They are insane. This isn’t some “both sides do it” crap. The Republicans are out of their gourds and think they are revolutionaries:
BOEHNER: Well, first they want more. And my goodness, I want more too. And secondly, a lot of them believe that if we get passed August the second and we have enough chaos, we could force the Senate and the White House to accept a balanced budget amendment. I’m not sure that that — I don’t think that that strategy works. Because I think the closer we get to August the second, frankly, the less leverage we have vis a vis our colleagues in the Senate and the White House.
They think they can burn the entire system down and out of the ashes will form Conservatopia. They really do think of themselves as the vanguard of the Galtitariat. The folks sitting on the sideline keeping their powder dry, or the folks saying “They’re just negotiating” simply do not get it. We’re dealing with maniacs and true believers. When you look in Michelle Bachmann’s eyes, you’re not just seeing crazy, you’re seeing the glassy eyed stare of a modern day Manson family. Economic suicide bombers is a better analogy than most people realize.
Bulworth
Fun stuff.
meh
cuz they got nothin left to lose – the commies, the darkies, the illegals and the race traitors are stealing their country. This is the hill they die on – this far, NO FARTHER! Wolverines!
edit – more to the point, can you imagine what these psychotic motherfuckers would do if they had the nuke codes? “Yeah we’re gonna need your oil since we have a greater need for it and God wants us to have it – or else he wouldn’t have given us these weapons, right?” They would turn the US into the worlds largest stick-up gang.
Linda Featheringill
One problem the Far Right has is the belief that everything said by anyone who disagrees with them is a liar. This complications things.
So when the White House says we’re going to run out of money, that must be another lie.
Pyrrho
Meanwhile, in this vortex of dysfunction, the FAA is on day 5 of a partial shutdown.
Han's Big Snark Solo
WTF? I think he just shot himself in the head. What colleagues in the White House? They’ve spent the last 2.5 years telling us the people at the White House are illegitimate foreigners who want to kill America.
Sweet baby FSM, try to stay on message Boner.
Bulworth
I’m sure a default, and any ensuing economic chaos, would instantly lead to the publicly financed building of a thousand mile wall on our Mexican border…
Dexter
So it seems Boehner’s new plan has some tea party support. Wonder what he is proposing, slashing medicare, SS? Has to be some pretty odious stuff to get the nuts on board.
Martin
Well, yeah. Duh. How many times has Obama now lied about being a natural-born citizen? Pfff. Hawaii. Right, like the US would have a state with such a stupid sounding name. How stupid does that guy think we are?
zmullls
“Don’t give me your fucking Manson lamps”
Bill Murray
can someone (not me) photoshop them into fatigues and Mao hats?
BGinCHI
Economic terrorism. Period.
Robbie Weiner
These House members are pschopaths.
Hopefully, the President is huddling with his lawyers concerning executive order or 14th Amendment.
Don’t think it will work as the Constitution says it’s the job of Congress.
Bulworth
I don’t think so. At least not at first. Boner’s plan is to basically only raise the debt ceiling by a little, and then force this whole debate again next year, before the elections, and create some kind of super Congress committee that would make a proposal to kill, I mean cut, more spending, and this proposal couldn’t be amended or filibustered. It’s all about getting the teabaggers to accept a more prolonged process and more debates.
jeffreyw
Damn, I hope jambalaya will taste good with sparrows and starlings.
Rick Taylor
I’m just hoping pro-business Republicans get it into their head that just maybe having the President say something less than kind and soothing about you isn’t as bad as having lunatics destroy the economy. It’s probably too much to hope for, but I do hope.
arguingwithsignposts
@Linda Featheringill:
I don’t know. I consider myself a somewhat progressive, and I consider every single conservative/libertarian asshole from Grover Fucking Norquist to Ron Paul a liar. I don’t see that as a problem, either.
Han's Big Snark Solo
And here I thought they were trying to make us default so they could remove the social safety net.
Or is what Boner said another way of saying, “kill Medicare, Social Security, Food Stamps, assistance to the poor, etc?”
Monkey Business
The fact that House Democrats are practically begging the President to invoke the 14th Amendment is rather telling, in my opinion.
Nothing that comes out of the GOP caucus in the House will pass the Senate. Nothing that comes out of the Democrat caucus in the Senate will pass the House. And nothing terribly odious from Congress will be signed by the President.
Hot diggity. Welcome to democrazy.
meander
Since when does the President have to “accept” an amendment to the Constitution? It is quite clear that the President has no formal role: all you need is 2/3 from each house, or the legislatures of 2/3 of the states to put the amendment into consideration. So let’s see the GOP get 2/3 in each house….
Then you need state approval, which is probably never going to happen.
Article V:
“The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.”
Yutsano
@jeffreyw: Jambalaya was designed to taste good with anything. The Arcadians weren’t exactly rich folk when they got expelled from Nova Scotia.
TenguPhule
So when do we go for the detonator in their hands and hope like hell its not a deadman switch?
TooManyJens
So Boehner’s objection to this plan isn’t that his colleagues want to crash the economy on purpose, only that they won’t get what they want by doing so.
arguingwithsignposts
You know what else I’m sick of, these fucking “super committee” proposals and “Gang of #” groups. We elected *congress* to compromise and run the affairs of state (along with the president). Do your damned jobs and stop pawning this shit off on some unelected committee/clique.
ETA: This is of a piece with the whole Grover Fucking Norquist “pledge” business. “Waaahhh, governing is hard. You do it for me!”
JC
We’ll see, Cole.
I think:
1. Boehner gets a vote for his plan, that passes, sends it to the House.
2. Senate alters that plan to more in line with the Reid plan, passes it.
3. They come together and quickly merge the plans.
4. the merged plan fails in the House the first time.
5. Markets go apeshit.
6. The plan passes the 2nd time.
Yay! Crisis averted!
Oh, what? You mean the nation is on a fundamental austerity path that shifts even more money to the wealthy?
It’s okay though, the U.S. didn’t collapse!
Steve M.
Beautifully put.
But the thing is, they actually are going to get that 20th-century-repealing Cut, Cap and Balance bill and balanced budget amendment thanks to President Perry and the GOP-majority House and Senate in 2013. And then Murdoch (don’t call it a comeback!), Rove, and the Kochs will browbeat and threaten state legislators until it passes 38 states. And then we’re through as a nation.
HeartlandLiberal
We are stuck with a Tea Bagger here in IN-09 district, South Central Indiana.
Todd Young. B*t-sh*t crazy, totally devoid of connect with reality. One of the pushers for the recent Tea Party Cap Cut Destroy America act passed by the House.
Whining about how we just HAVE to cut spending, all the while avoiding the fact that we are not talking about current spending.
We are talking about a massive DEBT created by his party starting 12 years ago, almost entirely due to the massive almost 50% reduction in taxes on the wealthiest, and running two wars off the books.
Totally devoid of contact with reality.
Well, I am reading today that the Chamber of Congress is whining that the party they bought and put in power last election is not listening to them about the debt ceiling.
My Schadenfreude knows no bounds for them at the moment.
Catsy
This. This is what needs to sink in to the awareness of the American people. Because this quote from Boehner:
This is criminal. Not metaphorically, hyberbolically criminal, but literally criminal–as in an admission like this should trigger a broad investigation into exactly how many members of Congress are currently conspiring to harm the economy of the United States in order to extract political concessions.
Because that is what this amounts to: a conspiracy to commit economic terrorism by holding the economy hostage and threatening to force the country to default on its debts if their demands are not met.
Everyone involved in this criminal conspiracy should no-shit, dead seriously be facing hard time.
Joey Maloney
@Bulworth:
…by Mexico, to keep out fleeing Yanquis.
Anarcho-Syndicalist Commune Now!
We must destroy the world, so we can save it.
The Great Purge will sweep away the takers and leave only a nation makers.
Our hero, Sainted John Ronaldus Magnus Galt, had to blow up the economy to save it, so we will follow his fictional actions.
yeahyeahwhatevs (Studly Pantload, once upon a time)
“Galtitariat” – FTW.
Carry on…
askew
There are some stories out there that Boehner has enough GOP votes to now pass the Boehner plan (not sure if it is the new or old plan). That’s discouraging news. I was hoping enough tea partiers would vote no leaving the Reid plan as the last one standing. Now we have to rely on Reid holding the Senate Dems in line to vote no on the Boehner plan. That worries me.
Also, I saw a comment about an interview Bill Daley did on NPR where he said that Obama invoking the 14th amendment would be an impeachable offense. If that is true, there is no plan B if Congress can’t pass a new debt ceiling right?
LC
But isn’t that the appeal of all Armageddon/Post-Apocalyptic literature? “We build it right the next time.”
That’s terribly appealing, regardless of political persuasion. Unfortunately, we have a collection of people who are all up for it in the position to push for it right now.
As for the “push it down the line” aspect of Boner plan – I think some people realize that always having the sword of damocles overhead makes it easier to get your way.
jeffreyw
@Yutsano: Yeah, I guess so, but will Kroger have them in the deli cleaned and wrapped in plastic?
MattR
Oh boy. I had thought that a large number fo Republicans did not believe all the fear mongering about what happens on August 2. I was kinda hoping that once chaos started to erupt they might realize their mistake and be willing to work to avert the crisis. My biggest fear was that the chaos would be too far along to be easily contained. Turns out my biggest fear should be that the Republicans will use the chaos as an excuse to dig in their heels and insist they were right all along.
Bill White
The Battle of Cowpens and political double envelopment?
Call me an eternal optimist but I see glimmers of a huge political double envelopment here.
By offering concessions on supposedly sacrosanct Democratic programs (Medicare, Medicaid & Social Security) perhaps Obama is goading the Tea Party forward to their own self destruction in the form of a double envelopment with traditional Democrats attacking from the Left and Wall Street/Chamber of Commerce attacking from the Right.
Boehner sees it. Gosh, Eric Cantor and Grover Norquist now see it. But the Tea Party presses on.
Jim C
I couldn’t figure out what the deuce the Sad Tangerine was saying here (“get passed” what, a bill?) until I realized the transcript was botched.
Fixed it for ya, ThinkProgress!
yeahyeahwhatevs (Studly Pantload, once upon a time)
Whatever procedural machinations Reid uses, Boehner’s plan isn’t going to be the plan Congress sends to President Obama. “It’ll be altered if it gets over here,” Reid promised, “it’s fairly easy to do procedurally.”
…
“Magic things can happen here in Congress in a very short period of time under the right circumstances,” Reid said.
pdiddycornchips
These people work for the billionaires who’s tax cuts they are protecting. As we get closer to actual default, their overlords will reign them in. The overlords stand to lose the most in the financial chaos that would follow a default. The markets would crash, banks would have margin calls on their dollar denominated debt and the wheels would come off.
They will avert a default. The only question is how much austerity the billionaires are able to wring out of the rest of us.
MazeDancer
Is there a “math site” somewhere that lists the members of the House and their current voting inclination? It’s starting to feel like scenes from The West Wing and The American President when they name names and count heads. Just wondering who would be feeling the heaviest arm twisting today.
Boehner has to hold onto 217 votes out of 240 Repubs. (Or is it 239 now since NY special?) That means he can only lose 23 right? Mr. No #24 will be a TParty hero. (I those numbers are accurate, it may be a few more or less.) But it’s going to be real easy for the T-Crazies to pinpoint who’s a “traitor”.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
Yutsano
Acadians. . .Cajuns
Arcadians are Greeks.
AZERTY
Mang. I never thought I’d see the day where Boehner would be the reasonable adult but here we are.
I do get the sense that he’s more terrified of the TeaTards than anyone on the left because he’s seeing just how intransigent, dangerous and deluded they really are.
Lyle
Here’s my big problem with the Balanced Budget Amendment. It’s a terrible idea but the Republicans don’t actually believe in balanced budgets. They repealed pay as you go when they took the White House back. Sure, they like the part where Joan Crawford screams ‘No tax increases ever!’ but when they have access to the purse strings, they’re looking for ways to dump the limits that get in the way of their spending.
RP
Would it be inappropriate for me to point out that Bachmann looks really cute in that photo?
jwb
Askew:
No, it just means that Obama isn’t likely to invoke the 14th amendment as a rationale if he chooses to take extraconstitutional measures. I’m pretty sure Obama has a contingency plan; I’m also pretty sure that the contingency plan will be extraordinarily painful for everyone. But I don’t see how he manages to avoid default for long if he does not take some sort of extraconstitutional measure, and if we hit Tuesday without a rise in the debt ceiling avoiding default will probably be his highest priority.
The Dangerman
@Dexter:
I think their Whip has either shown them the pliers and the blowtorches or they were forced to watch Marathon Man and then asked when their last dental appointment was.
Davis X. Machina
@Yutsano: ‘Jambalaya’ is Acadian French for ‘small mammal’, I think.
catclub
I think Boehner will regret saying “lot of them believe that if we get passed August the second and we have enough chaos”
when members of his caucus start asking who is this THEM kemo sabe?
He is implying he is not on their side.
Also, Galtiteriat is mine, too, also.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
Hey Cole, be careful Dollar General is recalling chicken nuggets!
Boots Day
The best way to put an end to the talk of a balanced budget amendment would be to elect a Republican as president in 2012. Those people had no interest whatsoever in a balanced budget amendment – or even in a balanced budget – from 2000 to 2008, and they sure won’t under President Bachmann.
Davis X. Machina
@arguingwithsignposts: The select committee-cum-special rule dodge is as old as the hills, and in this case, both parties really do do it.First, some reporters have questioned the idea of the Super Congress by noting that such a creature “isn’t mentioned anywhere in the Constitution, but would be granted extraordinary new powers.”
Such things will exist so long as there’s a Congress.
Paris
My guess is as D-day approaches, Boehner along with as many refugees as he can convince to come with him, will be voting with the Pelosi party to raise the debt ceiling with a bill with nothing attached.
Elie
Raven:
Arcadians (Louisiana Arcadians), come from Arcadia in Canada and were originally of French descent
They were driven out of Canada and ended up in French speaking Louisiana. There was an Arcadia in ancient Greece but the reference here relates to French Canadian Arcadians.
Martin
From what I understand, there’s not much there. Raise the debt ceiling through Feb. but in order to get an increase past Feb, the balanced budget amendment needs a 2/3 vote from both the House and Senate. The saving seeking is almost all delegated to committees with targets established.
dollared
I still think the leash is shorter than we think. It’s all about all Republicans supporting the Boehner Plan until it’s blocked.
The only thing that matters is the Bush Tax Cuts. If Wall Street thinks a second vote on the debt limit in 2012 will disarm Obama so he has to extend the cuts, they will support Boehner up to 2 hours before the actual moment of default.
If Boehner passes the House, then the only question is “what will Presidents Conrad and Nelson do?” If the Senate adopts Boehner, Obama will sign.
If Boehner fails in House or Senate, then Reid will pass the Senate, and then the conference commmittee will push for the second vote in 2012, and the fighting will go on until the last minute.
But at the last minute, after Reid has agreed to give Conrad and Nelson the controlling votes in the SuperCongress, it will pass.
Something will pass, but catfood will be the legacy.
Samara Morgan
well Cole, don’t forget your part in this comédie noir.
Your incessant handholding with your front page glibertarian rent-boiz gave the teabaggers and the media plausible deniability for the “we are all the same” eumeme.
catclub
Raven @ 49
Another thing that passed under Obama! A food safety law that gives the FDA the right to demand recalls. Previously, they could only ask pretty please.
Elie
Sorry — I am incorrect — its Acadian not Arcadian…
Boots Day
It’s Acadia, not Arcadia.
MazeDancer
Google searching the math, the WSJ supplies that, yes, it’s 240 Repubs in the House. And Boehner has to hold onto 23. And 59 of them defected on him in passing the budget. And 178 of them belong to the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) headed by Jim Jordan.
So that may mean there are 59 hardline T-Partiers Boehner’s trying to cajole today. Or even more.
But wondering if that also means that Repubs not in the RSC are possibly trying to avoid default. That’s 72 members. (240-178=72). Only 24 of them have to really want to avoid default and join with all the Dems to save the nation.
But there is zero cover for any of them. Whatever any Repub does, it’ll be spotlighted.
pablo
More like Wingnut KAMIKAZES!
JohnR
Well, the insanity of the modern GOP was pretty clear about a decade ago, but it’s sort of nice to see that it’s getting its proper recognition now. On the other side, Obama’s screwed – even the Cesar Romero Jokers in the House won’t be willing to ‘compromise’ because they’re sure that Obama will capitulate (and thus make up for old Unconditional Surrender Grant’s atrocities! finally!). The Heath Ledger Jokers just don’t care and wouldn’t accept Obama’s surrender anyway. The best deal that Obama can possibly get at this point is a compromise that meets the Republicans at about 80% of all they ever fantasized about, with the guarantee that they’ll be able to blame him for everything bad and thus retake the government for good very soon (and then our long, national post-1865 nightmare will finally be over! And how ironic that we win wearing the skin of our most hated enemies!). It’s fascinating to watch all this play out. Will we successfully turn into a fully-realized Christianist-fascist state with President Bachmann at the controls, or will it first be some modern oligarchy with a puppet President and a wise Executive Officer Council? How long before the Supreme Leader gathers full control of all the power? History is always so much more exciting when you’re living it. Personally, I’m not too fond of white-water rafting, but once you’ve gone into the flume, it’s oddly liberating to realize that nothing you do to steer will have any effect.
priscianusjr
Wasn’t that Breivik’s plan as well?
TooManyJens
@AZERTY:
Reasonable adult, my ass. He admits his caucus is holding us hostage, and his only stated problem with that is that they won’t get their pony.
catclub
Mazedancer:
I think the google math would say that 240-178 = 62,
not 72.
Never mind the need for more due to not getting Democrats to support Boehner’s bill unanimously.
Svensker
The famous Robbie Robertson song, Arcadian Diftwood…
Samara Morgan
lol
This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,
Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,
Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic,
Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms.
acadians were canada’s black slaves, and Evangeline was Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
slag
I can just see the movie title now: DC, Year Zero: Shock and Awe Comes Home.
shortstop
Yep. And now for some false equivalence. Wish I had a C note (usually I say fiver, but with the dollar about to drop through the second basement I thought I’d better jack it up significantly) for every time a clueless prog has huffed that we should just let the whole (financial, healthcare, etc., etc.) system go down because then Americans will “wake up” and immediately elect liberals. Que es mas estupido?
Of course, politically tin-eared progressives are not currently holding the global economy hostage, so not really a false equivalence after all. Er, carry on.
MonkeyBoy
Wasn’t this part of the idea during the Iraq invasion. The Iraqi culture was considered worthless to the extent that museums etc were not protected and allowed to be looted. Then Heritage Foundation interns could be installed to convert Iraq to an American vision with free opportunities for multinational chain stores to hook into emergent Iraqi consumerism because of course Iraqis were dying to become American clones.
Paul in KY
If the Repubs force this default scenario, I would love Pres. Obama to use his constitutional power as unitary executive & CINC of the armed forces (in wartime, dontchaknow) to do whatever he has to do to avert the disaster.
Damn, that would be funny!
Edit: Also, have VP Biden (who is the 4th branch of government) to do something to make the wingnut’s heads explode.
slag
@MonkeyBoy: The funny part is that they really could be thinking to themselves: “Well, it didn’t work as well as we thought in Iraq…But it might work for us!”.
So many layers of irony there, so little interest in processing them all.
TooManyJens
@shortstop:
I was gonna say …
Paul in KY
Samara Morgan, is that you Matoko?
Bender
Oh, it isn’t? Really? Come on…
FIFObama’s buddies Mr. Cloward and Mrs. Piven.
evinfuilt
@Pyrrho:
Have to love how our Galt ruler of the airlines have decided to raise costs to counter the reduction in price from no fees (and heck, no nasty regulation to get in the way of flying.)
Catsy
@Samara Morgan:
Oh look, m-chan is back hammering on one of the only notes she knows how to play.
And this time with a particularly disturbing pseudonym.
wrb
@Svensker:
Beautiful song. This video also shows some of the history as background
karen marie
MattR: They’ll vote for the Boehner bill because of the CCP. That one aspect is simple enough for them to understand. The CBO laughing at the numbers is meaningless because the CBO is a lefty plot.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
…by Mexico, to keep out fleeing Yanquis.
Ahh… beautiful, sunny Mexico. Me encanta.
MazeDancer
@catclub:
Thanks, clearly I gotta stop running numbers in my head and go for the reality-based calculator.
Still, Norquist and Erickson and their ilk must have some kind of chart of the T-P’s, the RSC’s, and the non-RSC’s ready to use either way they vote.
Elie
I think that I understand why Obama has spoken so forcefully against using the 14th. I think that he may believe that they would use that as an excuse to say that Obama blew up the current system so then they could rush to exploit that opportunity, blaming him all the way.
I think if that is so, that Obama will try to use whatever he can within the current system up to the very last minute, and maybe even allow default, knowing that voting for the debt limit increase is a Congressional responsibility that will fall on their heads, not his. He has received no bill to raise that ceiling so cannot be acused of failing to raise the ceiling himself.
I am no expert and this is just what it looks like to me right now.
Elie
..in the meantime, look at what this is costing the United States in lowered credit rating as well as inattention to very important national and international issues! And everyone will just point to this and say, “see, government really doesnt work at all and may actually harm us!” So the Repubs still get their message across even as they make the message the reality through their intentional actions. I hate these people from the bottom of my feet to the tip of my longest hair!
James E. Powell
@Bill White:
Cowpens? I don’t think so. I’m seeing Chancellorsville, with a timid Obama (Hooker) failing to exploit his advantages while Boehner/Cantor/McConnell carry the day by reckless audacity.
Bender
Paul Ryan and Shaun Hannity con-called me just last week: “Did you see what was on Balloon Juice yesterday?” Ryan asked breathlessly.
“Of course!” replied Hannity, “It’s the first thing I read every morning! Finally, we have broken them!”
TooManyJens
@Bender:
You’re not even trying.
shortstop
Pyrrhic victory. Confederate casualties were higher than Union losses at Chancellorsville.
DonkeyKong
The best way to describe the current republican party is a person that would light him or herself on fire, chase down and tackle you to light YOU on fire.
Interrobang
The Acadians weren’t black, you idiot. They were a minority group of French Canadians (of French descent) living in what are now the Maritime provinces. Canada also never really had black slavery; we preferred to enslave Indians, and slavery was made illegal in the colonies 25 years before Canada was even formed.
Leave Canadian history to us Canadians if you can’t get it right.
Svensker
@ wrb
One of their best. Nice video. Thanks.
Citizen_X
@Bender:
Is that what you kids are calling it now?
Judas Escargot
@Elie:
It’s Acadien/Acadian (I’m a half Acadien: my father’s from New Brunswick).
“Acadien” got corrupted into “Cajun” sometime after the 1755 diaspora, when Napoleon invited those displaced to beef up the population in the then-French territories.
“Jambalaya” probably comes from the French word for ham, jambon, which in the thick Acadien accent sounds a little like “jawm-behn”.
Cris (without an H)
Bender vs matoko_chan = everybody wins
Djur
I knew we should have never elected those two to Congress. Especially Cloward. Since we propped his corpse up in the cloakroom everyone’s umbrellas have started to smell like formaldehyde.
r
you know those scenarios where 2 warring parties join together to form an alliance when an even greater threat appears, like an alien invasion? i know im being very, very optimistic saying this, but what if the last vestiges of sane republicans join with the democrats to destroy the teabaggers and we live in peace and harmony forever and ever?
MattR
@r: I thought you were gonna take that in a completely different direction and say that not even an alien invasion would be enough to convince these Republicans to back Obama.
Cris (without an H)
Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair
karen marie
evinfuilt: I don’t understand why, just because the FAA is shut down, the airlines don’t still owe the taxes.
Does this mean, if we go into default and the IRS is shut down, that no one will have to pay income tax?
TenguPhule
Once again, this nonsense will not stop until Obama personally busts a cap in Grover on the steps of the House.
The anti-tax, pro-insanity party needs to be flayed alive and their skins donned by white virgins in honor of the great snake god to avert the end of the world.
TenguPhule
Yeah, this isn’t that one.
This is the movie where the whining idiots manage to let the monster into every safe place and get everybody killed while the audience screams at the rest of the party “Just eat Gillagan already!!”
Yutsano
@karen marie:
Not quite. A lot of what the IRS does is automated, so things like payroll taxes and such can still come in. But if there is no staff and a levy gets issued, the person is stuck. Levies can only be released manually.
TenguPhule
Because the authorization for that tax expired thanks to GOP dicks stalling the legislation.
TenguPhule
Our Corporate Media will never let facts get in the way of a good smear campaign.
Bob M
I am wondering, in all of this, why anyone is now taking Boehner at his word? This is probably just a closer-to-the-finish-line threat.
MixMash
The Soap Opera Kabuki Dance.
It always goes down like this: Those bad ole Republicans won’t budge. Obama must compromise utterly because those bad ole Republicans will cause irreparable harm and ruin the nations credit rating too. Obama compromises.
Democrat elite party and bloggers swoon at Obama’s heroic efforts. You know and I know, it never ends any other way. Fake to Right, Fake to Left, Touch Down for corporations and the rich. The rest of us regular folk lose again.
ovaut
This is the Republican lust to destroy. They’d destroy anything to destroy Obama.