Here's the letter, numbnuts:

http://media.timesfreepress.com/news/documents/2013/10/03/Meadows_DefundLetter.pdf

10/4/2013 11:01:12 AM

on Monday my dog finally caught a squirrel for the first time but didn't really know what to do after that, it was pretty amusing. Eventually he shook the squirrel some and let it go. The point of this is that my dog had more of a strategy than House Republicans.

10/4/2013 11:03:03 AM

I thought it was pretty funny in Obama's speech yesterday morning when he said the American people weren't pawns for the federal govt to manipulate

I chuckled

10/4/2013 11:06:26 AM

^^You could have just left off your reasoning for posting. It would've been a nice distraction from all the drivel in this thread, from both sides.

At this point I"m sick of it all. These people need to pass something that everyone will agree on and get on with it. How Republicans thinks they will get out of this alive is beyond me. Lick your wounds, come back to fight some other day. The approval rating for congress is currently at 13%. Nobody will be left around after 2014, at least those up for election then.

10/4/2013 11:19:40 AM

Quote :

"It would've been a nice distraction from all the drivel in this thread, from both sides."

You're including your own posts in that assessment too right?

10/4/2013 11:24:21 AM

^^What world do you live in? Congress has what, a 90% reelection percentage? Everyone hates congress, except their rep. Republican governors have so fantastically gerrymandered districts that most of these hardcore tea party types that are holding the government hostage stand no chance of being defeated.

[Edited on October 4, 2013 at 11:27 AM. Reason : .]

10/4/2013 11:26:50 AM

Quote :

"These people need to pass something that everyone will agree on"

rofl

10/4/2013 11:34:01 AM

drivel

10/4/2013 11:34:39 AM

Quote :

"the last poll I read said 72% of Americans care"

People who dont care hang up on CBS telephone polls.

Quote :

"You hear that people? I am *insane* for recognizing the obvious. Hell, don't take my word for it, read the news man."

Congrats on finding a writer that agrees with you. You sure showed me. At least it isnt jimmy carter's speech writer this time.

Quote :

"These efforts are not about funding the government. You can go ahead and put a stop to that now."

To quote the same article you just cited: "Before they get to the debt fight, Republicans first must find a way out of the spending battle, where they have settled on the piecemeal strategy"

And finally:

Quote :

"*Please* tell me you're not referencing the House's efforts to try and "blunt some of the high-profile ill effects" by re-opening selected politically advantageous parts of the government."

LOL

10/4/2013 11:46:12 AM

Quote :

"These people need to pass something that everyone will agree on and get on with it."

they already have, Boehner just won't let them vote on it. If they were allowed to give an up vote our shutdown would end.

Quote :

"To quote the same article you just cited: "Before they get to the debt fight, Republicans first must find a way out of the spending battle, where they have settled on the piecemeal strategy""

They already won the spending battle, the CR that the Senate sent back to the House had the spending that the House wanted. The spending reductions were a major compromise by the Senate.

[Edited on October 4, 2013 at 11:49 AM. Reason : .]

10/4/2013 11:49:01 AM

Quote :

"These people need to pass something that everyone will agree on and get on with it"

We might as well elect Boehner dictator if you look at it that way. He wants to trump all other branches of government and some in his own party but keeping the clean CR from coming up for a vote. They could pass something that the majority agrees on if he would allow the house to vote on it.

10/4/2013 12:05:59 PM

emory please respond to my previous page's posts. Thanks in advance.

10/4/2013 12:07:48 PM

ITT: People mad that power of the purse is actually being used.

10/4/2013 12:43:24 PM

thanks destroyer, your opinions are always valued.

10/4/2013 12:47:57 PM

jwb: no, I am not smoking motherfucking crack.

FuhCtious: As a level headed liberal, you are rare in this thread. Thanks.

NeuseRvrRat: I appreciate your neutrality and sympathize with your frustration towards both parties, but I urge you to pick a good horse when/if you see one and pull hard for it. We need everyone involved. (though not necessarily in senseless arguments on the internet)

synapse: I have stated my opinions on the budget and healthcare law, explained my reasoning behind them, and presented an explanation for the strategy behind the shutdown. All you seem to be able to do is attack the points underlying my conclusions rather than to build up your own. You are playing chess in a manner that can, at best, result in a draw. You have failed to cite how the healthcare law specifically benefits you. You have failed to acknowledge that the federal government has a budget problem. You have failed to explain how a piecemeal approach to budget approval is not in the best interest of the country. You have failed to explain how it is in the best interest of the public for the senate to reject the individual bills other than to suggest that it is just politics and both sides do it. You have offered little, if any, logical foundation for your beliefs. Your entire opinion appears to be predicated on being the opposite of whatever I say, rather than an actual philosophical position of your own to stand by. Your best formulated arguments are direct quotes from opinion pieces other people have written. You have the political understanding and rash judgement of an early 20 something. Find yourself a successful, intelligent, democrat over the age of 50 and try to have a political discussion with them. You will find, I suspect, that they quickly tell you that you are both on the same side of the fence and then politely excuse themselves from the conversation. It isn't that they don't want to talk politics, it's that they don't want to talk politics with you. I know this because they will talk politics with me, calmly and thoughtfully, over a magazine and a cup of coffee. It is in conversations like this, that I have come to recognize that they are embarrassed by people like you in the same way that I am embarrassed by Sarah Palin supporters, though we both begrudgingly admit the necessity of scoring your votes. You are the reason for dumbed down political articles. You are the reason that Obama has to stand on the White House lawn and refer to it as the "republican shutdown". You are the reason that USA Today is written at a 5th grade level. This thread is a living document of your silliness.

A Tanz/dtownral: see synapse

lewisje: your comics are, in fact, mildly amusing.

I regret that I cannot continue this fun time, but I have shit to do. Besides, anyone following this thread has already heard my schtick and anyone new to the thread isn't going to go back and read the last 6 pages, because it's not that good of a read. They will just argue with whatever I said on the most recent page and that puts me in an hopeless spiral of nonsense. I have already begun to sink into pure argument and I find it unpleasant. In the end, years from now, the only useful content in this thread will not be the talking points of a bygone debate: It will be the pics. With that said...


[Edited on October 4, 2013 at 1:16 PM. Reason : sfw for bullet page reloads]

10/4/2013 1:11:04 PM

you weren't bothering me too much until you posted a not-safe for work photo in a thread about the government shutdown.

THANKS A LOT YOU GODDAMN ASSHOLE

10/4/2013 1:12:25 PM

I posted concrete, tangible evidence that the house Republicans' strategy has always been to defund Obamacare and had nothing to do with forcing a budget debate and all you can say is that you're not currently high on crack?

Good troll bro.

Oh and fuck you

[Edited on October 4, 2013 at 1:19 PM. Reason : .]

10/4/2013 1:15:26 PM

i havent been folo this shutdown thing but i can tell you it makes us look retarded in the foreign media.

I keep getting asked about this shit.

can somebody give me a no bullshit tldr about this shutdown?

10/4/2013 1:22:10 PM

you weren't bothering me too much until you posted "lewisje: your comics are, in fact, mildly amusing."

10/4/2013 1:26:51 PM

Quote :

" All you seem to be able to do is attack the points underlying my conclusions rather than to build up your own."

we showed you that the intention of some House Republicans is to defund ACA. They wrote a letter and signed it saying so, and it was posted on this page. It states clearly and explicit what their intention is, its not confusing or vague.

I also showed you how House Repuplicans already won the spending issue, the CR that the Senate sent back to the House had the spending they wanted.

We also showed you how a single person can end the shutdown today by allowing a vote to happen, and should because the House already won the spending issue and ACA is not going to get defunded.

10/4/2013 1:42:51 PM

The ACA must be defunded! -------> I'm just explaining basic political strategery guys!

A+++++++++ would be trolled again

10/4/2013 1:56:58 PM

I didn't even reply to the dude yet and I *still* get the longest call out of all. I feel like Baby's sister in Dirty Dancing singing "I Feel Pretty"

I love how when presented with points he is unable to address [see: jwb9984's posts], he brings out the old tired "fuck this I've got shit to do, you all suck" approach.

Quote :

"All you seem to be able to do is attack the points underlying my conclusions rather than to build up your own."

So if your conclusion is based on a number of points, and I attack those points, that makes me wrong. Ok. That makes perfect sense.

Quote :

"You have failed to cite how the healthcare law specifically benefits you."

You've never asked me to do so. Sometimes people supports things that *gasp* don't benefit them. I know I'm speaking a foreign fucking language to you right know, but believe me, it happens.

Quote :

". You have failed to explain how a piecemeal approach to budget approval is not in the best interest of the country. You have failed to explain how it is in the best interest of the public for the senate to reject the individual bills other than to suggest that it is just politics and both sides do it."

What's going on now is not a piecemeal approach to funding the US government. That has been established. Repeatedly.

Quote :

". Your best formulated arguments are direct quotes from opinion pieces other people have written."

Hahaha I quote one news article today that supports my established argument, and all of the sudden, my best arguments are things I quote from opinion pieces. The only thing I've been quoting [for all these pages] outside of that is your dumb ass. So I guess you're trying to give yourself a compliment????

Quote :

"You are the reason for dumbed down political articles. You are the reason that Obama has to stand on the White House lawn and refer to it as the "republican shutdown". You are the reason that USA Today is written at a 5th grade level. This thread is a living document of your silliness."

WHAT HAVE I DONEEEEE??? WHAT. HAVE. I. DONE????

Quote :

"lewisje: your comics are, in fact, mildly amusing."

Ok, now we *know* you're trolling us. Guess you got me!

Quote :

"Find yourself a successful, intelligent, democrat over the age of 50 and try to have a political discussion with them. You will find, I suspect, that they quickly tell you that you are both on the same side of the fence and then politely excuse themselves from the conversation. It isn't that they don't want to talk politics, it's that they don't want to talk politics with you. I know this because they will talk politics with me, calmly and thoughtfully, over a magazine and a cup of coffee"

10/4/2013 2:02:26 PM

Quote :

"Our goal here was to bring fairness to the American people under Obamacare."

--John Boehner

10/4/2013 2:26:14 PM

[Edited on October 4, 2013 at 2:57 PM. Reason : V]

10/4/2013 2:57:02 PM

Bullet what was the original NSFW pic he posted?

10/4/2013 2:57:02 PM

http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2013/10/04/who-shut-down-the-government-n1716292?utm_source=TopBreakingNewsCarousel&utm_medium=story&utm_campaign=BreakingNewsCarousel

10/4/2013 2:58:21 PM

^^just a naked chick

10/4/2013 3:08:36 PM

^^ that article was a joke, right? sounds like a facebook post

10/4/2013 3:13:53 PM

^^ well *that* uncalled for.

10/4/2013 3:19:52 PM

^^^^

That leaves out a lot, which is pretty fucking funny for an article with the statement "the lies will win".

- That Republicans are no fan of the ACA isn't a secret. However, their ultimatum choice of Obamacare or budget is eleventh-hour.

- Senate Republicans have actively blocked budget negotiations for the entirety of 2013. Joint chamber committee is where workable and voteable budgets are normally produced. Popular opinion would likely be significantly different had the shutdown followed failed budget talks instead of no budget talks.

- Boehner is refusing to bring a clean CR to House floor even though it likely has sufficient Republican support to pass (and likely had sufficient Republican support prior to the shutdown). The Hastert Rule is not inviolate.

- The clean CR is not everything Harry Reid wants. It includes all of the sequester cuts and is a significant deferral to the Ryan budget.

- While existing tax revenues may be sufficient to pay interest on existing debt, it's not clear the Treasury has legal authority to prioritize interest payments ahead of other payments. Even supposing the Treasury can legally prioritize payments, their payment system may not be structured to allow identification and prioritization of interest payments.

- A debt ceiling increase is required to pay for appropriations made by the current Congress. Seems strange an article on 'legislation by appropriation' would fail to mention that.

10/4/2013 4:05:42 PM

^great, concise and correct post

On the origin of the extremist defund obamacare movement:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/10/04/the_not_so_secret_origin_of_the_defund_obamacare_movement.html

[Edited on October 4, 2013 at 8:46 PM. Reason : ^]

10/4/2013 8:45:46 PM

^ sweet blog

10/4/2013 10:44:40 PM

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/10/secret-plea-help-some-poor-national-weather-service-forecaster/70218/

10/5/2013 4:01:25 AM

Welp, I'm getting pissed.

Planned and booked a mountain cabin getaway while in afghanistan. The point is a quiet stay with hiking, shopping and touristy crap. It's a secluded cabin, 30mins from gatlinburg, and I did a lot of homework. I planned which trails to hike, where to picnic, and I even added a day to the cabin rental becuase "it's peak leaf season and the extra day is a weekday, so it will help avoid crowds on the weekend".

Smokey mountain national park is closed. 1/3 of the trip is down the shitter (gatlinburg and pigeon forge are still open, but let's be honest, hiking the trails was the highlight). Now I am rushing to find trails that are not in the park, and the state road that cuts through the park from Cherokee NC may be closed (add at least an hour to the drive now).

Although my redeployment trip has big significantly impacted, it is worth it.

10/5/2013 6:57:22 AM

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/05/house-votes-to-give-furloughed-federal-workers-back-pay/?hpt=hp_t1

OH WE GETTING BACK PAY!!!1

10/5/2013 12:01:57 PM

signs the democrats are losing this thing. obama and company are backed into a corner now and have to give the republicans what they want.

the fact that they are going to start passing things to make the shutdown more acceptable is all the republicans need. the more they can make this into less of a bad thing, the more effective their strategy becomes.

if the democrats refuse something like this then it will look like they don't want people to get paid for the sake of obamacare.

its pretty much over if this goes through.

10/5/2013 12:50:22 PM

its clear the democrats are the ones to blame for the shutdown. the house has passed individual bills funding EVERY aspect of government (except for obamacare) and everyone out of jobs would be working now, if not for harry reed and the democrats in the senate (along with obummer.)

10/5/2013 1:07:05 PM

right but that is not the correct legal process for defunding obamacare. if you let the republicans come up with a new legal process that not only does not require any majority or any checks and balances but overrides work all three branches have done to make this a law, you open up a new precedent for how our government functions. that is a bad road to go down and is not democratic at all..

10/5/2013 1:21:04 PM

So what happens when it comes to funding agencies and departments that Republicans are conditioned not to like? Do we simply not have an enforceable tax code or environmental protection because Republicans were allowed to essentially turn the function of government into their buffet?

10/5/2013 1:46:38 PM

^^^^ I agree Democrats need to hold the line against piecemeal funding, but I don't believe this is the beginning of the end. There's precedent for back pay from previous shutdowns, and salaries won't be paid until the shutdown ends (including for those not furloughed).

10/5/2013 1:52:15 PM

you got to be shittin me

http://www.argusleader.com/article/20131005/NEWS/310050021/Mount-Rushmore-blockage-stirs-anger-S-D-?nclick_check=1

Quote :

"The National Park Service placed cones along highway viewing areas outside Mount Rushmore this week, barring visitors from pulling over and taking pictures of the famed monument. Daugaard offered to keep Mount Rushmore open using state resources, Dusty Johnson noted. The National Park Service declined."

they are trying to blame the cones on snow. you would think they would close the affected part of the highway and not just the viewing areas if snow was the problem



[Edited on October 6, 2013 at 7:44 AM. Reason : g]

10/6/2013 7:39:27 AM

Were they paid to put out the cones

10/6/2013 9:16:10 AM

do you think govt workers would do anything for free? they hardly do shit when they are getting paid.

10/6/2013 9:26:26 AM

That bill pisses me off. I'm a contractor so I don't get to work, but I don't get back pay for sitting on my ass because I'm not a fed.

10/6/2013 9:44:21 AM

Quote :

"do you think govt workers would do anything for free? they hardly do shit when they are getting paid."

10/6/2013 9:44:49 AM

More proof that emory is a dumb partisan idiot:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/us/a-federal-budget-crisis-months-in-the-planning.html

(as if anyone still needed more proof)

10/6/2013 10:13:58 AM

I don't get why people are pissed things funded by the government are being closed.

10/6/2013 10:24:40 AM

I'm even less of a fan of paying federal workers for not doing anything than I am of not allowing them to work in the first place

10/6/2013 12:10:49 PM

lol this lady walked up the steps of the lincoln memorial today and the guards made her go back down...people were clapping for her

10/6/2013 4:58:20 PM

i find it ridiculous that there is MORE security closing these places down than there normally is keeping them open.

10/6/2013 5:09:00 PM