WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement today after Senate Republicans on a party-line vote blocked consideration of a measure to raise the federal debt ceiling:
“I find it incredible that every Republican voted against a motion to even let the Senate consider legislation to pay our bills and prevent a default. We are entering very dangerous territory.
“It is becoming increasingly possible that for the first time in the history of our country the United States will become a deadbeat nation, precipitating a national and international financial crisis. If a default occurs, it is likely that interest rates will spike for home mortgages, car loans, student loans and credit cards. It is possible that the stock market will plunge, deeply impacting pension programs and household savings. This must not be allowed to happen.
“The American people have been very clear in understanding that right-wing Tea Party Republicans should not be shutting down the government or threating not to pay our bills because of their hatred of the Affordable Care Act or wanting cuts in Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. That is wrong. A democratic government cannot function when a small faction choses to hold the American people hostage.”
Contact: Michael Briggs (202) 228-6492
cui bono?
It seems such an obvious question to me, but it never gets asked.
Thanks to our campaign financing “system”, senators and congressmen/women are bought and sold like used furniture at an auction.
So who bought the GOP and how are they benefiting from the shut down?
Everybody in the GOP from leadership on down is committed to shutting down the government of the United States.
Plummeting poll numbers show clearly that the voters do not support these actions.
So if voters are not supporting the shutdown who does support it? They should be asked to explain why these actions are important to them.
The GOP is taking the heat here for persons or corporations unknown.
In politics, nothing happens
In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Our current condition is the result of a conspiracy so monstrous the individual cannot believe it exists. J. Edgar Hoover
This stuff isn’t happening TO Obama. This stuff is happening WITH Obama. The president is complicit.
you can bet it was planned that way
Shortly after President Obama started his second term, a loose-knit coalition of conservative activists led by former Attorney General Edwin Meese III gathered in the capital to plot strategy. Their push to repeal Mr. Obama’s health care law was going nowhere, and they desperately needed a new plan.
Out of that session, held one morning in a location the members insist on keeping secret, came a little-noticed “blueprint to defunding Obamacare,” signed by Meese and leaders of more than three dozen conservative groups.
It articulated a take-no-prisoners legislative strategy that had long percolated in conservative circles: that Republicans could derail the health care overhaul if conservative lawmakers were willing to push fellow Republicans — including their cautious leaders — into cutting off financing for the entire federal government.
Read about it here:
A Federal Budget Crisis Months in the Planning
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/us/a-federal-budget-crisis-months-in-the-planning.html?pagewanted=all
Fix it or let it fail
This all seems like WWI… where interlocking treaties and agreements meant everyone was obligated to do something specific and couldn’t really back down, causing a traffic jam of sorts and causing lots of mayhem and misery.
This time around, most politicians are obliged to do as their corporate sponsors desire, regardless of the outcome. If Company XYZ says vote against or we won’t give you money, they voted against. Even if it is a terrible idea.
Kind of funny in a way that all the money corrupting politics is going to cause extreme damage to, uh, money… if they do’t break free from the influence-shackles that bind them.
This system is broken. Propping it up for another six months is stupid. Fix it, or let it fail.
They could just get rid of the debt with a stroke of the pen. Debt gone. Most of it is owed to ourselves.
Hold on Just a Second
2.something trillion of that debt is owed to Social Security. Let’s not go throwing the baby out with the bath water.