Rep. Tom Cole (R-Moore) says, “Shutting down
the government is a suicidal political tactic. Eventually, it will be
reopened, but the president will not have capitulated and you will have
discredited yourself, and along the way, you will have hurt the American
people.” It’s the “political equivalent of throwing a temper tantrum.”
A
few days later, Cole had an epiphany, calling the shutdown “a raw power
grab by President Obama,” whose idea of compromise is “my way or the
highway.”
Like it or not, “the Senate and President
Obama must at least consider the position of the House.” I would love to
know what the position of the House is given that 22 Republicans have
publicly pledged to vote for a “clean” bill to reopen the government
without any Obamacare provisions, but Speaker Boehner (R-Ohio) (to date)
refuses to allow the vote.
I guess it’s Boehner’s way or the highway.
Sen.
Tom Coburn (R-Muskogee) says the shutdown is not “an achievable
strategy. It’s creating the false impression that you can do something
when you can’t. And it’s dishonest.” According to John McCain
(R-Arizona), the U.S. Senate “will not repeal, or defund, Obamacare. We
will not. And to think we can is not rational.” Sen. John Cornyn
(R-Texas) compared the shutdown to “burning down the house to get rid of
the mice or rats.”
Americans do not negotiate with
terrorists, and the GOP is basically holding a gun to the head of the
American public, shutting down vital services unless their extremist
demands are met.
— Norman
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