GOP Vows To Dismantle Or Shut Down Government If They Win Senate
A Politico story being promoted by the Drudge Report, “McConnell’s plan to shut down Obama,” makes it clear that if Republicans capture the Senate this fall they will, as the Drudge Report puts it, “play chicken” and shut down the government if President Obama vetoes their legislation to dismantle the government.
From the Politico interview, a threat,
“We’re going to pass spending bills, and they’re going to have a lot of restrictions on the activities of the bureaucracy,” McConnell said in an interview aboard his campaign bus traveling through Western Kentucky coal country. “That’s something he won’t like, but that will be done. I guarantee it.”
Who does McConnell say would be to blame if the President vetoes bills and Republicans then shut down the government rather than compromise? “McConnell said it would be up to the president to decide whether to veto spending bills that would keep the government open.” (In a related story this week, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) blamed the United States for making them behead an American journalist.)
Dismantle Or Shut Down
Republicans say that if they take the Senate they will pass legislation to dismantle the government. Jim Manley, former aide to Sen. Harry Reid explained in April at the WSJ, “It is very difficult to imagine that House Republicans’ takeaway from such an election would be to search again for moderation.”
Republicans can be expected to:
•End the filibuster or use other tactics so Democrats can’t block their agenda. If they don’t just end the filibuster, Politico reports, “In a private meeting before the summer recess, Republicans discussed using the procedural tool known as budget “reconciliation” to make it easier to pass legislation by avoiding filibusters.”
•Repeal or defund Obamacare. Sam Baker, at the National Journal, writes “The ultimate goal is to fully repeal Obamacare and replace it with commonsense proposals that solve the cost problem. But recognizing that Obama will be president for the next three years, we will use every lever we can in the meantime to lay the groundwork for its repeal,” a senior GOP aide said.”
•Cut Medicare and Social Security. From Politico: “… means testing to limit Medicare benefits for wealthier families and overhauling how inflation is calculated to reduce cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security recipients.”
http://ourfuture.org/20140820/republicans-vow-to-dismantle-or-shut-down-government-if-they-win-senate?utm_source=pmupdate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20140820
= new reply since forum marked as read
Note
icon if needed:
