Shutdown would backfire on GOP, Republicans say
Source: Politico
Members of both parties say the public would likely blame the party in power if the government closes but uncertainty has them all spooked.
By KYLE CHENEY and ELANA SCHOR 01/17/2018 05:01 AM EST
President Donald Trump has already started framing a potential government shutdown as the singular fault of Democrats demanding liberal immigration policies at the expense of border security.
But Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, as well as veterans of past budget battles and campaigns, say that argument isnt likely to fly not while the GOP runs the House, Senate and White House and a deeply unpopular president sits in the Oval Office.
The perception of most Republicans is that a shutdown does not accrue to Republican benefit. Its a relatively tough sale, Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) said in an interview. It makes it that much harder for Democrats to acquiesce on a deal because they feel like they have the upper hand.
The last time federal agencies shuttered, in 2013, Democrats controlled the Senate and White House. But with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and fellow conservatives pushing for a shutdown in order to whack funding for Obamacare a popular cause among the Republican base, but not beyond the GOP could not escape blame in the public eye.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/17/republicans-government-shutdown-midterms-343091?lo=ap_a1
Marthe48
(17,018 posts)Democratic representatives are like parents trying to get some work done around the house and repukes are like little kids making messes, making demands, just stopping any forward moves on the work.
Repukes don't know how to do the work they were elected to do. They are trying to dismantle a working government, because they think that's what they were elected to do. It really is like giving 4 year olds blueprints for a house, the tools, the material and telling them to build it. But all they see is a hammer and something to break.
Zambero
(8,965 posts)Repeat RW media talking points & misinformation + dark money + ignorance on a huge scale = VICTORY. Once "governing" they make a real mess of things. They claim that government doesn't work, get themselves elected on that basis, and go on to prove their point with dire results.
mpcamb
(2,875 posts)They have no program except to extract American wealth and deliver it to the rich.
Zambero
(8,965 posts)At the time the GOP with Newt Gingrich & company controlled Congress in a divided government during the Clinton administration situation and they still got blamed for that fiasco, losing ground in the subsequent mid-terms. Newt resigned in disgrace. Now the GOP is in full control of all branches (a bit of an oxymoron but technically correct). Only a delusional fool would believe they could point the finger at a party that is out of power and have it stick.
beachbum bob
(10,437 posts)hold the line and let conservatives and trump struggle....we americans can endure an inconvenience if in the end in Nov 2018 we kick all the bums out in making america, america agin
turbinetree
(24,720 posts)show no mercy, shut down the government.
I called my senators and congressional representatives................I have their backs .
They (Ayn Rand Paul Ryan and his hypocrites) have created this mess for the last 6 years let them own it hook, line and sinker....................
When democrats were in control the funded "our" government for 2 ,4 and six years, they did not have any of this "stop gap" shit
This republican gambit is BS, and it's really tiring with their shenanigans
November 2018 cannot get here fast enough
BumRushDaShow
(129,440 posts)Yet Democrats lost the Senate in 2014 after that GOP-executed shutdown fiasco in October 2013, so the GOP DID "escape blame" although people knew who initiated it but didn't care. They seemed to hate the ACA more, so they went along with it until some of them got their senses back.
haele
(12,676 posts)Government shutdown was spun nation-wide as the GOP's last ditch attempt to protect "Folks" (White middle class, churchgoing working people, small businessmen, and retirees) from the "Liberal Agenda" of the scary black man and his supporters who stole the election from John McCain and Queen Sarah.
That base strengthened the Tea Party that was created by KKKarl Rove to fight Kerry and Dems in the Legislature, and they will still blame the Democrats for everything.
They don't have any more GOTV to get going.
And the so-called independents (i.e., people who generally ignore politics unless there's something that directly affects them, and decide to vote at the last minute for whomever they wouldn't mind having over at a neighborhood backyard grill party) have enough brains to at least figure out that the party that has the basically owns the government should have the power to get whatever it wants done - how could the Democrats cause a shutdown in government if they're the minority?
Haele
BumRushDaShow
(129,440 posts)The OP article, in an attempt to do their typical "both sides do it" and "both sides have a risk" comparison, failed at proving such exists and would happen.
As you noted, since the 2013 shutdown (which I was furloughed under by the way) was done to appease their base, the result was that the GOP not only escaped blame (unlike what happened with the 1994 - 1995 shutdown under Gingrich), but doing so allowed them to gain control of the Senate afterwards thanks to that base. And this was also because their "base" included the M$M, that downplayed and trivialized the impact, while catering to the whims and nonsense of a 2-bit first term junior Senator from Texas, who also made a point to overtly interfere in the House proceedings...
So it was a win-win for them, which allowed them to then go into overdrive blocking Obama nominees (despite the rules change done by Harry Reid) and eventually be able to hold Obama's SCOTUS pick hostage for almost a year, and eventually install their radical RW Scalia-wannabe loon in the seat.
bronxiteforever
(9,287 posts)Even with unprecedented political power, they cant even keep the lights on.
renate
(13,776 posts)It's a win-win-win except for Trump and his knuckle-dragging base. Every decent person in BOTH parties wants it to pass--it's super popular among the public except in a few states. It's not as though Democrats are holding out for single-payer health care or anything that's anathema to Republicans.
I don't get why it's even an issue. But then, this is the party that stuck its thumb in the face of 87% of the public and voted for that stinker of a tax bill.