked. Show me how a new party can win. Another loser solves nothing.