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Less than three days away from a government shutdown, House Republican leaders stood defiant today laying blame on President Obama and Democrats if the lights go out.
"The president isn't leading," House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) charged, noting first that he liked the president personally and that they "get along well."
He criticized the president for not implementing any of his own fiscal commission's recommendations in his budget.
And he upped the ante, saying House Republicans were prepared to go forward with a bold one-week continuing resolution that would cut a whopping $12 billion in spending but continue to fund the Pentagon through September.
The $12 billion figure is more than the last two continuing resolutions combined -- $6 billion for three weeks, $4 billion for two.
Boehner called it "our troop-funding bill."
This essentially means both sides are at square zero -- and they have two-and-a-half days to figure it out. Republicans set a rule that all bills would have to be reviewed for 72 hours before they are voted on. Congress is now within that window.
So the only ways a shutdown is averted is: (1) the conventional way: if the rule is suspended and both sides come up with a deal that is something less than $61 billion and more than the $10 billion that's already passed, which is possible; (2) if Democrats bite the bullet and vote for the $12 billion, one-week CR -- which seems highly unlikely; (3) if another one-week CR is passed with no changes to the budget or substantially less than $12 billion in cuts -- which isn't something it seems Republicans would agree to; (4) if a two-or-three-day CR is agreed to -- which seems it would be tough to pass in the House unless it, too, had substantial cuts.
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biggest joke = this has anything to do with a smaller budget, as opposed to a right wing hit list
you mean obama's tax cut - he signed it into law. Only presidents can sign off.
When the Democrats controlled the Congress, the Senate and the White House they could not pass a budget. Yes they were handed a mess, but that does not provide cover for being completely incompetent once they controlled the legislative and executive branches. The Democrats have -0- credibilty to anyone with a short term memory.
Death Plan = Death Panel
Democrat = Hipocrite
But i tell you that when it comes to govt shut down you need to ask who does it hurt the most. Does it hurt the gop, birther, & tea party patron who makes $24B/year personal income or the little guy making $24K/year. I tell you that the gop, birther, & tea party have a slogan which is the govt is the problem, it should be shut down. That should answer your question. The super-rich gop, birther, & tea party $24B/year patron doesn't really need the govt for anything and will direct the gop puppets in govt accordingly.
The Democrats were in complete control of the Budget process for the FY2011 Budget. They could have introduced, passed, and signed into law the budget anytime from 1 OCT 2009 to early January 2011. THEY CHOSE NOT TO DO SO. The Republicans take over ONE chamber of Congress and voted through a budget bill in 2 months, but the Senate won't pass it.
Chris, Cranbury, NJ.
Now, someone please correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't the federal budget supposed to be passed before the federal government's fiscal year starts? Since the federal fiscal year starts on October 1, shouldn't it have been the job of the last Congress to pass the budget for fiscal 2011?
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Reply#2 - Wed Apr 6, 2011 10:22 AM HST
Jody, Iowa
Yes, but Senate Republicans blocked that effort last year. It should be passed before the new fiscal year begins but it rarely does these days at least not when you have one party who said NO, blocked, delayed, denied and obstructed everything the past two years. That's the reality of last year not my political view.
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#2.1 - Wed Apr 6, 2011 10:55 AM HST
Dennis, Columbus, Ohio
I don’t understand what you expect to get out of talking about what should have, could have happened 6+ months ago.
We all know that you can’t change the past and what we need to do now is move forward and pass a budget for the rest of FY2011.
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#2.2 - Wed Apr 6, 2011 11:14 AM HST
Ward-374799
Jody, the Dems held a majority in both the House and Senate in the 111th Congress!!! How could they not pass it? They passed Obamacare and other legislation but not the budget!!!
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#2.3 - Wed Apr 6, 2011 11:17 AM HST
Clotho
Filibusters by the minority GOP. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was ultimately passed through reconciliation, to get around the filibuster obstruction.
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#2.4 - Wed Apr 6, 2011 11:22 AM HST
Maude Elizabeth City, NC
The Democrats said "No" to a budget and no to doing their job, Democrats had majorities in both the Senate and House, and a democratic President in the White House, and still failed to do their job. How dare they say the budget crisis is not of their making!
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#2.5 - Wed Apr 6, 2011 11:26 AM HST
Larry-2260635
Ward, have you had your head up your posterior for the last two and a half years? From the day the election results came in on November 2008 the Republicans set up blocks on EVERYTHING the Democrats have tried to do. They even went so far as to block the release of money for programs that were passed, namely the relief aid to Haiti as one. (Google "republican blocks haiti relief") Even before they took office in 2011 they were already blocking any last minute bills under the previous congress, namely the 2011 budget. You want to know what the Republicans stand for just Google "Republicans block".
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#2.6 - Wed Apr 6, 2011 11:41 AM HST
Larry-2260635
Maude Elizabeth City, NC
The Democrats said "No" to a budget and no to doing their job,
and Ward-374799
Jody, the Dems held a majority in both the House and Senate in the 111th Congress!
Here's another couple that has their head up their posterior for the last 2 1/2 years.
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#2.7 - Wed Apr 6, 2011 11:48 AM HST
Heartlight3
Ward - The 2011 Budget was deemed passed in the House but it could not be brought to the floor for discussion in the Senate due to Republican filibusters. Some say, they could have used reconciliation, but reconciliation is used on the final vote to pass a bill after debate. Since it never even got to the floor for discussion, it could not be voted on.
Health care was passed through reconciliation only after it had been negotiated for a year and people were so sick of all the holds and filibusters that they finally allowed debate on the floor because it was clear the Dems were going to keep fighting for it. I don't know where you could have been these last two years to have missed hearing about the obstructive tactics employed by the Republicans. The only things that got passed were things the Dems were able to get past the Republican obstruction brigade. That's where all the back room deals that everyone was so upset about came from.
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#2.8 - Wed Apr 6, 2011 11:49 AM HST
Really? Even though we all saw the Tea Partiers rally "shut it down" Really?
a lot of people are saying shut down the government, who needs them. I'm a federal employee whom everyone thinks makes a lot of money. well I don't, not like some of the people in the private sector and especially at capitol hill. I have bills like everyone else, my husband has been looking for a job for 2 years in housing construction and with only 1 paycheck coming in, it's not easy. If I have to stay home due to the shut down and not get paid, I will try to manage but the bigwigs at capitol hill should give up there pay or take a decrease in pay for awhile, that would save a lot of money.
The Democrats were in complete control of the Budget process for the FY2011 Budget. They could have introduced, passed, and signed into law the budget anytime from 1 OCT 2009 to early January 2011. THEY CHOSE NOT TO DO SO. The Republicans take over ONE chamber of Congress and voted through a budget bill in 2 months, but the Senate won't pass it.
Hellcat,
Wasn't that budget vetoed by the republicans?
The Senate won't pass it because it is a bad bill.
The Republicans did not HAVE a Veto. Pelosi never allowed a budget bill to the floor. The Democrats had a large majority in the HofR and a filibuster proof majority in the Senate. They could have passed anything they wanted to pass, including a budget.
Jack, maybe it is a bad bill. I for one do not like the funding for the Army NASCAR team that is included in it. But the fact is the Democrats were in complete control and failed to even bring a budget bill to the floor for a vote when they had total control. As such, any shutdown is due to their inaction... the first Congress in history to not even vote on an annual budget.
Heartlight3
Ward - The 2011 Budget was deemed passed in the House but it could not be brought to the floor for discussion in the Senate due to Republican filibusters. Some say, they could have used reconciliation, but reconciliation is used on the final vote to pass a bill after debate. Since it never even got to the floor for discussion, it could not be voted on.
Health care was passed through reconciliation only after it had been negotiated for a year and people were so sick of all the holds and filibusters that they finally allowed debate on the floor because it was clear the Dems were going to keep fighting for it. I don't know where you could have been these last two years to have missed hearing about the obstructive tactics employed by the Republicans. The only things that got passed were things the Dems were able to get past the Republican obstruction brigade. That's where all the back room deals that everyone was so upset about came from.
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#2.8 - Wed Apr 6, 2011 11:49 AM HST
Obummer looked like a complete ass up there today, you progs, libs, and WH did'nt have the nads to take care of their responsibility's in the fall. It would be funny if it wasn't so chickenship.
Yes. How Dare they! Odumbo is running deficits of 1.5 trillion and the heartless GOP is trying to cut 60 Billion. The nerve of those people ! Especially since the GOP won a landslide in November with pledges to slash govt spending.
slashing government spending didnt work for a single country that pursued that strategy during the great depression. unfortunately the GOP is ignorant of history, among many other things, and for some reason believes that the same strategy will yield different results this time around.
btw very clever calling the president odumbo. did you come up with that yourself, or is that one of bachmanns?
Tom in NH-294381
"When Pres. Obama took office, there was ALREADY a $1.3T deficit in that year's budget."
That's not Obama defciit is it??? NO! You KNOW that much of that deficit carried over to the next year since you also know that the federal budget isnt a zero sum game! IN addition, we had an economic crisis where money HAD to be spent ( also courtesy of the GOP)
So let's not go haywire over "Obama's spending" since much of it HAD to be done to stave off disaster---you know it and I know it!!!
BUT, did you know that the run up of debt by reagan/bush/bush, thru tax cuts and overspending was DELIBERATE????? The plan--- "starve the beast" was begun under reagan. The idea was to mortgage the government to the hilt so that it created a debt/budget crisis.
That way the GOP could then claim that the only way to solve this problem was to eliminate/privatize SS, Medicare etc. The last 3 GOP signed TWENTY deficit riddled budgets which led to $11T of debt. ON PURPOSE! If reagan/bush/bush had NOT done that, we would NOT be having this conversation!! We wouldnt HAVE a crisis!
<=== A CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN ( Nobel prize winning economist)
I wonder how that changes your opinion of the GOP, who endangered national security and economic future with this MONSTROUS plan just so they could give the money spent on social entitlements to the bankers and Wall St bigwigs who just crashed this economy.
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#1.17 - Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:58 PM HST
Dog and Pony show for the sheeple. Economic melt down in the cards shut down or not. Just a matter of time but if it makes all of you feel better blaming your favorite wealthy self-serving bank/wall street/corporate financed politicial stooge type your liitle fingers off.
Everyone continues to argue back and forth over this, just protecting their own side. Ryan's budget proposal, although very short on details has some good points; the Dems also have their issues that are appropriate. The bipartisan debt commission report had it pretty much right, but Ryan (a member) voted against it because he didn't agree with the revenue-increasing sections of it, then put out his version with a number of the debt commission's spending reductions included. Neither side wants to accept the fact that what the debt commission attempted to do was to solve the deficit by BOTH cutting spending and increasing revenue. The debt commission report should be the focus of the next budget deliberations, not the Ryan budget proposal or the President's budget. Besides that, the Republicans, especially, need to get their social agenda items removed from the budget discussions. Also, quit trying to repeal and/or defund the new health care law; instead, propose legislation to improve what is already there (for example, a meaningful malpractice litigation stance)
"The president isn't leading," House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) charged..."
Well Mr. Boehner, I thought the desire to lead this country in the conservative direction is why you wanted to be speaker and so many republicans were chomping at the bit to get to Washington.
Now that you are actually in a position to lead, you are finding out it is a lot harder than sitting on your hands and saying no to everything.
And if I remember correctly the President did submit a budget last year as required by the constitution and the conservatives dismissed it straight away. Just say No, remember.
Now it is your turn to lead!
the GOP has no ability to lead. theyre finding out what happens when you put all your focus on blaming those across the aisle and spend no time formulating alternatives and compromises. too bad none of the republicans realize this, as shown by how many of them are running on a 2012 platform of "blame obama for everything but say nothing about how you would do things differently"
Part time listener last fall the Repubs were completely at the mercy of the low life progs & libs.
I thought Speaker Boehner became "SPEAKER" because a TSUNAMI of very angry American Voters went to their voting booths on 11/2/10 and kicked an unprecedented boat load of DEMS out of Congress because they were spending us into oblivion?
"the president isnt leading" is a logical statement when you consider the GOP views leading as obama caving to their demands. instead he is standing up against massive budget cuts that would only worsen the economic problems of this country, which is what he should rightfully be doing. the GOP is unwilling to accept any sort of compromise, and although there is blame to be placed on both sides that unwillingness to compromise is the major factor in this debacle
Here we go, are those Republicans trying to do good again. Their efforts never end and if they weren't lining their pockets just like those darned old Democrats I could probably believe in them. But their cause is making money and staying in office and making idiots believe the country would be different if they ran the whole show on a full time basis.
By "the President isn't leading," Boehner of course means "the President isn't giving us everything we want."
The President IS of course leading in the fight to keep the Republicans from destroying our investment in our future.
In all seriousness, it seems to me the GOP is unhappy because the GOP doesn't have a unified goal. Yes, they want to cut spending, but where it should be cut and how much vary from rep to rep to a degree that makes pleasing his own caucus a problem for Boehner. Listening to a run of the mill GOP rep from TX vs a tea party rep from MN shows how schizophrenic the GOP is right now. Perhaps the bigger problem is that some of them don't know how much is currently spent on what, and when you question them on individual points (like science, education, or infrastructure spending) they don't want to cut back. If you listen to some of them long enough, it almost seems like they want to raise taxes because they can't really name any individual thing that we are spending too much on (or when they do find something, it accounts for too small an amount to make a difference in the deficit).
So .. the President is not leading... ?
What do you call a bunch of financially irresponsible men who blew up spending over the period of 2000 to 2008 and capped it off with a near financial melt down in 2008? LEADERS!
next time you see a republican news conference and a bunch of them are standing around in the background, look into their eyes, that's how you know they are lying
Much as they believe all the other crap the Tea Party/ GOP spin their base will believe the Democrats are responsible for the government shut down problem with that is anyone who has a brain and uses it knows that is not true. The Tea Party/ GOP are responsible for the condition our country is in might I suggest the first way for the government to get income is TAX THE RICH, BANKS and BIG CORPORATIONS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, the Tea Party/Republicans prevented the Democrats from even bringing an FY 2011 budget bill up for a vote when the Democrats had a filibiuster proof majority in the Senate and a large majority in the HofR. The Democrats COULD have passed a budget for FY2011 anytime from 1 OCT 2009 to when the Tea Party freshman got sworn in January 2011.
How exactly did the Tea Party prevent Pelosi and Reid from voting on a budget for 15 months before they were even elected?
Hellcat-3277171, consider this comment by "Heartlight 3"
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Heartlight3
Ward - The 2011 Budget was deemed passed in the House but it could not be brought to the floor for discussion in the Senate due to Republican filibusters. Some say, they could have used reconciliation, but reconciliation is used on the final vote to pass a bill after debate. Since it never even got to the floor for discussion, it could not be voted on.
Health care was passed through reconciliation only after it had been negotiated for a year and people were so sick of all the holds and filibusters that they finally allowed debate on the floor because it was clear the Dems were going to keep fighting for it. I don't know where you could have been these last two years to have missed hearing about the obstructive tactics employed by the Republicans. The only things that got passed were things the Dems were able to get past the Republican obstruction brigade. That's where all the back room deals that everyone was so upset about came from.
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#2.8 - Wed Apr 6, 2011 11:49 AM HST
The orange man and his tea bagging homophobics will find out who gets the blame.
The same bozos that got the blame last time- ignorant, racist, un-american repugnants.
The President's majority in the House and Senate after the 2012 election will allow him to pass anything he wants-whenever he wants. They will outlaw republicans and deport anyone registered as an un-american republican.
They had their opportunity in the fall but didn't have the stomach for it. Dems are toast
If you are a republican you blame the democrats and it you are a democrat you blame the republicans. I just wish they would all go away and get some new people in there to see if they know what the word compromise means. It does not mean my way only, and both sides need to get that through their stupid heads. They tend to think that the American people are stupid and can not figure out that none of them really care about us all they care about are the companies that contribute to their campaigns and staying in office.
When all else fails blame the other guy. The Republicans have jammed their policy down the American throats, not the Democrats. And its bull crap if you think other wise. The Republicans a bunch of bullies. The Republicans are a bunch of losers. LOSERS !!!!!!!!
BS to you, Boehner. The Repubs will do anything to defeat Obama, including lie. The Dems have no spine (still) and the Repubs have to cave to the Tea Party cause they are afraid if they don't they will lose too many votes. NONE of them represent the citizens of this country. Boo to all of you.