US government Shutdown

[Napoleon the Clown]

I recognize the possibility of someone fucking it up, I just don't really expect it. There are people malevolent enough, but I doubt they're actually stupid enough. Even fucking Ted Cruz has said he's not going to try and delay it or stop it because it won't make a difference.

Here's hoping I'm not being too optimistic.

[JME2]

It's not over until it's on the Presidents desk. There are still a dozen ways the House or Senate could kill it via congressional shenanigans or just delay it. In the Senate all it takes is one.

Yeah, that has me worried, too.

I don't trust the OP not to pull some kind of last-second bullshit stunt.

[bilateralrope]

When should we know if some last minute BS has been attempted or not ?

[Borgholio]

When should we know if some last minute BS has been attempted or not ?

Tonight.

[Sharp-kun]

Bets on this happening again in 3 months?

[Vendetta]

Depends whether there's any evidence that a learning process goes on in the House Republicans. I think it's too soon for them to feel any real consequences from it.

[Rycon67]

Less than four hours now. I've been following CNN and they mentioned earlier that the Senate would vote around 7PM eastern time, but they appear to have waited until around 8PM eastern time.

Depending on how soon it takes to go over to the House and what happens there, it looks possible to be done before midnight, but it seems they're literally cutting it close.

[Simon_Jester]

Depends whether there's any evidence that a learning process goes on in the House Republicans. I think it's too soon for them to feel any real consequences from it.

I wonder if there's a learning process in the donors. This time was even closer than the debt ceiling crisis we had back in 2011; at some point the corporate donors are going to have to start thinking "we'd better vet people before we support them, because a few more nutjobs like these and we could crash the whole economy."

[Zaune]

Depends on the extent to which the donors are personally exposed, I suspect, and the extent to which they thought they could exploit the default and its consequences for their own personal gain.

[aerius]

So assuming it passes, you'll get to do this all over again in a bit over 3 months.
Well I guess it's better than the 6 weeks of the original proposal.

[bilateralrope]

Depends whether there's any evidence that a learning process goes on in the House Republicans. I think it's too soon for them to feel any real consequences from it.

I wonder if there's a learning process in the donors. This time was even closer than the debt ceiling crisis we had back in 2011; at some point the corporate donors are going to have to start thinking "we'd better vet people before we support them, because a few more nutjobs like these and we could crash the whole economy."

Vetting them seems simple. If they say they are members of the Tea Party, they fail the vetting.

The difficulty part will be getting Tea Party members replaced with more reasonable Republicans.

[Gandalf]

I'm interested in seeing who the Republicans will blame for this, and who could come out on top.

[Lolpah]

34 Republicans have already voted "Yea", so if all democrats also vote for that, that will be a majority. Looks like this will pass.

Edit: It has passed, if I understood correctly.

[TimothyC]

285 votes for passage, 87 from the GOP

[The Romulan Republic]

I'm surprised that many GOP Congressmen voted for it.

[Gandalf]

Presumably they've seen the way the wind is blowing, and they don't want to be seen to be keeping vital national monuments closed.

[Napoleon the Clown]

They probably realize the risk of pissing off their corporate masters, too.

[Broomstick]

Also remember that not every Republican is a member of the Tea Party. There are variations within the larger whole.

[Simon_Jester]

I'm surprised that many GOP Congressmen voted for it.

I think a lot of Republicans just want this to be over, as it's kind of an embarrassment to them at best.

[Napoleon the Clown]

There's what, fifty or so people who call themselves a part of the tea party in the House?

If it weren't for the stakes, I could see some of the non-tea party members voting against it just as an act of defiance. But plenty are probably well aware that that act of defiance would scare off a lot of donors who are aware of the damage that kind of grandstanding could end up causing.

Then there's the sane ones, who make up the majority of the Republican supporters.

[bobalot]

Boehner caved as he had to. There was no other sane alternative.

The Tea party got basically nothing after shutting down the government for 16 days and bringing the entire world to the edge of financial oblivion.

[Singular Intellect]

This shit is pretty ridiculous. The American people need to start living up to their warrior self image and start calling for Republican blood.

[Napoleon the Clown]

That or vote the fuckers out of office. But if we use level-headed rhetoric it does help the rage feel as good.


Too bad the American voting public has a short enough memory that this will all be water under the bridge come elections.

[The Romulan Republic]

This shit is pretty ridiculous. The American people need to start living up to their warrior self image and start calling for Republican blood.

No. Let's stick with democracy and the rule of law.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

Too bad the American voting public has a short enough memory that this will all be water under the bridge come elections.

Who knows? They merely punted the issue down the line by three months. I wouldn't be surprised if they're insane/stupid enough to try it again. And if they keep on pulling shenanigans all the way through next year, it'll be a lot fresher in the minds of the American electorate when the 2014 midterms roll around.