Obama Tears Into Republicans Over Shutdown: If Americans Just Stopped Working, They’d Be Fired

[ProSense]

Obama Tears Into Republicans Over Shutdown: If Americans Just Stopped Working, They’d Be Fired

By Igor Volsky

President Obama tore into House Republicans for demanding policy concessions for agreeing to fund the government and raise the nation’s debt ceiling during a speech at Rockville, MD on Thursday. He joked that if American workers made such demands to their bosses, they would lose their jobs.

Teeing off a quote from Rep. Martin Stutzman (R-IN), who claimed on Tuesday night that Republicans won’t be “disrespected” and must “get something” out of the shutdown, Obama told Republicans, “You have already gotten the opportunity to serve the American people….if you’re being disrespected it’s because of that attitude that you’ve got that you deserve to get something for doing your job!” He then wondered what would happen if every-day Americans adopted the GOP’s tactics:

Everybody here just does their job, right? You know, if you’re working here and in the middle of the day you just stopped and said, you know what? I want to get something, but I don’t know — I don’t know exactly what I’m going get, but — I’m just going to stop working until I get something– I’m going to shut down the whole plant until I get something. You’d get fired! Right?

Watch it:

Obama reiterated that he would not negotiate with Republicans over keeping the government running or raising the debt ceiling, and called on House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to bring a clean funding bill to the floor of the House for a vote. At least 20 Republicans have committed to voting for such a measure, meaning that Congress could have the necessary to pass it.

Replying to Stutzman’s question about what Republicans “get” for ending the three-day shutdown, Obama said, “What you get is our intelligence professionals being back on the job. What you get is our medical researchers back on the job. What you get are little kids back in the Head Start. What you get are our national parks and monuments open again. What you get is the economy not stalling, but continuing to grow. What you get are workers continuing to be hired. That’s what you get.”

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/10/03/2727231/obama-tears-into-republicans-over-government-shutdown/

Ouch!

[dgibby]

1. Hardball! That's gonna leave a mark!

Hit it right outta the park-way to swing, Mr. President, way to swing. THIS is the guy I voted for!

[RavensChick]

2. I hope it leaves a HUGE mark!

Orange man and the rest of those cronies got their asses handed to them on a silver platter!!! I love it!

[NastyRiffraff]

4. That's my President!

And I hope it leavs a deep, ugly scar of a mark.

[ProSense]

6. And it should. n/t

[B Calm]

3. That's the Obama I voted for!!

[ProSense]

5. Kick! n/t

[BklnDem75]

7. Kick & Rec

Hope these idiots keep the sound bites coming. Please keep shooting yourselves in the foot.

[MindPilot]

8. Actually that would be a strike, and a plant closure would simply demonstrate its effectiveness.

Well, except the picket line chats would sound foolish; "WANT DO WE WANT?"

"WE DON'T KNOW!"

"WHEN DO WE WANT IT?"

"RIGHT FUCKING NOW!"

I think the analogy would be more accurate if the directors, owners, officers, and upper managers walked out. Like they think they are Atlas and shrugged or something.

Because I think they are actually attempting an improv'd theatrical presentation of Atlas, which further confirms my contention that the entire legislative branch of government has become an elaborate piece of performance art.

High praise to the president for standing firm.

[ProSense]

9. No, a strike

is to get better pay and working conditions. Congress is actually paid very well. Most of them are in the top 2 percent of income earners.

This is more like some workers skipping out on the job (say going to the bathroom to take a nap, taking 3 hour lunch breaks or calling out in the middle of a huge project) because a coworker got the worker of the month award. They would be burdening their coworkers because they didn't get the reward.

Congressional Republicans are simply screwing up other Americans' lives by throwing a tantrum.

[MindPilot]

10. Where the hell did I say anything about better pay and working conditions?

That's why I made up the stupid chant. If it were a strike it would be a really dumb one.

What the GOP is doing is not analogous to a strike because they are not workers; they are the bosses.

[ProSense]

12. Where did I suggest you did?

"Where the hell did I say anything about better pay and working conditions?"

Are you implying that isn't the purpose of a strike?

"What the GOP is doing is not analogous to a strike because they are not workers; they are the bosses."

Neither is what the President described.

[Coyotl]

11. Billion Dollar Boehner = We can't afford this guy's idiocy!

http://www.moveon.org/costoftheshutdown/