Government Shutting Down

[mvaliz]

Soft water filters are already tax deductible.

They are!? I didn't know that!

Spit! I'm saving my recipts now! Thanks! =D

[bergmann620]

I don't like the fact that Congress still gets paid while the majority of the federal workforce gets furloughed. At least some of them are doing the right thing:

I'm not a fan of them getting paid, at all.

I know, I know. Someone is going to take my above rhetorical flourish and try to prove a point with it. Just make sure to include this part in your quote.

[Kujako]

But isn't that the point of the Senate? I mean to only need 51% of the vote to pass a bill.

The bill (ACA) was passed by the senate and house before being signed into law by the president, challenged over 40 times and upheld by the supreme court. What is currently happening is that they are saying none of that matters, do what we say or suffer the consequences. This is a VERY bad precedence that will haunt the US governmental system for decades if successful. The are in essence trying to bypass two branches of our three branch system by holding the budget hostage.

Like I said, take personal feelings about the health care bill and partisan politics out of the picture. Is this how you want government to work from now on? That every year when the budget bill comes up, the majority party in the senate gets to dictate policy and override everyone else?

[NYC17]

Or maybe he actually believes Congress shouldn't get paid during a government shutdown like the rest of the federal workers. No, that couldn't be it. Must be a publicity stunt.

I edited it and added more. You're welcome to read it and attempt a better understanding.

[bergmann620]

But isn't that the point of the Senate? I mean to only need 51% of the vote to pass a bill.

As part of the greater system, yes. As a lone legislative body, no.

[Felya]

I guess we have different definitions on what a crisis is. When I look at virtually every poor, urban area in the country, I see a crisis- one that won't be solved with "Hire more correctional officers!"

Did I say it would? I'm saying, your idea of creating a crisis, because you think it will create the change you want, is detrimental to the country. Correctional officers and the status of the poor are two different issues.

The thing they do have in common, is nothing about them will get solved as long as people follow your advice of fabricating the issue that is this thread.

[Naxere]

I edited it and added more. You're welcome to read it and attempt a better understanding.

Yeah let's put this whole shutdown on Cruz. You realize he's in the Senate and not the House, right?

[Felya]

They are!? I didn't know that!

Spit! I'm saving my recipts now! Thanks! =D

Yep, under permanent home improvement... Something like that...

[Kujako]

I'm not a fan of them getting paid, at all.

It's not like the paycheck is a major source of most of their income.

[Chrysia]

But isn't that the point of the Senate? I mean to only need 51% of the vote to pass a bill.

But they need 60% of the vote to move to floor discussion.

[NYC17]

Yeah let's put this whole shutdown on Cruz. You realize he's in the Senate and not the House, right?

He's the public face of it, as he wished. Or have you not been paying attention to good ol' Rafael?

[Felya]

Yeah let's put this whole shutdown on Cruz. You realize he's in the Senate and not the House, right?

You do realize that he was fake filibustering the republican bill, right? His speech was not delaying a vote on Obamacare, but a vote on the republican proposal to end it.

[Templar 331]

The bill (ACA) was passed by the senate and house before being signed into law by the president, challenged over 40 times and upheld by the supreme court. What is currently happening is that they are saying none of that matters, do what we say or suffer the consequences. This is a VERY bad precedence that will haunt the US governmental system for decades if successful. The are in essence trying to bypass two branches of our three branch system by holding the budget hostage.

Like I said, take personal feelings about the health care bill and partisan politics out of the picture. Is this how you want government to work from now on? That every year when the budget bill comes up, the majority party in the senate gets to dictate policy and override everyone else?

Isn't that why the Senate is sometimes referred to as the upper house?

[Tinykong]

I was talking more of de-fluor/chlorination for the kookies.

The chlorination has nothing to do with being concerned about drinking it. It just STINKS. Imagine drinking a glass of water scooped out of a public swimming pool. Pretty much smells like that.

- - - Updated - - -

It's not like the paycheck is a major source of most of their income.

You're right, they probably get most of that from the stock portfolios they have consisting of stock in companies they give corporate welfare too.

[bergmann620]

The bill (ACA) was passed by the senate and house before being signed into law by the president, challenged over 40 times and upheld by the supreme court. What is currently happening is that they are saying none of that matters, do what we say or suffer the consequences. This is a VERY bad precedence that will haunt the US governmental system for decades if successful. The are in essence trying to bypass two branches of our three branch system by holding the budget hostage.

Like I said, take personal feelings about the health care bill and partisan politics out of the picture. Is this how you want government to work from now on? That every year when the budget bill comes up, the majority party in the senate gets to dictate policy and override everyone else?

You can't take personal feelings out of it. It ALL depends on the issue of the day. If the House in the forties had shut down the government over the funding of internment camps, I would have supported it wholeheartedly. If it were the current Congress shutting down the government to attempt to strip funding for drone warfare in non-declared warzones, I would support it wholeheartedly.

I don't support this wholeheartedly, even though I don't support the ACA either. I won't, however, discredit the folks quite likely risking their political futures in order to prevent something they believe will be disastrous for the country.


As an aside:

If I were Democrats, I would pull back even reasonable compromise, stretch this out for a month or two, then cave on the ACA "to save America" so that there was huge public outcry in 2014. That would give them the momentum needed to win back the House. Except, they'd still be in the insurance companies' pockets, and they'd give us more ACA bullshit, rather than actually fixing anything.

[Zecora]

I'm sorry, but this IS proof that the House Republicans are dysfunctional.

Dems "We'll negotiate on everything but Obamacare."
Reps "We won't negotiate on anything until we get Obamacare defunded."
Dems "What about everything else?"
Reps "Ok, you can have everything else but Obamacare."
Dems "But Obamacare has already been passed as a law, upheld by SCOTUS, and is in effect."
Reps "We don't care, it's evil, unconstitutional, and wrong!!"

Tell me how the Dems are the bad guys here?

There is great irony in the Republicans, most of whom I see constantly saying how much they love the constitution, screaming bloody murder towards a law that has been found to be constitutional...

[Pitkanen]

Yeah let's put this whole shutdown on Cruz. You realize he's in the Senate and not the House, right?

One point I can agree on. Ted Cruz is just a dude who wants to be president and just made insane amounts of publicity, and future super-PAC money by rambling for a day. In the end though, Naxere is correct, Cruz did nothing. There are at least 6 republicans in the senate who vowed to vote against filibustering the Senates actions, and Cruz wasn't necessary to get those 6 so yeah, Cruz doesn't matter.

John Boehner is the key to the house. As majority leader he picks what bills get voted on, and he's refused to vote on a clean CR. Ironically, it wasn't long ago that he wanted to (20 days ago actually), but the tea party did that thing from fight club where the guys break into the bathroom with the rubber band and threaten the dude.

[Naxere]

One point I can agree on. Ted Cruz is just a dude who wants to be president and just made insane amounts of publicity, and future super-PAC money by rambling for a day. In the end though, Naxere is correct, Cruz did nothing. There are at least 6 republicans in the senate who vowed to vote against filibustering the Senates actions, and Cruz wasn't necessary to get those 6 so yeah, Cruz doesn't matter.

John Boehner is the key to the house. As majority leader he picks what bills get voted on, and he's refused to vote on a clean CR. Ironically, it wasn't long ago that he wanted to (20 days ago actually), but the tea party did that thing from fight club where the guys break into the bathroom with the rubber band and threaten the dude.

I agree. Everywhere I look Boehner is the face of the shutdown (at least on HuffPo, ThinkProgress, and MotherJones), not Cruz.

[Masark]

You're right, they probably get most of that from the stock portfolios they have consisting of stock in companies they give corporate welfare too.

The average senator is worth about $14 million and the average house rep is worth $6.5 million.

Democratic senators are on average more wealthy than Republican ones ($20.8 vs. $6.3), but Republican reps are worth more than Democratic ones ($7.8 vs. $5.1)

http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.ph...epresentatives

[Felya]

The average senator is worth about $14 million and the average house rep is worth $6.5 million.

Democratic senators are on average more wealthy than Republican ones, but Republican reps are worth more than Democratic ones.

http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.ph...epresentatives

Any talk of them donating pay is rhetoric...