American Politics Thread 2013: I'm a cool Rodham grandma in the USA

pretty much. that'll teach america to vote for a black guy!

http://www.people-press.org/files/2013/10/10-15-13-01.png

pretty sly and semi-convincing piece of radical writing here:

http://jacobinmag.com/2013/10/tea-party-yankees/

basically, "the tea party is correct in loving the constitution the way they do... and that's why the constitution is bad gree hee hee"

poll shows 10% of americans know how finance actually works

man this shit is gonna SUCK

once we default we'll be greeted as liberators

jack lew should commit ritual suicide on the steps of congress in protest

http://www.moviewavs.com/php/sounds/?id=bst&media=M4RS&type=TV_Shows&movie=Simpsons";e=default.txt&file=default.m4r

where are reinhart & rogoff now? they wrote a book documenting every time a country has ever defaulted on its debt: http://www.bloomberg.com/video/u-s-will-not-default-on-its-debt-rogoff-says-p1fNXwjLSyCzMhipcB8T~Q.html

um, shit?

https://twitter.com/tackettdc/status/390187773841252352
Michael Tackett ‏@tackettdc
BREAKING. Sen. Feinstein says ``it's all fallen apart''

https://twitter.com/SuzyKhimm/status/390189070170992640
Suzy Khimm Verified account ‏@SuzyKhimm
Sen Chris Coons really bleak about the state of negotiations right now. "We're in very dangerous territory."

not sure flopson but think someone upthread posted bruce bartlett's blogpost documenting every major advocate of default in recent decades?

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/14/for-many-hard-liners-debt-default-is-the-goal/?_r=2&

to totally mix metaphors, the republicans can kill two birds with one stone -- repudiate the debt, a looooooongterm goal; and scapegoat a president they've sworn from day one to destroy -- all in one fell swoop! GOP! GOP!

Now, Durbin told reporters, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is in the position of having to wait for some signal on the next steps from Boehner before he takes any further moves.

"McConnell is waiting on Boehner and Boehner is waiting on his caucus," Durbin said

NY Times

and the caucus is waiting on a plane at DCA.

focused like a laser on jobs

CNN's breaking news is that Ted Cruz convened a SECRET MEETiNG in the basement of DC's Tortilla Coast restaurant.

Just walked by there the other night - feel like I'm so close to history

I hate living in these historical times.

quick everyone get to tortilla coast (really?) with pitchforks.

i'm trying to picture tortilla coast.

maybe wear your flair.

http://www.tortillacoast.com/location_capitolhill.htm

wait – weren't they at Tortilla Coast last night too? What must their margarita bill be like?

Apparently, just nudging up against default last time ended up with the US paying an additional $1.3B in higher interest on outstanding loans.

JF, do you have a source for this? (Sorry, at work and not able to google quickly.) I mean, it completely stands to reason. I would like to have some $ facts to confront my go-ahead-and-default friends with.

wait a sec

when I went to the inauguration, Tortilla Coast was our group meeting point before we got in line

I saw it on Maddow last night. xp

Anyone who seeks a repudiation of the US national debt as a goal is just baffled and frightened by large numbers they don't understand. It's sensible to be troubled by the debt at current levels, but repudiating it would be like amputating your leg because you have a broken toe.

they are doing it because they have body integrity identity disorder iiuc

Maddow's show is really good about sharing all their citations, so it's in here somewhere: http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/10/15/20967291-links-for-the-1014-trms

have we hit upon the curious fact that house republicans gathered and sang amazing grace http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/house-gop-sang-amazing-grace-at-caucus-meeting

theyre unclear i guess that the point of the song is to have regret for enslaving peaople

anyway barring the republicans packing up and leaving town it seems like were at the same place we ever were, waiting on boehner to break the hassert rule

It's unclear if he even can now, after the system got rigged on 9/30. Doesn't Cantor or a surrogate of his have to bring up everything now?

i havent seen any serious news orgs touch that one, they can prob just insert the stuff into some other bill or something id image

The ability to bring bills to a floor vote, or not, is the very basis and foundation of the speaker's power. For all intents and purposes Cantor appears to be the de facto speaker atm. So why is Boehner the one the WH and senate dems are talking to?

what

They're not talking to Boehner; Boehner doesn't exist anymore.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
and mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

--John Newton, 1725-1807

these lyrics are pretty terrifying in this light

yeah honestly that is the scariest thing so far

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics-live/liveblog/live-updates-the-shutdown-8/?id=a09ae07a-4898-4ac7-95b4-cbd3160044ce

House Republicans are regrouping around a new version of their bill to reopen the government and raise the federal debt limit, with a vote by the full House expected as soon as Tuesday night.

The measure would raise the debt limit through Feb. 7, as in the original proposal. But it would fund federal agencies only through Dec. 15, creating the threat of another government shutdown just before Christmas if lawmakers fail to resolve a dispute over deep spending cuts known as the sequester.

Republicans decided to drop their bid to repeal a tax on medical devices that helps to fund President Obama’s health-care law. But in addition to denying employer subsidies to lawmakers and members of the executive branch, conservatives insisted on denying those subsidies to their own congressional staffs as well.

Republicans also adjusted another proposal to make clear that the Treasury Department would be only temporarily barred from using extraordinary measures to juggle the books after the Feb. 7 deadline.

GOP leadership aides said the new measure had been submitted to the House Rules Committee, the first step to a vote on the House floor. But as Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and his leadership team continued trying to round up support for the bill, aides said it remained uncertain when a vote before the full House would take place.

If Republicans manage to push the measure through the House, it would go to the Democratic-controlled Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has voiced strong objections to ending employer health subsidies for congressional staff. Democrats are also insisting that the Treasury Department maintain flexibility to manage the next debt-limit deadline.

But it would fund federal agencies only through Dec. 15, creating the threat of another government shutdown just before Christmas if lawmakers fail to resolve a dispute over deep spending cuts known as the sequester.

holy shit they really are stupid and indifferent to history

Boehner and Cantor every day remind me more and more of the two corporate villains in Robocop.

Cantor should be wary of any evening visits from Mike Conaway bearing a DVD and grenade.

http://mimg.ugo.com/201107/6/1/5/202516/cuts/robocop-toxic-waste_480x270.jpg

Boehnor and Cruz

"The old man thought it was pretty important, BONER."

what

The power of the speaker sure as heck isn't the title "Speaker", but the perogatives of that office. The committee assignments, which he also controls, are already set. During the ongoing session the speaker can personally kill any bill by not allowing it to the floor. That's his primary formal power. Under the rules change, that power now rests with the majority leader, Cantor.

There are, of course, informal powers of the speakership that rest on having a majority of the party caucus behind him, but those powers are pretty weak with Boehner, since his caucus is so fragmented and unruly.

yeah i think the point is that rule change is not really that important, its just being blown out of proportion by the republicans dont want you to know about this one weird rule change facebook sharers, if it were real then yeah people would be talking to cantor

i love the smell of shock doctrine disaster capitalism in the morning

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he was "proud" of Boehner's handling of the crisis. Then within moments he pleaded with Democrats to bail out the GOP, which he admitted has "screwed up" and "really did go too far" in the shutdown and debt limit standoffs.

"We won't be the last political party to overplay our hand," he said. "It might happen one day on the Democratic side. And if it did, would Republicans, for the good of the country, kinda give a little? We really did go too far. We screwed up. But their response is making things worse, not better."

House GOP leaders held private meetings on Tuesday afternoon to look for a path forward that holds together their conference. They may not delay or repeal the medical device tax -- something that both Democrats and Republicans have backed -- and considered rescinding health insurance subsidies to congressional staffers (known as the Vitter amendment) and overturn Obamacare's contraception coverage mandate.

"I don't know how this is going to play out today and tomorrow," said Coons. "And given how long it takes to get things done here ... well, you do the math."

TPM asked Graham if he'd prefer default to a clean debt limit hike.

Whoops, forgot his reply.

"I think both are terrible options and it'd be silly to pick between the two," he said. "Only a dysfunctional democracy would have those two choices -- which means it may happen."

"We won't be the last political party to overplay our hand,"

I have a gun to my head. Can you call 911?

Here's the House's Hail Mary

http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20131014/BILLS-113hjres59-HAmdt2a.pdf

"And if it did, would Republicans, for the good of the country, kinda give a little?"

jigga wut

lol graham what sad ass piece