*****Official Government Shutdown Gamethread*****

[boutons_deux]

Federal judge slaps down Darrell Issa over request for shutdown exception

A federal judge was less than amused when Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) requested that a lawsuit he filed two years ago be allowed to move forward in spite of the fact that federal courts have been immobilized by the Republican shutdown of the U.S. government.

According to Think Progress, Judge Amy Berman Jackson refused to consider violating the shutdown to handle the case, saying that it’s ridiculous for Issa to make the request, considering his caucus’ role in ordering the government to close.

“There are no exigent cir stances in this case that would justify an order of the Court forcing furloughed attorneys to return to their desks. Moreover, while the vast majority of litigants who now must endure a delay in the progress of their matters do so due to cir stances beyond their control, that cannot be said of the House of Representatives, which has played a role in the shutdown that prompted the stay motion.”


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/0...own-exception/

the $400M Issa still riding his Fast n Furious (headless) hobby horse

[boutons_deux]

To understand the shutdown, you have to grasp the mindset of the Republican base

Democracy Corps – a Democratic-leaning polling firm – released a study this week based on a series of focus groups they conducted with loyal Republican voters. They divided them up into three sub-groups which together represent the base of the party.

Evangelicals represent the largest group, followed by Republicans who identify with the tea party movement. “Moderates,” the third group, make up about a quarter of the party’s base,

They think they face a victorious Democratic Party that is intent on expanding government to increase dependency and therefore electoral support. It starts with food stamps and unemployment benefits; expands further if you legalize the illegals; but insuring the uninsured dramatically grows those dependent on government. They believe this is an electoral strategy — not just a political ideology or economic philosophy. If Obamacare happens, the Republican Party may be lost, in their view.

And while few explicitly talk about Obama in racial terms, the base supporters are very conscious of being white in a country with growing minorities. Their party is losing to a Democratic Party of big government whose goal is to expand programs that mainly benefit minorities. Race remains very much alive in the politics of the Republican Party.

They worry that minorities, immigrants, and welfare recipients now believe it is their “right” to claim [public] benefits. Tea Party participants, in particular, were very focused on those who claim “rights” in the form of government services, without taking responsibility for themselves.

Evangelicals still focus overwhelmingly on social issues. They think gay rights are the biggest threat to our society, but they also worry about the loss of what they see as an idyllic small-town culture.

Tea partiers display a libertarian streak, and are far less concerned with social issues. They are staunchly pro-business.

Both groups displayed a high level of paranoia,

participants worried that their participation might trigger surveillance by the NSA or an audit by the IRS.

In addition to thinking that Obama is a liar, and a covert Communist, these two groups were also more likely to express the belief that he is secretly a Muslim.

Climate change is another dividing line between moderate Republicans and the hard-right. GOP moderates may be unsure of the science on climate change, but they don’t reject it out of hand, and some are legitimately worried about the effects of a changing climate.

Evangelicals and Tea Party Republicans share and are consumed by skepticism about climate science — to the point where they mistrust scientists before they begin to speak

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/05/to-understand-the-shutdown-you-have-to-grasp-the-mindset-of-the-republican-base/

So the ignorant evangelicals and tea baggers are primarily worried how ACA, which directly aids 10Ms of themselves as Christian, low-wage, rural, uninsured whites, will win votes for Dems. How True! Beautiful! Right-wing assholes voting Repug, against Dem which directly against their own best financial, health interests.

[boutons_deux]

Pentagon: Most Furloughed Civilians Ordered Back To Work

The Pentagon is ordering most of its approximately 400,000 furloughed civilian employees back to work.

The decision by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is based on a Pentagon legal interpretation of a law called the Pay Our Military Act.

That measure was passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama shortly before the partial government shutdown began Tuesday.

The Pentagon did not immediately say on Saturday exactly how many workers will return to work. The Defense Department said "most" were being brought back.



http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/pentagon-most-furloughed-civilians-ordered-back-to-work

[boutons_deux]

Arizona Is Only State To Stop Welfare Checks During Shutdown

Arizona appears to be the only state to have stopped cutting welfare checks during the federal government shutodown, the Arizona Republic reported Friday.

Republican Gov. Jan Brewer's administration announced this week that 5,700 families eligible for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families would not be receiving their checks, which average $207 a month, while the federal government is shut down.

Federal officials have told state welfare directors that they could use alternative sources of funding during the shutdown to keep assistance programs funded, and they will be reimbursed when the federal government re-opens.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/arizona-is-only-state-to-stop-welfare-checks-during-shutdown

[Wild Cobra]

Arizona Is Only State To Stop Welfare Checks During Shutdown

Arizona appears to be the only state to have stopped cutting welfare checks during the federal government shutodown, the Arizona Republic reported Friday.

Republican Gov. Jan Brewer's administration announced this week that 5,700 families eligible for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families would not be receiving their checks, which average $207 a month, while the federal government is shut down.

Federal officials have told state welfare directors that they could use alternative sources of funding during the shutdown to keep assistance programs funded, and they will be reimbursed when the federal government re-opens.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/arizona-is-only-state-to-stop-welfare-checks-during-shutdown

Politics as usual.

Brewer wants AZ to pay for keeping the national parks open, but she was told by the feds they could not allow her to do that. Why should AZ pay for these benefits then? There are 10 other states that use only federal money for TANF. You would think the feds would say "sorry. we cannot let you pay for them during the shutdown." Seems the Obamatrons in decision making positions are targeting what they want to target.

Hypocrisy...

[ChumpDumper]

Politics as usual.

Brewer wants AZ to pay for keeping the national parks open, but she was told by the feds they could not allow her to do that. Why should AZ pay for these benefits then?

Seriously?

[Wild Cobra]

Seriously?

I misworded that.

The feds will not allow her to pay to keep the Grand Canyon open. One should assume the feds will not allow her to pay for TANF either.

Or...

Do you believe in hypocrisy?

[ChumpDumper]

I misworded that.

The feds will not allow her to pay to keep the Grand Canyon open. One should assume the feds will not allow her to pay for TANF either.

Or...

Do you believe in hypocrisy?

Seriously?

[TDMVPDPOY]

with this shutdown, why havnt the people stand up and revolt?

[boutons_deux]

Did The Feds Really Order Scott Walker To Shut Down Wisconsin Parks?

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) this week directed a state agency to resist a federal order to close certain parks during the federal government shutdown, prompting headlines from some conservative media outlets. But the National Parks Service now says no such order was given. Or not exactly, anyway.

Wisconsin officials decided this week that they would keep open seven properties that are part of the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve -- an "affiliated area" of the National Park System -- despite a letter sent on Tuesday to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) from the National Park Service. In the letter, a copy of which was provided to TPM, an official wrote that the National Parks Service had determined that keeping the properties open "requires substantial involvement by federal personnel that will not be available during the shutdown of government operations."

DNR officials took the letter to mean that they were being ordered to close the parks.

the seven properties in question ... only receive about 18 percent of their operating budget from the federal government.

"we were told that we were going to have to shut down these properties" (the Repug LIES! Surprise, never happens.)

"Due to the government shutdown, there was no longer funding available with which to make grant payments to the DNR and on October 1 notice was given to them to suspend performance of all activities funded by that agreement. There was no directive from the National Park Service to cease operations; we merely informed them that the payments through their cooperative agreement would cease for the period of the shutdown.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckrak...uring-shutdown

So the WI Repugs LIE to inflame the right-wing hate-media. Repug usual tactics by the Repugs. Of course, their backwoods WI bubbas will only remember the lies.

[boutons_deux]

A Federal Budget Crisis Months in the Planning

Shortly after President Obama started his second term, a loose-knit coalition of conservative activists led by former Attorney General Edwin Meese III gathered in the capital to plot strategy. Their push to repeal Mr. Obama’s health care law was going nowhere, and they desperately needed a new plan.

Out of that session, held one morning in a location the members insist on keeping secret, came a little-noticed “blueprint to defunding Obamacare,” signed by Mr. Meese and leaders of more than three dozen conservative groups.

It articulated a take-no-prisoners legislative strategy that had long percolated in conservative circles: that Republicans could derail the health care overhaul if conservative lawmakers were willing to push fellow Republicans — including their cautious leaders — into cutting off financing for the entire federal government.

To many Americans, the shutdown came out of nowhere. But interviews with a wide array of conservatives show that the confrontation that precipitated the crisis was the outgrowth of a long-running effort to undo the law, the Affordable Care Act, since its passage in 2010 — waged by a galaxy of conservative groups with more money, organized tactics and interconnections than is commonly known.

With polls showing Americans deeply divided over the law, conservatives believe that the public is behind them. Although the law’s opponents say that shutting down the government was not their objective, the activists anticipated that a shutdown could occur — and worked with members of the Tea Party caucus in Congress who were excited about drawing a red line against a law they despise.

The current budget brinkmanship is just the latest development in a well-financed, broad-based assault on the health law

Groups like Tea Party Patriots, Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks are all immersed in the fight, as is Club for Growth, a business-backed nonprofit organization. Some, like Generation Opportunity and Young Americans for Liberty, both aimed at young adults, are upstarts. Heritage Action is new, too, founded in 2010 to advance the policy prescriptions of its sister group, the Heritage Foundation.

The billionaire Koch brothers, Charles and David, have been deeply involved with financing the overall effort. A group linked to the Kochs, Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, disbursed more than $200 million last year to nonprofit organizations involved in the fight. Included was $5 million to Generation Opportunity, which created a buzz last month with an Internet advertisement showing a menacing Uncle Sam figure popping up between a woman’s legs during a gynecological exam.

On Capitol Hill, the advocates found willing partners in Tea Party conservatives, who have repeatedly threatened to shut down the government if they do not get their way on spending issues. This time they said they were so alarmed by the health law that they were willing to risk a shutdown over it. (“This is exactly what the public wants,” Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, founder of the House Tea Party Caucus, said on the eve of the shutdown.)

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/10/06...?from=homepage

VRWC doesn't exist?

and you libertarian fellators and tri-cornered-hat maran tea baggers are part of it by voting in your asshole politicians.

[boutons_deux]

The Triumph Of The Rat ers

As the Reign Of The Morons enters its third day, let uspause for a moment to pay tribute to a political visionary whose entire career presaged the current moment,anticipating the essential dynamic in play in Washington right now in all ofits petulant, kindergartenish glory. Let us raise a morning glass to DonaldSegretti, the rat er.

(As any student of Watergate knows, "rat ing" was theword used by Segretti and a number of other officials in the Nixon White Housefor the dirty tricks they ran in student elections when they all were at theUniversity of Southern California. Segretti -- as well as his pal, Dwight Chapin-- simply transferred these techniques to our national elections.)

There are two basic philosophical foundation stones torat ing.

The first is that political sabotage for its own sake is a worthyenough goal. There doesn't necessarily have to be an obvious purpose or obviouslogic behind it. Everything is simply tactics. Those tactics either work orthey don't.

To believe this, of course,one must first believe that all politics is a essentially a zero-sum game ofpower; you win and the other guy loses. Who rules? Period. One cannot for amoment contemplate the notion that politics -- and therefore, government -- hasanything to do with the public good. I trust I don't have to spell out theparallels between this elemental basis of rat ing and what the Republicansare about in their current campaign of vandalism. This has now entered a timein which we are seeing sabotage for sabotage's own sake. Remember, theconservative rump faction has brought this shutdown upon the country becauseits members refuse to agree to a federal budget that contains lowerdiscretionary spending than even Paul Ryan contemplated. That's because now --as Congressman Marlin Stutzman pointed out clearly yesterday -- this isn't aboutthe budget, or even about economics, it's about who wins and who loses. It'sabout whether or not John Boehner, the castrato Speaker Of The House, can keephis job. The public, as was said during our previous Gilded Age, be damned.

Segretti's activities were meant to bring embarrassment andpublic scorn upon his targets. They were not aimed at proving to voters thatthe opposition was wrong. They were aimed at making it look ridiculous. HubertHumphrey's bas child. Edmund Muskie's rallies cancelled. Sooner or later,of course, the viciousness and the schoolyard taunting can't be contained.Segretti's activities, while relatively harmless, opened the ballgame for thelate Lee A er's vicious race-baiting and for the entire public career ofKarl Rove, in which the latter has not drawn a single breath in which he didnot dedicate himself to the degradation of the political process and thepoisoning of the political debate.

The second basic philosophical tenet of rat ing is that it is essentially bullying.

It is essentially about ridicule and deceit as ends in themselves. Segretti's activities were meant to bring embarrassment and public scorn upon his targets. They were not aimed at proving to voters that the opposition was wrong. They were aimed at making it look ridiculous. Hubert Humphrey's bas child. Edmund Muskie's rallies cancelled. Sooner or later, of course, the viciousness and the schoolyard taunting can't be contained. Segretti's activities, while relatively harmless, opened the ballgame for the late Lee A er's vicious race-baiting and for the entire public career of Karl Rove, in which the latter has not drawn a single breath in which he did not dedicate himself to the degradation of the political process and the poisoning of the political debate.

Read more: Donald Segretti Tribute - The Triumph Of The Rat ers - Esquire

In 1974, Segretti pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of distributing illegal (in fact, forged) campaign literature and was sentenced to six months in prison, actually serving four months.

Segretti was a lawyer who served as a prosecutor for the military and later as a civilian. However, his license was suspended for two years following his conviction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti

Note that Segretti actually went to prison for forging, and Chapin, while nobody has gone to prison for similar crimes in the 2000s.

[boutons_deux]

What Is John Boehner Scared Of?

Upon arriving in Congress, in 1991, Boehner quickly became the leader of a rebel faction called the "Gang of Seven" that

used overdrafts at the now defunct House bank to discredit the Democratic majority that had controlled the chamber for forty years.

After the Republicans took control, in 1994, the new House Speaker, Newt Gingrich, rewarded Boehner by bringing him into the leadership as chairman of the Republican Conference, the fourth-ranking position in the House.

He quickly shelved some of his more radical ideas-abolishing the Department of Education and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration-but he remained more conservative than the garden-variety country-club Republicans who still populated Capitol Hill.

In 1995,

he was caught passing out checks from the tobacco lobby on the House floor.

While he later apologized, the incident did nothing to harm him inside the Republican caucus.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blog...scared-of.html

[boutons_deux]

American Voters Reject GOP Shutdown Strategy 3-1, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Dems Up 9 Points In 2014 Congressional Races

American voters oppose 72 - 22 percent Congress shutting down the federal government to block implementation of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.

Voters also oppose 64 - 27 percent blocking an increase in the nation's debt ceiling as a way to stop Obamacare, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

American voters are divided on Obamacare, with 45 percent in favor and 47 percent opposed, but they are opposed 58 - 34 percent to Congress cutting off funding for the health care law to stop its implementation.

Republicans support the federal government shutdown by a narrow 49 - 44 percent margin, but opposition is 90 - 6 percent among Democrats and 74 - 19 percent among independent voters.

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/ins utes...ReleaseID=1958

[boutons_deux]

voters picking a generic Democrat over a generic Republican 43% to 34%, which they point out is the widest Democratic margin measured so far.

Asked “If the election for the U.S. House of Representatives were being held today, would you vote for the Republican candidate, or for the Democratic candidate in your district?”
The last time Republicans were almost this low was in April, but they managed to damage the Democratic brand with the summer of fake scandals.

Quinnipiac cautioned that we are far out from the midterms, but that the GOP brand is taking a beating, “In general, the Republican brand is down as evidenced by the Democrats’ unusually large lead in the so called generic ballot. But we have 13 months before an election can translate this public opinion edge into electoral gains and in politics that amount of time is forever.”

https://www.politicususa.com/2013/10...ans-43-34.html

[Wild Cobra]

I see Bouton's is ting out posts every few minutes again.

My God... You should take some medicine...

[boutons_deux]

I see Bouton's is ting out posts every few minutes again.

My God... You should take some medicine...

WC needs a huge dose, hourly, of reality.

[boutons_deux]

after vowing he won't cause federal default....

Boehner: The Nation Will Be On ‘The Path’ To Default If Obama Doesn’t Accept GOP Demands

STEPHANOPOULOS: He continues to refuse to negotiate, the country is going to default?

BOEHNER: That’s the path we’re on. The president canceled his trip to Asia. I assume — he wants to have a conversation. I decided to stay here in washington this weekend. He knows what my phone number is. All he has to do is call.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/20...t-gop-demands/

the Repugs, if they cave on trashing ACA, have already won on the budget, with the Senate CR bill the House is very close to Ryan's sociopathic, unbalanced, the 99% /enrich the 1% budget, approved by the House 3 times.

[boutons_deux]

GOP In Grave Danger Of Losing House In 2014, PPP Polls Show

Shutting down the government may end up costing Republicans control of the House of Representatives.

A series of polls released Sunday show just how damaging the shutdown has been for the GOP. The liberal-leaning Public Policy Polling compiled two dozen surveys, commissioned and paid for by MoveOn.org Political Action, from House districts around the country, taken from Oct. 2 through Oct. 4. Sample sizes were between 600 and 700 voters in each district.

For Democrats to win a House majority, 17 seats would need to switch to their party's favor. Results show that would be within reach, as Republican in bents are behind in 17 of the districts analyzed: CA-31, CO-06, FL-02, FL-10, FL-13, IA-03, IA-04, IL-13, KY-06, MI-01, MI-07, MI-11, NY-19, OH-14, PA-07, PA-08, WI-07. In four districts, the in bent Republican fell behind after respondents were told their representative supported the government shutdown: CA-10, NY-11, NY-23, VA-02. Three districts saw GOP in bents maintain their hold over their Democratic challengers, even after hearing their elected officials' views on the shutdown, including CA-21, NV-03 and OH-06.
Back in 2012, Democrats picked up eight seats in the House, closing the gap of Republican control to 234-201.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/1...n_4050686.html

I expect as the Repug base of poor, white rurals, even in red states, sign up for ACA, and Repugs now in the individual insurance market switch to plans in the exchanges to save $1000/year, the Repugs will lose even more popular support.

yes, the bloody minded VRWC campaign to destroy ACA's possiblities of success are well founded on fears of getting ed horribly electorally.

[boutons_deux]

...

[boutons_deux]

Cruz insists that he has ‘not remotely’ hurt the Republican Party brand

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Sunday asserted that his crusade to kill President Barack Obama’s health care law by shutting down the U.S. government had not damaged the Republican Party in any way.

During an interview on CNN, host Candy Crowley asked Cruz if he had hurt the GOP brand.

“Not remotely,” Cruz laughed. “But I also think far too many people are worried about politics.”

“Listen, if we worry about what’s impacting the American people, the politics will take care of itself,” he continued. “The politicians that are gazing at polls — there is a reason why the most common sentiment across this country is that politicians aren’t listening to us, there’s a reason why Congress has a 10 to 15 percent approval rating.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/0...n-party-brand/

Cruz and his ed up father living in their own fantasies.

[boutons_deux]

I see Bouton's is ting out posts every few minutes again.

My God... You should take some medicine...

Dramatic, historic period.

Retrograde Repugs win the continuing resolution with sequester cuts locked in but still are assholes and shut down govt trying to maim ACA, while ACA, the first truly progressive program in decades, is launched, with real possiblity of screwing the Repugs out of power for decades.

And the Repugs are threatening to force US Treasury into default. Exciting times

[boutons_deux]

The White Man’s Last Tantrum?

With the U.S. government shutdown and a threatened credit default, Tea Party Republicans are testing out a new system of national governance in which they get their way – or else. But is this the beginning of a new Jim Crow era of imposed white supremacy or just the white man’s last tantrum, asks Robert Parry.

American pundits are missing the bigger point about the Republican shutdown of the U.S. government and the GOP’s threatened default on America’s credit. The real question is not what policy concessions the Tea Partiers may extract, but rather can a determined right-wing white minority ensure continuation of white supremacy in the United States?

For years, political scientists have been talking about how the demographic changes in the United States are inexorably leading to a Democratic majority, with Hispanics and Asian-Americans joining African-Americans and liberal urban whites to erode the political domains of white conservatives and white racists.

But those predictions have always assumed a consistent commitment to the democratic principle of one person, one vote – and a readiness of Republicans to operate within the traditional standards of democratic governance. But what should now be crystal clear is that those assumptions are faulty.

Instead of accepting the emergence of this more diverse and multi-cultural America, the Right – through the Tea Party-controlled Republicans – has decided to alter the cons utional framework of the United States to guarantee the perpetuation of white supremacy and the acceptance of right-wing policies.

In effect, we are seeing the implementation of a principle enunciated by conservative thinker William F. Buckley in 1957: “The white community in the South is en led to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas in which it does not predominate numerically.” Except now the Buckley rule is being applied nationally.

http://consortiumnews.com/2013/10/04...-last-tantrum/

[m>s]

i for one am ready to fight and die to make sure that my country remains my country to answer the question in your article boutons, get ready for a 2nd civil war with enough tenacity and hatred spilling out to put the first one to shame. the ferociousness of this one will be more on the level of stalingrad or leningrad if it comes to that. the failures in vietnam and afghanistan should have taught the globalists a thing or two but for some reason they're not as smart as they try to act like. the outcome of this guerilla war war will be the same as all the others.

[ChumpDumper]

So m>s is declaring himself to be the same as the Viet Cong and Taliban.

OK.