look who the poster boy is for debt ceiling crazy
House Republicans originally shut down the government to defund the Affordable Care Act (because the 46 votes to repeal it and numerous efforts to under fund it have already failed).Now they want a debt-ceiling increase to be tied to a "grand bargain" to reduce the federal deficit. Both of these developments give us insight into the actual goals of Republicans.They don't want to cut the deficit; they want to shrink government down to the size where they "can drown it in the bathtub," in the words of anti-tax lobbyist Grover Norquist. And they're not going to let reason, empathy, or constitutional procedure stop them.Let's start with the plan to defund Obamacare or shut down the government. The premise here is that the ACA will represent an unprecedented government takeover of a private institution (read that twice, it's wrong on three counts).But the new story is that the ACA will cause the federal debt to spiral out of control. This argument is even worse.
i'm really hoping that something kicks in and those republican voters all have light bulbs over their heads signalling they get it they have been supporting someone else's agenda, they throw in the occasional red meat to keep their base's juices running.
they vote for them then they neatly package them up until next election, how long does red meat last?
Healthcare costs are the most important driver of the deficit, and the Affordable Care Act represents a significant step towards reigning in healthcare costs.This isn't just liberal propaganda, it's the assertion of non-partisan groups like the Urban Institute, Kaiser Family Foundation and CBO. Certainly the recession has played a large role in the slowdown in healthcare cost growth, but the Affordable Care Act is also responsible, only three years after being signed into law.All of this is happening despite the fact that Republicans have constantly worked to undermine Obamacare by rejecting Medicaid expansion, underfunding the program, and refusing to set up healthcare exchanges. Threatening to defund the ACA to get deficit reduction is akin to closing gyms to reduce obesity.But that's the catch: the GOP isn't trying to reduce deficits ("they don't matter," said Dick Cheney), they're trying to reverse Obama's signature legislation. In their war to destroy Obamacare, Republicans are shutting down the government, denying millions of poor people Medicaid, and fomenting a constitutional crisis. But the debt-ceiling hostage negotiations are even more absurd.
Pres. has done what none of them could and he did it without them which i think is also a driver of their vindictiveness they get no credit at all, not even for Bin Laden which was probably the first shot to their gut, that coupled with his being Black has those who oppose in the glass aquarium we see them in now. along with the waving pirate skeleton.
