AP:
House Republicans advanced legislation Thursday to avoid a government shutdown for one more week, cut spending and fully fund the Pentagon, but the White House labeled the measure a distraction and said President Barack Obama would veto it.
Obama said in a statement he believes “we need to put politics aside and work out our differences” on a spending plan that covers the government through September, when the current budget year ends.
Not that our feckless leadership will use this against the Democrats (who, smelling GOP fear, are growing giddy about a shutdown), but essentially what the President is doing is using a politically-motivated threat to withhold the pay of active military in order to blackmail the Republicans into accepting a budget stuffed with deficit spending — after having refused themselves to put forth a budget before the November elections.
That is the very definition of NOT putting “politics aside,” and it’s time the Republicans — in the persons of Boehner and McConnell — take the message directly to the people if they have to. Call press conferences. Put out YouTube clips. Post Facebook video, for Chrissakes!
Right now, the press is trying to sell the Republican’s demand for “big cuts” as the proximate cause of the shutdown. But even if the GOP got all the cuts it was asking for, those cuts would represent less than 2% — a rounding error. The difference in the two sides is about $30 billion, or less than 1%. Why can’t they make this case? Why can’t they come out and say that the Democrats, who controlled all phases of the government before November and who were tasked with introducing a budget, didn’t put forth a budget at all — and now, when asked to cut 2% of a budget that would introduce $1.65 trillion in deficit spending, they are willing to withhold the pay of active duty military if doing so means they can blackmail the GOP into approving irresponsible spending in spite of a clear mandate of the American people demanding the government restore fiscal sanity.
Obama has contempt for you. The press has contempt for you.
And you know what? If you don’t fight back forcefully, you deserve it.
Post Facebook video, for Chrissakes!
This slow motion train wreck has been apparent for a long time, are they just now trying to figure out a new media strategy? You have the press conferences, call a lie a lie, but you have to bypass the gatekeepers and go directly to the people. C’mon.
Obama has contempt for you. The press has contempt for you.
Judging by their numbers over the past couple of years, I’d say the feeling is mutual. Not that that gets us any closer to a party willing to show a bit of resolve on the pressing issues of the day…
That sounds like our Bumbles. And if infuriated the White House, it sounds like it ought to be said repeatedly. Point out that Dear Leader only cares about his own ass; the country can go to hell.
OT, but I just read in my local rag that our school district paid two hundred and seventy-something thousand dollars to substitute teachers last year. They pay substitutes, at the highest scale, sixty-five bucks a day. That’s an average of twenty-five teachers out per day. There’s maybe 250 total full time staff, not including part time bus drivers and coaches. That does include administration and custodians. So on any given day, at least 10% of teachers are absent. Keep in mind they get almost three months off in the summer and three week-long breaks in addition to the vacation time and sick time they get, with rollover and NO RESTRICTIONS ON USE. And they’re bitching because the district might close two outlying K-5 elementary schools, with under 200 students between them to save 500k a year.
Let’s just say that the federal gov’t isn’t the only thing I want shut down.
Wouldn’t that make Obama a slave holder?
I mean, a park ranger gets his pay docked, he can go find another job. A soldier can’t say “piss off, no pay, no patrol”, without the leg irons coming out.
Shutdown looks fairly likely.
[…] See my earlier post here. […]
How come whenever I try to post just “DEATH THREAT” my comment never appears?
My style (such as it is) is getting censored. I blame George Bush.
At least they did what I had hoped and passed a DoD appropriation – now Harry Reid and Obama can explain why they are halting it…
LTC, OT but are you over the pond right now?
[…] BREAKING: “Obama threatens to veto GOP budget extension plan” […]