Speaker Boehner, Will You Stop with the Stopgaps?

House GOP Plans 3rd Stopgap Bill to avoid Shutdown

God, this sucks. Is the United States government going to avoid shutdown by Continuing Resolution yet again? How long is this going to go on like this?

This is ridiculous. Boehner has to get through to his Tea Party legislators. He is their leader, and he needs to start acting like it. He should ask Nancy how it’s done. She could get every Democrat to vote in unison against the GOP. How? She scared the living hell out of them, threatening not to back their projects. She is the pitbull in Armani.

Boehner needs to borrow her balls. Or at the very least, her bark.

Harry Reid summed it up:

Tea party Republicans, the Nevada Democrat said, “stomp their feet and call ‘compromise’ a dirty word and insist on a budget that will hurt America rather than help it.”

Whether the Tea Party Republicans like it or not, they control only one leg of a tripod. They have to come up with something both the Senate and the POTUS will sign. That is going to take compromise.

Like the three-year-olds they are impersonating, they are holding their collective breath until they get their way. Is Boehner going to give them their way? Hello shutdown, then. Is he going to stand up? They’ll be pissed, but they might actually get something accomplished.

What’s it going to be, dad?

Biden: A Bucket of Sunshine from Scranton

Biden Reports ‘Good Progress’ in Budget Talks

No matter what anyone says, I love Joey Biden. He just cracks me up. He wears his heart on his sleeve. Conservatives love him because he is a gaffe goldmine. There’s always one in the family.

He is so positive and sunshiney with this budget showdown. Of course we can find some common ground! Of course we can find a way to keep the government going! Of course! The pom poms look great with your suit, Joey.

From a generally sunny Northern California, I hate to bring the dark clouds. But this is what Representative Mike Pence from Indiana said:

“You never get a second chance at making a first impression. Our first impression with the American people needs to be that we kept our word and we found the budget savings that we promised to find. I’m still cautiously optimistic that we’re going to do just that.”

So for him, and I’m sure many freshman Tea Party representatives, this is what it’s about. Appearances. They want to show their constituents that they are fulfilling their campaign promises. Even if it means screaming and jumping up and down like 3-year-old children who want their way. Thing is, the public sees both. If they keep insisting and refusing to budge, they will look more like the 3-year-olds than the politicians trying to keep their promises.

Don’t toss the pom poms just yet, Joey. There is a sunbeam in there. At least one of them gets it, like Representative Steve Womack of Arkansas:

“Compromise on the subject of spending is a tough sell. It doesn’t mean it’s an impossible sell. There is a serious mandate to cut spending. Now having said that, I also live in a realistic world and I understand the dynamics involved in having one leg of a three-legged stool under our control.”

So keep pumping the sunshine. Maybe the positive energy will turn this around. By next Friday. Midnight.

Boehner: Three Against One

Time Short, Tempers Flare in Budget Showdown

Didn’t we just do this? Oh yeah. The Continuing Resolution. Has it been three weeks already? Time sure does fly fast.

Boehner is in a real mess. Three groups, all with different demands:

Tea Party
The fussy 54 says, “If we don’t get our 10 bajillion dollars ($100B, but I like the word bajillion) in spending cuts, we ain’t signing it. Let the government shut down. It ain’t 1994, dude.”

Democrats
House Democrats are just watching Boehner vs. the Tea Party with their buckets of 1200-calorie popcorn and Red Vines®.
Senate Democrats say, “If the bill has 10 bajillion dollars in spending cuts, we ain’t signing it.”

Social Conservatives
The pro-birth crowd says, “Any legislation that goes through here better defund Planned Parenthood. We don’t care about the government shutting down either.”

That gavel sure is a lot heavier than you thought, huh, Mr. Spreaker?

Tea Party is Making Boehner CRazy

Tea Party, Some Republicans Unhappy with Short-term Spending Vote

Looks like Boehner is finding out that the big gavel job wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. The short-term spending vote passed today to keep the government running for 3 weeks. 54 legislators voted NO in united protest against the Continuing Resolution (CR).

Boehner said these short-term spending measures already succeeded in cutting $10B. “It’s a small down payment on our commitment to the American people that we have real fiscal responsibility,” he said.

That didn’t placate the Tea Party at all.

Mike Pence a representative from Indiana said, “Things don’t change in Washington until they have to. It’s time to pick a fight.”

Judson Phillips, the grand poobah of the Tea Party Nation wrote, “The next continuing resolution is where the Tea Party movement needs to make its stand. Either we see hundreds of billions in cuts or we shut the government down. It has come to that.”

Oh boy. Today’s passage just bought you 3 weeks, Speaker Boehner. Chamomile Tea is really good for soothing nerves. Just don’t drink it if any one of the 54 offers it to you.