Free Republic

Cruz, Lee, Gettysburg and Wet Cement by Colin Hanna and Ken Hagerty In July 1863 two armies converged around the little town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Neither army foresaw a major battle on that ground, let alone the turning point of the entire Civil War. The Confederates were simply searching for a supply of shoes rumored to be in the town. When they stumbled across some Union cavalry, both sides called-in reinforcements, and then more, and before long a full-scale battle stood up. At no point on that first day in Gettysburg could either side have explained what the “end game”...

Who do you most blame for the unfortunate government shut-down: A. President Obama B. Republicans C. Democrats

America is suffering from an epic case of Armageddon fatigue. Budget showdown, government shutdown, debt ceiling debacle—the stakes are real but the establishment seems to feed off the chaos they create as a means to foment fear and outrage and translate it into campaign donations for themselves. Look closely and you’ll see that something seismic is going on under the surface of the manufactured chaos in D.C. Washington has morphed into an extortion racket, a place where members of the permanent political class threaten to inflict legislative and regulatory pain to extract campaign donations that they can then siphon into...

According to CNBC, some of the 400,000 government workers drew on unemployment benefits during the shutdown, and it’s likely that only some of them will have to give it back — adding a few million to the price of the shutdown, already up in the billions due to lost worker productivity and revenue. The U.S. economy was damaged as well, and that cost may tally up near $24 billion between October and December, if economists are to be believed.

So now that our government is open and able to pay its bills, what soon-to-be-forgotten lessons have we learned from this sorry fiasco? Perhaps most important is the reminder that political temper tantrums in Washington exact a toll that goes far beyond unfavorable headlines and worse-than-dog-poo poll numbers. This decision hurt people. Some families couldn’t pay their bills. Others had nowhere safe to send their children while they worked. Poor women lost vouchers that helped buy food and formula for their newborns. Cancer treatments were put on hold for patients who didn’t have much time to waste. All told, the...

With Congress still at an impasse over a deal that would end the government shutdown and extend the nation’s debt limit before the looming Oct. 17 deadline, several undergraduates said the recent government instability has affected, for better or for worse, their interest in pursuing careers in government. “I’m thinking about whether working for the government is working for an effective institution anymore,” said Benjamin J. Hughes ’14, who is considering a job on Capitol Hill or at a federal agency after graduation. “It seems like it’s really hard to get things done in Washington right now, so as somebody...

WWII Memorial closed, Vietnam Memorial closed, no fishing in south of Florida, restaurants and businesses that are licensed on federal property directed to shut down and worst of all, four of America’s fallen heroes and their families denied their death benefit to welcome their bodies home. Are you feeling the pain yet? As surrendered subjects it was our responsibility, We The People, to “pay the price” for the government shutdown. There was a pervasive, disgusting and partisan influence coming out of a Washington DC that wanted to inflict unnecessary pain so as to redirect our anger to Republicans in an...

Last week, I noted that Mitch McConnell’s slick debt ceiling plan would pave the road for permanently abolishing the debt limit, as long as members would get a ceremonial vote of disapproval. Well, it didn’t take long for the idea to grow roots. On Meet the Press, Chuck Schumer, who has enthusiastically praised McConnell for doing his bidding, announced that he would introduce legislation echoing the “McConnell rule.” ___________________________________ Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will propose legislation that would make permanent a plan to take the decision to raise the country’s debt limit out of Congress’s hands. By making the so-called...

........The conservative press is also pushing the mantra that unsuspecting Tea Party rubes walked blindly into Obama's trap -- to have the radical Tea Party faction foment the shutdown so Obama could use it as leverage against the GOP. But a trap is something one is lured into unwittingly, taken by surprise. Cruz and Lee weren't oblivious to the risks associated with their defund stance. No one was duped. Disappointed in the outcome maybe, but not duped.The real trap here--the one we are walking into today--is the one Obama set as soon as the 2012 election left the House under...

The federal government shutdown damaged the reputations of Washington politicians but proved good business for the cable television news networks—and taught some reporters new benefits of virtually instant communications. CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC saw their viewership increase during the 16-day partial shutdown, peaking at more than five million Wednesday evening when Congress passed a compromise bill to put the government back online. … MSNBC, which has struggled in this post-election year, saw its average prime-time viewership jump 35 percent to 978,000 this month through Wednesday, compared to the first nine months of the year, the Nielsen company said....

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz received an eight-minute standing ovation upon his return to Texas this past weekend, despite an extended, hostile campaign from Democrats and the mainstream media to portray him as a dangerous extremist. “After two months in Washington, it’s great to be back in America,” Cruz said Saturday to approximately 750 people at an appearance in a San Antonio hotel ballroom, enjoying an eight-minute standing ovation for his dogged efforts to defund or delay Obamacare in the recent continuing-resolution budget fight. Cruz also criticized members of his own Senate caucus for ”failing to stand with House Republicans against...

The recent bipartisan deal to end the government shutdown and avoid government default, did not raise the debt ceiling but in effect removed any ceiling until February 7 next year. With no new ceiling to bump against the debt went up a record $328 billion just a day after the deal passed. This far surpassed the $238 billion record set two years ago. The huge leap is largely blamed on the government replenishing its supply of extraordinary measures by repaying Federal Funds it borrowed to prevent hitting the debt ceiling earlier. It will now be prepared if there is no...

Here's the problem: we have three parallel Americas, only one of which is functioning. That would be the America of you and me and our neighbors, none of whom are politicians. We work. We pay taxes. Sometimes we even "recreate,'' which is what some senior citizens were told by armed Yellowstone National Park employees they could not do when they found their tour bus inside the park during the so-called shutdown. According to a story in the Eagle Tribune of North Andover, Mass., some of the old-timers, who not only live in our America, but built it, got out of...

One of Washington's most prominent watchdog groups is seeking the legal reasons behind President Obama's long-standing refusal to hike the debt ceiling unilaterally. As the recent fiscal battle unfolded, the White House said repeatedly that Obama does not have the authority to extend the Treasury's borrowing powers without congressional action. But Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is challenging that claim, noting that the Obama administration has, in the words of CREW chief counsel Anne Weismann, adopted "an expansive view of executive power" in everything from the surveillance of U.S. citizens at home and the killing of Americans...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Tennessee Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen called tea party congressional Republicans “domestic enemies” against which he must defend the country, describing them as rabid, sophomoric and in ambitious pursuit of their policies. “I obviously do not have an opportunity to go within the conference, the Republican — we call it a caucus, they call it a conference,” Cohen said on Saturday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Up with Steve Kornacki.” “But I know some of the members there — and a lot of those members — they’re rabid, they’re sophomoric, literally, they’re second term in Congress, never worked in politics before, and they...

Have you noticed how many lawmakers from Texas were doing crazy things during the government shutdown debacle? We need to discuss this as a matter of simple justice. These days, when you say “Texas” in the context of heavy-breathing Republican extremism, everybody immediately thinks of Senator Ted Cruz. Which is really unfair when there are so many other members of the state delegation trying to do their part. I am thinking, for instance, of Representative Randy Neugebauer, who harangued an innocent park ranger about a shutdown-shuttered war memorial, insisting that the ranger and her colleagues should be “ashamed of themselves.”...

In the aftermath of the crisis in Washington — or more aptly, in the lull between crises — there is a danger that a few smug assumptions will solidify into received opinion on this side of the Atlantic. In the hope of dispelling some dangerous misconceptions, I will attempt to counter three myths that manage to be both alarmist and complacent at the same time. The first is that the American democratic system is now so damaged that the country’s ability to govern itself effectively is in unprecedented peril. In fact, what has been impaired is the temporary credibility of...

SAN ANTONIO — With roars of approval from hundreds of GOP women gathered in San Antonio, Sen. Ted Cruz defended his political tactics in Congress on Saturday and vowed to continue the uphill fight against the new federal health care law despite backlash even from fellow Republicans. Dashing from city to Texas city to meet with constituents now that the federal budget crisis he's blamed for has subsided, Cruz drew a hero's welcome from the Texas Federation of Republican Women meeting at the Grand Hyatt. Acknowledging he's “reviled” by some in Washington, Cruz said it's a relief to be back...

President Barack Obama's use of riot police to deal with WWII veterans wishing to visit their war memorial is the type of action one would expect of a dictator who's afraid protesters are attempting to overthrow him. Obama's obsession with keeping veterans away from their war memorial makes no sense. Why would a sane president do such a thing? Obama's actions indicate he is a compassion less vindictive individual who doesn't care about people. He wants to make himself feel important by pushing other people around. Obama blundered badly in Syria. His proposal to bomb Syria was the political equivalent...

[SNIP].... “As with every decision elected officials make, the consequences of those decisions are up to the American people,” Cruz says. “But I will say this: from day one in office, I’ve urged the American people to hold every elected official accountable, and far too many elected officials are not listening to the American people… when you’ve got 10 to 20 Senate Republicans going on television, day after day after day, saying, ‘we cannot win, this is a fool’s errand, we will lose, nothing will happen, we will surrender,’ and blaming Republicans every step of the way, it eliminates the...