Posted on 10/01/2013 1:50:56 PM PDT by smoothsailing
On Day One of the government shutdown, some thought House Speaker John Boehner would begin to lighten the GOP's demand to defund the new health care law. But he is instead digging in.
The House plans a Tuesday evening vote on three mini spending bills that would re-open some parts of the government, including national parks. It's a move aimed at putting pressure on Senate Democrats, who have so far rejected nearly every spending measure the House has proposed because they attacked the new health care law.
House leadership aides tell the Washington Examiner that they now plan to keep sending over piecemeal spending bills that achieve the goal of re-opening parts of the government while maintaining their stance against the health care law.
Republican leadership has been emboldened by the backing of the majority in their conference as well as indications that the economy has so far weathered the shutdown.
While Boehner early on had fought to avoid government closures by calling for a no-strings spending bill last month, he's since changed his mind after listening to GOP members eager to block Obamacare.
"There is a commitment to this now," an aide told the Examiner.
The GOP's latest move is aimed at responding to the daylong drumbeat from Democrats about the negative effects of the shutdown that they have blamed squarely on the GOP.
During a floor speech Tuesday, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., likened conservative Republicans to anarchists.
Boehner and Republicans are countering the Democratic attacks with their own blame-shifting tactics. Boehner penned an op-ed piece in USA Today accusing the Democrats of "refusing to engage in bipartisan talks."
Earlier Tuesday, Republicans staged a conference committee meeting on the spending bill that they invited no-show Democrats to attend. Half the table was empty, signifying the lack of cooperation from Democrats.
The mini-spending bills, however, are not just for show.
They could pressure Democrats because they contain no language related to the health care law but would re-open the National Park Service, some parts of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the D.C. government.
The bills will be considered under special rules that limit debate but require two-thirds of the majority for passage, which will increase pressure on Democrats to vote for the legislation or else appear as though they endorse keeping the government shuttered.
The plan has the support of most of the GOP rank and file, aides said.
Some had theorized that GOP resolve to fight the health care law would weaken after the government closed at midnight today, especially since polls indicate they will be blamed for a shutdown.
But Republicans have no plans to back down, at least for now. Party leaders Tuesday stood behind their latest proposal to pass a short-term spending bill that would delay the individual mandate in the health care law and eliminate special health insurance subsidies for Congress and their staffers.
The Senate early Tuesday rejected a House proposal to start formal House-Senate conference talks on the GOP plan.
The government cannot fully re-open until Congress passes legislation to fund the 2014 fiscal year.
Senate Democrats reacted negatively to the House plan to pass piecemeal spending measures, noting that the idea was first proposed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who has led the fight against the health care reform law in the Senate with a 22-hour filibuster and who Democrats have portrayed as a right-wing extremist from the GOP's Tea Party wing.
"Senator Ted Cruz is now going to pick his favorite federal agencies to reopen?" Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., responded when asked about the House plan."There are a lot of federal agencies that need to be reopened. I suggest we open all of them."
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, called the proposal "a faux way of doing things," while Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said the three bills would leave other essential parts of the government shuttered.
Senate Democrats want the House to pass a bill to fund the entire federal government until Nov. 15 with "no political strings attached."
Durbin said he expects the GOP will feel pressured to pass such a measure in the coming days.
"Wait until people start looking at the retirement accounts and savings after a couple of days when the stock market declines," Durbin said. They are going to have second thoughts about this wonderful Tea Party incident."
In other news today:
OOPS!
Mainstream!
Oh No!
Harry is going to go thermonuclear!
He might even raise his voice!
NOOOOOOOOO!
We are winning folks!
Boner grew a pair? Well, color me surprised. Let's hope he keeps it up.
This is a fight worth having to the bitter end.
Democrats are such phony snakes. This whole thing has its roots in their refusal to pass a budget. That's the whole cause of this constant state of "oh noes, we're about to go over a cliff" every three or four months. You want every agency open? Then pass a budget.
How about this idea: Go through the enumerated powers and provide reasonable funding for each of them in turn. When you get to the end of the list, stop.
This is the way to deal with pinpricks.
Where’s the bill that requires all members of Congress and the President to not be exempt from Obamacare?
Durbin should look at the market today, the first day of the "shutdown".
Exactly.
Deal with it.
Gee, you’d think Susan Ferrechio might have included some positive quotes from Repubs, rather than just the hissing and mockery from the Marxists.
It’s a beautiful thing, the government shut down but Walmart is open in all 57 states!
So far the stock markets almost all seem to be *up* on the news.
Is Durbin involved in insider trading? Hmmmm?
That was sent to the Senate last night and the Dems rejected it.
Yep, the markets were up today.
Dow+62.03
Nasdaq+46.50
S&P+13.45
Was the President included in that? He should be because this is his ugly baby.
All the market cares about is continuing the fed’s loose money policy.
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