Budget talks: This is getting nasty

It's pretty incredible that with the President using the bully pulpit on numerous occasions, with the House servers and phone lines being overwhelmed, with John McCain calling them Hobbits, with Boehner telling them to "get their asses in line", and with the media putting pressure on them, a number of Republicans are still sticking to their guns.

I can only imagine that means their actual constituents are telling them to hold firm.

 

Such bravery.

 

They've agreed to raise the debt ceiling. That's the compromise.

Take it or leave it.

The House Republicans were elected to change how things get done. They came to Washington to shrink Government.

This is their opportunity.

They are not afraid of letting the debt ceiling stay right where it is.

But, they are willing to compromise. If Washington will change its ways, they will raise the debt ceiling.

That is a compromise. A pretty big one considering that doing nothing achieves their goals.

And the Boehner Bill does so little, but Democrats would rather let the "Tea Party" drive them off the cliff rather than embrace it.

 

Shrink government, obsessively care about uteri, tomato, tomahto.

There are no small government conservatives. The ones that claim they are full of shit. "Government for me, not for thee" is what we're dealing with here.

 

Additionally, I will once again remind that failure to raise the debt ceiling will increase the role of government, not shrink it.

You say brave, I say stump-humping morons.

 

All 28% of them.

If Walker ran for governor of Wisconsin today, he'd lose.

 

The parts of me that are liberal are liberal in a Krugman kind of way. He's must reading for me. He's dead on in this column. We've talked a lot about how the goalposts have been moved in this debate, for what it's worth.

 

Oh geesh, not only is a balanced budget amendment NEVER going to pass the senate, it will NOT be ratified by the states in a process that would take nothing less than years. So instead of holding the country hostage with it now, why not get the damn budget done and introduce it after this is over. It's not something you are going to force in now, so it does nothing constructive at this point. It's beyond silly and an example of how insane these negotiations are

 

http://www.theonion.com/articles/congress-continues-debate-over-whether-or-not-nati,20977/

 

Trivia question:

How many other nations have a debt ceiling?

 

No, it's basic sanity.