Posted on 09/20/2013 4:47:26 PM PDT by servo1969
On Friday’s “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer mocked the Republican tactic of using the budget process to defund President Barack Obama’s 2010 health care reform law.
Krauthammer called the House’s vote to defund the law “Kabuki” and warned that it would come back to haunt congressional Republicans.
“I think the Boehner speech is what you would expect,” Krauthammer said. “He didn’t want to do it. He had to do it, so he had to defend it, and that’s Kabuki. I think it’s going to go to the Senate and if we end up with a shutdown, it’s going to be Kamikaze, and the Republicans will end up sushi — very thin slices. And everybody knows this. This is sort of a charade. Cruz is going to get a lot of airtime. He’s gotten a huge amount of airtime. There is nowhere to go on this.”
He did note the law was very unpopular and was fraught with flaws, but he said the Republicans could stand in the way of defeating it.
“The irony is as I have been saying for weeks, Obamacare is so unpopular even the unions are up in arms against it,” he said. “The AFL-CIO came within a hair of calling for its repeal. Right now they want all kinds of changes, which they are not going to get. You’ve got Democrats against it. It’s about to kick in and we heard today that they don’t even have the software that will enable the system to calculate what the subsidies are after hearing that they don’t have the software to ascertain what you say is your income and thus, your subsidy. It’s true, so it’s on an honor system. This is going to be a complete disaster. We’re on the threshold of that. As Chuck indicates, the Republicans were on the upswing of the issue and now this? It’s insane and it’s not going to happen.”
Obama should be thinking ahead as well -- using '08 to cure his problem of inexperience. Run for the Democratic nomination and lose. He only has to do reasonably well in the primaries to become such a compelling national figure as to be invited onto the ticket as vice presidential nominee. If John Edwards, the runner-up in '04 did well enough to be made running mate, a moderately successful Obama would be the natural choice for '08.
Then, if the Democrats win, he will have all the foreign policy credentials he needs for life. Even if the ticket loses, assuming he acquits himself reasonably well, he immediately becomes the presumptive front-runner in the next presidential cycle. And if by some miracle he hits the lottery and wins in '08, well, then it is win-win-win.
He's a young man with a future. But the future recedes. He needs to run now. And lose. And win by losing.
“we need to be focused on blocking and tackling and not hail mary’s.”
Right you are; but what does that mean?
I read lots of name calling and clichés.
But no plans. What will happen? First, what will the Senate do? Restore language and send back? Where does the flow chart go from there? Will the bill revert to House version then or will they yield? If the ‘shutdown’ occurs (which has happened numerous times)will bo attempt to stop payments not really affected? Lots of things can happen and my crystal ball is a bit clouded!
Wow, who knew?
All: dumb asses.
Krauthammer, the Stopped Clock, is right on this one. Obamacare’s implementation will kill the Democrats for at least a generation. Suspend it, send the bill to Obama and the Democrat-run Senate. Let them choose, on a clean bill, to keep it running.
It’s a mess (for progressives and the Democratic Party), and we should be enjoying it.
Chuckie talks a big game but always advocates doing nothing. He’s a talking head, nothing more.
Stuttering head.
Krauthammer is being elitist here.
I can agree with him on a lot of issues but I do think he’s a Neo-Con.
“What a bunch of whining defeatists the GOP-e are. They got burned twenty years ago when Clinton and the media convinced the public that the people who passed a budget were responsible for “shutting down the government”, not the guy who vetoed it. So now they operate on the assumption that it always has to be that way. Well, it isn’t 1995 anymore, and there are now conservative media outlets for them to present their case to the public. But not if they are afraid to make it.”
And per some people, the GOP may have suffered a bit at that time but not as bad as the media and others tell us or in other words, try to scare us about. At least, this is what Rush was saying.
Dr. Charles is a a typical RINO School “Always surrender before you fight” Republican.
In that way, defeat is always assured, and then Dr. Charles can smirk and say: “I told you so.”
Leading RINOs Boehner, Cantor, McConnell, McCain and Graham always bow low whenever Dr. Charles comes within earshot.
BTW, what would General George Patton say and then do?
"Go Mitt. Go Mitt. Go Mitt"
"Go Mitt. Go Mitt. Go Mitt"
If the republican party caves now, the party is dead, long live the “Tea Party”
““we need to be focused on blocking and tackling and not hail mary’s.”
Right you are; but what does that mean?”
Fair question. I don’t have an easy answer. I don’t think it necessarily lies with Congress at all. We need some effective communicators who can break through the media crap, get noticed and expose what goes on. Given the propaganda media I don’t know how to get mass exposure. I understand what has to happen but not how to do it.
Congress is absolutely worthless unless we can clone Cruz and /or get enough communicators to stir up the masses and provide cover and confidence for the few good conservatives we have
Sometimes Krauthammer’s INTELLECT seems to reflect his physical condition, that of being paralyzed.
The public are so misinformed they need this.
Obama is upset he can’t party all week and get on the down low. I think part of it is to upset Obama’s social calendar.
He may be right, but only because the liberal elitist media will lie for O and create a narrative where the GOP are the bad guys starving the poor, women and children. Nevertheless, I support their actions. I’d rather go down fighting than sit by idly letting Obamacare destroy what’s left of our economy.
Nuf ced.
Will the voters see?
I hope so.
A lot depends on how well Republicans manage their messaging.
I’m sure - soon enough- the low information voters will have their ridiculous memes plastered all over FB, Twitter, and wherever else they can plant mind numbing stupidity.
And the sad thing is ... A lot of people out there believe that crap
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