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  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Tea Party: Bring on a government shutdown

    Tea Party: Bring on a government shutdown

    By Tom Cohen, CNN
    April 6, 2011 12:56 p.m. EDT

    Washington (CNN) -- To the Tea Party movement that helped fuel Republican electoral success last November, a promise is a promise.

    So when it became clear last month that House Speaker John Boehner, a conservative GOP hero, was willing to accept far smaller spending cuts for the rest of the current fiscal year than what Republicans pledged in the 2010 election campaign, the Tea Party reaction was both swift and decisive.

    "There is no other way to put this," Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips wrote on the group's website in early March. "The Tea Party movement should find a candidate to run against John Boehner in 2012 and should set as a goal, to defeat in a primary, the sitting Speaker of the House of Representatives."

    Such commitment to the cause of shrinking the government explains why Tea Party supporters, including some members of Congress they helped elect, welcome a possible government shutdown as soon as midnight Friday. Bringing to a halt what they consider to be a bloated and misguided federal government would be a tangible success for their citizen activism that claims allegiance to no single party.

    Political Ticker: Nation split on shutdown blame game



    Boehner: Want to keep government open

    Budget fight: Who are the grown-ups?

    Tea Party leaders: Dems 'out of touch'

    Anatomy of a government shutdown RELATED TOPICS
    Barack Obama
    John Boehner
    Harry Reid
    "I'm not the slightest bit worried about a government shutdown," Tea Party supporter Robin Maas said at a March 31 rally in Washington. "I think we find out that there are many things government does that we really don't need to keep this country going. And a government shutdown would actually save us some money."

    Time: Are we headed for a shutdown?

    John Sanders, another of the several hundred at the outdoor rally on a cold, drizzly day, said it all came down to the Republican pledge to cut $100 billion from the federal budget for the remaining months of fiscal 2011, which ends September 30. First, House Republicans backed off of that by passing a bill that included $61 billion in cuts, saying it was pro-rated for the already expired months in the fiscal year that began last October. Then came word that Boehner might accept a figure of $33 billion in cuts.

    "I want the $100 billion they promised us," Sanders said. "I say shut the government down. Let's go for it."

    To Republican leaders such as Boehner, the passion of Tea Party supporters for their cause makes it difficult to continue corralling their energy and support while also working within the legislative and political realities of Washington. On the day of the Tea Party rally, Boehner said he'd work to get the biggest spending cuts possible, but also pointed out that Republicans only control the House and not the Senate or the White House.

    "We can't impose our will on the Senate," Boehner said. "All we can do is fight for all the spending cuts that we can get an agreement to and spending limitations as well." To some of the Tea Party faithful, that sounded like giving up. Kathy Dirr, an activist from Boehner's Ohio district, had a message for the House Republican leadership: "Take off your lace panties" and push for deeper cuts, she said.

    Fact Box
    What percent of Americans think a government shutdown for a few days would be good for the country?

    Democrats 21%
    Independents 35%
    Republicans 53%
    Tea Party supporters 62%

    CNN/OPINION RESEARCH CORPORATION POLL, March 11-13

    Boehner's Republican colleagues in Congress recognize his conundrum. Conservative Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama acknowledged that the Tea Party movement may not "understand all the realities of Washington politics," but on the substance of the issues -- the need to reduce the size of government and bring down spending -- "they are right fundamentally," he told the ABC program "This Week" on Sunday.

    GOP budget chief calls for $6.2 trillion in spending cuts

    To House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, his congressional colleagues elected with Tea Party-backing are driven by more than political concerns. "They came here for a cause," Ryan said Tuesday in unveiling a GOP spending plan for the next fiscal year that would radically overhaul the Medicare and Medicaid entitlement programs, among other steps favored by conservatives.

    "This is not a budget. This is a cause," Ryan told reporters. "Look, we can all go do something else with our lives. We are not just here so we can get this lapel pin that says we are a member of Congress. We are here to try and fix this country's problems."

    However, the policies supported by Tea Party groups are originalist in concept and rigidly conservative. The almost exclusively white supporters claim to represent the foundation of U.S. society, but a CNN poll last week showed more people disapproved of the movement than approved.

    Still, some conservative politicians openly play to the Tea Party exuberance, depicting the current budget negotiations on spending for the next few months as a final showdown that requires unyielding commitment.

    "Cut it or shut it," Republican Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana shouted at the Tea Party rally, then later told CNN that "If we don't take a stand right now ... we are going to shut down the future for our children and grandchildren and that will be a lot worse."

    The perceived stakes are clearly expressed on Tea Party websites, such as the mission statement for the Tea Party Patriots. "Such runaway deficit spending as we now see in Washington D.C. compels us to take action as the increasing national debt is a grave threat to our national sovereignty and the personal and economic liberty of future generations," it says.

    To Democrats, the Tea Party wing of House Republican's 241-seat majority in the 435-member chamber is determining the GOP leadership's agenda. The House bill's $61 billion in spending cuts are draconian and ideologically driven, and would cause economic harm as the nation recovers from recession, they say, let alone even steeper cuts called for by Tea Party supporters and their elected leaders.

    "I think that the Tea Party is driving what goes on in the House of Representatives," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada complained Tuesday. Because of pressure from their most conservative wing, GOP negotiators were shifting their demands away from an agreement, Reid said.

    "The Republican leadership has the Tea Party screaming so loudly in its right ear that it can't hear what the vast majority of the country demands," Reid said on the Senate floor on Wednesday. "The country demands that we get this done."

    And he called out Boehner in particular.

    "So the Speaker has a choice to make and not much time to make it: He can either do what the Tea Party wants or what the country needs."

    Obama also criticized Republican intransigence Tuesday, telling reporters that "We can't have a 'my way or the highway' approach to this problem, because if we start applying that approach, where 'I've got to get 110% of everything I want or else I'm going to shut down the government,' we're not going to get anything done this year, and the American people are going to be the ones that suffer."

    In the end, regardless of what figures are agreed on by budget negotiators and whether or not a government shutdown occurs, the influence of the Tea Party movement on House Republicans is undeniable. The spending cuts will be much deeper than previously thought possible, as Obama and moderate Democrats have conceded the political necessity of addressing conservative fiscal concerns.

    "We are changing the dynamic here," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House, said Tuesday.

    "It's tough business. Our members are ready to do what's necessary to solve problems."

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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Dems Shut Down Government to Protect Planned Parenthood

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    Countdown to possible federal shutdown stokes anxiety

    By Mimi Hall and Gregory Korte, USA TODAY
    Updated 40m ago |

    WASHINGTON — As the government neared a partial shutdown that would stall tax refunds, shutter national parks and delay paychecks to soldiers in combat, President Obama and congressional leaders stepped up budget negotiations Wednesday night as agencies prepared contingency plans.

    Debate flares among lawmakers and negotiators inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, while protesters outside urge deep cuts in spending.
    Republicans and Democrats, deeply divided over how much to cut spending to help bring the down the deficit, must reach a deal on funding the government through the end of this budget year in September to avert a shutdown when a temporary bill expires Friday at midnight.

    At an afternoon town hall meeting in Fairless Hills, Pa., Obama warned that a shutdown could threaten the nation's economic recovery. He chastised Republican lawmakers for "playing games" with the budget.

    CLOSINGS: Agencies are releasing details about their shutdown plans
    LOBBYING: Americans press Congress for their piece of the pie
    MONEY: Congress, Obama get paid in a government shutdown
    TRAVEL: Looming shutdown would close national parks, museums

    A shutdown would "affect ordinary families day in, day out, and it affects our economy right at the time when our economy is getting momentum," Obama said. "We had the best jobs report we had had in a very long time this past Friday. But you know what? Companies don't like uncertainty, and if they start seeing that suddenly we may have a shutdown of our government, that could halt momentum right when we need to build it up — all because of politics."

    To bide time, Republican House Speaker John Boehner said that the House today plans to vote on a week-long funding bill that would cut $12 billion more from this year's budget but also would fully fund the Pentagon for the next six months.

    Boehner said Republicans will "fight for the largest spending cuts we can get" and accused Obama of failing to show leadership on the budget. "This is the responsible thing to do," he said of his plan for the one-week extension.

    The White House and the Democratic-controlled Senate, however, have called that idea a non-starter.

    News from On Politics

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    Read all On Politics posts "At a time when you're struggling to pay your bills and meet your responsibilities, the least we can do is meet our responsibilities to produce a budget," Obama told the crowd in Pennsylvania. "That's not too much to ask for. That's what the American people expect of us. That's what they deserve. You want everybody to act like adults, quit playing games, realize that it's not just 'my way or the highway.' "

    Obama and congressional leaders met Wednesday night in the Oval Office. Obama said the talks helped "narrow" some issues, but there was no breakthrough.

    Meanwhile, government agencies made plans for what to do if the government shuts down at week's end. Many essential services would continue. Social Security checks would still be cut and Medicare payments made to doctors and hospitals. Air-traffic controllers would stay on the job, as would postal employees.

    Among a host of services and programs that would be scaled back or halted:

    •Tax refunds for those who have filed their returns by mail would be delayed. Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Doug Shulman said those filed electronically won't be affected because those returns are processed automatically. Last year, about 70% of taxpayers e-filed their returns. Don't get any ideas about filing late: Shulman emphasized that April 18 remains the deadline, shutdown or not.

    •In Charleston, S.C., events next week to mark the 150th anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter, which marked the first battle of the Civil War, could be called off. The fort in Charleston Harbor, along with the National Park Service's visitors center, would be shuttered.

    •In the nation's capital, which gets much of its funding from the federal government, garbage pickup will be put off for a week, street sweeping will cease, and public libraries will close.

    Who'll get the blame for such inconveniences remains to be seen.

    Asked Tuesday who's doing a better job in efforts to agree on a new budget, 41% said Democrats and 34% said Republicans in a new Gallup Poll. Asked the same question six weeks ago, 39% said Democrats and 42% said Republicans.

    Respondents were more likely to agree with Republicans about the depth of cuts necessary, however: 45% say Obama and Democrats aren't cutting enough, while only 32% say Republican cuts go too far. Still, few want a shutdown: 58% of respondents say they want a compromise, even if it results in a budget they disagree with, compared with 33% who said their side should hold out for what they want. The poll of 1,014 adults has a margin of error of +/–4 percentage points.

    http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington ... 7_ST_N.htm
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