werepossum
Elite Member
- Jul 10, 2006
- 29,873
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I'm meh on it being done - we're getting hosed either way. Either we keep on funding the federal government at bail-out levels forever (or to be more accurate, bail-out levels minus the small mandatory cuts) or government shuts down. I would have been enthusiastic about it last year, but this year the Senate Dems actually passed a budget and the Republicans have not given an honest try at reconciliation. So not only will I not be comfortable with it happening in the future, I am not comfortable with it happening now. But since, to repeat myself, I think we're getting hosed either way, I'm not particularly worked up about it either.Of course they're willing to start with NIH and run down the list of everything else until Obamacare. This is their goal. They want to regularly use the federal budget process to defund existing laws they don't like, when they lack the votes to pass legislation to achieve their goal.
If you're comfortable with vocal minorities doing it this way from now on, wait until the tables are turned. I dare say your tune will change when the Dems are doing this to a Republican law. The cries of "treason" from the fringe right will be deafening (well, more deafening than usual).
What I would LIKE to see from the Republicans:
1) Pass a clean 90 day CR covering everything currently funded.
2) Pass a clean debt ceiling increase good for an estimated 90 days.
3) Have 48 hours' continuous House debate on the Senate budget, followed by an up or down vote.
4) Assuming it fails, spend the next 60 days in intense bipartisan negotiations about the budget level, taking into account the debt ceiling, with the understanding that 30 days in, every proposal with 1/4 support in the reconciliation committee goes before the House and Senate for an up or down vote.
5) Have an up or down on the budget with the highest support.
6) Go to reconciliation.
7) Decide what parts of Obamacare need to continue and draft legislation replacing the current monstrosity with only those parts, then take that directly to the American people.
Pretty much how I see it. If Harry Reid can say with impunity "why would we do that (fund studies for children with cancer)" rather than hold out for everything they want, I can't see what leverage the Pubbies can possibly have. Most of Obamacare is mandatory entitlement spending anyway, so most of Obamacare marches on regardless of whether the rest of government marches with it.I don't really see how the republicans can't eventually cave. I'm not a fan of government programs but the democrats have no incentives to take anything less than a 'clean' budget. Most of the media blames the republicans, the dems want to keep the ACA and the ACA was not effected by the shutdown.
There is just no incentive to negotiate. They know this can't go on forever and at this point in time the President holds all the cards (He likes the ACA, and has said he will veto anything that hurts it). The longer it goes the more the media will make the reps out to be the bad guys.
I think the dems know that all they need to do is wait. They have no incentive to negotiate by giving things to the republicans. If anything they have enough leverage to ask the republicans to give them some more things!
Sadly the populous won't see this and realize both sides are f'in morons who are playing political games with peoples lives. Instead they will see this as a validation of the hate they have for people with different beliefs then them.