Government Shut Down

[Undertoad]

I'm a national treasure.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I'm a national treasure.

word.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I'm a national treasure.

[Lamplighter]

NY Times
JONATHAN WEISMAN
December 10, 2013

Capitol Leaders Agree to a Deal on the Budget
<snip><snip><snip>

The agreement, which would finance the government through Sept. 30, 2015,
would eliminate about $63 billion in across-the-board domestic and military cuts.
But it would provide $23 billion in deficit reduction by extending a 2 percent cut
to Medicare providers through 2023, two years beyond the cuts set by the Budget Control Act of 2011.
<snip>
While the agreement had the backing of senior House Republicans, Heritage Action,
the political arm of the Heritage Foundation and a group influential with rank-and-file
House Republicans, came out against the deal even before it was announced,
as did Americans for Prosperity, the advocacy group backed by the billionaire brothers
Charles and David Koch, and Koch Industries, the conservative brothers’ energy and paper conglomerate.<snip>

Sometimes I think this sort of GOP theatrics is just a ploy to make
the Democrats think they are getting a good deal.

.

[Lamplighter]

By coincidence or design, tomorrow is the anniversary of ( my / the ) last post in this thread.
And even though next year the GOP will control the House and Senate,
they can't wait till then to play their games, and their game has not changed.

The GOP leadership again says they do not want to shut down the government...
but it looks like they do want to return to the glorious days of the G.W.Bush era.
Back then, big banks could engage in all sorts of risky dealings,
and there was all that $ in the checking and savings accounts of J.Q. Public.
Talk about temptations !

Well, we know what came of that.
The banks lost $ and the FDIC was there to insure losses.
But then came the Dodd-Frank Bill that stopped the banks
from using those public accounts $ for their risky (gambling ?) forays.

Now, on this anniversary, the House GOP has funded all of the government thru Sept, 2015,
except for Homeland Security. Guess what ! Hidden in this giga-bill is a secret little amendment
to the Dodd-Frank Bill. It again allows big banks to use the $ in those public accounts,
and again has the FDIC on the hook for any losses the bank incurs in those accounts.

…All will be right in this forthcoming glorious GOP world of high finance.

[glatt]

I'm torn.

Do I care about what Congress has put in this spending bill that will surely pass today? If I do, I'll get really pissed off and it will aggravate me. But I'm powerless to do anything about it. So do I just ignore it? Put the newspaper away and think about how my daughter has a holiday band concert next week and it will be awesome?

The fuckers are supposed to fund the government. That's just the most basic part of their job. But they can't even do that without loading the thing down with tons of pure excrement. All of which will be dumped directly on our heads.

- weakening campaign finance laws so they can get about ten times more in donations from wealthy donors. The whores have to give themselves a raise.

-loosing bank regulations to reward those that pulled us into this horrible recession

- allowing private retirement pension benefits, which have always been untouchable, to be cut so that mismanaged funds can be brought back into the black on the backs of the retired. They are actually allowing current retirees to lose some of their pension payments.

-cutting $300M in funding from Pell grants so fewer low income students can go to college

-slashing $350M from the IRS so they can't be as effective at making sure rich people pay their fair share of taxes. I bet this one will actually cost the gov't more than $350M in uncollected tax revenue.

-slashing another $60M from the EPA, on top of the 20% already slashed in the last 4 years. Gotta let those corps pollute. Good for the bottom line.

-blocking the legalization of pot in DC, voted for by a huge majority of voters. Government overreach is a bad thing, unless you are the one who gets to do it. Hypocritical scum.

- and stupid little things like blocking new regulations in trucking that would have required drivers to get some more sleep and shrink their typical work week from 80 hours down to 72. I love sharing the road with sleepy truckers. Thanks Congress!

there's some good:

A 1% pay raise for military and government workers. They are almost keeping up with inflation now.

$5.4B to fight Ebola.

That's about it.

I guess I let it aggravate me. Sorry. I'll try to go stick my head in the sand again. It's nice down there.

[Undertoad]

Adak said so, #289

[Big Sarge]

Undertoad - I agree, you are a "National Treasure". I know you are our benevolent overlord and would make the ultimate supreme leader of planet earth.

Adak - The government shut down sucked big time and there is a lot of blame to go around. I am not a fan of the current administration, but calling the President of the United States an ass wipe is wrong in so many ways. You may not like the man, but for God's sake you need to respect the office he holds and what he represents.

[classicman]

Its Pelosi's fault. lol

[Lamplighter]

We're back in the good ol' times ....

The Democrats caved in, and set precedent for the next 2 years