Posted on 09/28/2013 9:31:29 PM PDT by smoothsailing
House Republicans voted early Sunday morning to prolong the showdown over a government shutdown, sending the Senate more provisions intended to undermine Obamacare as part of a stopgap spending bill to keep the government operating past Monday.
The high-stakes game of hot potato could end up bringing the government to a bureaucratic halt come Tuesday, given that Senate Democratic leaders have flatly refused to consider any measure that would weaken the president’s signature legislative achievement.
Shortly after midnight, the House voted to approve a series of amendments to the Senate-passed version of a continuing resolution. While the Senate had stripped out language intended to defund Obamacare, House Republicans decided Saturday to try again with a one-year delay of the health care law, which they approved 231-192. Two Democrats voted with all but two Republicans for the Obamacare delay.
The House also approved, 248-174 a repeal of a 2.3 percent tax on medical device makers that the Congressional Budget Office says would bring in $29 billion over a decade. Seventeen Democrats joined all Republicans on that vote. The chamber also voted to change the CR’s expiration date from Nov. 15 to Dec. 15.
House leaders made the bill even more unpalatable to Senate Democrats by including a “conscience clause” allowing employers and insurers to opt out of providing coverage for contraception if they have moral or religious objections.
The measures were technically amendments to the Senate amendment to the House-passed continuing resolution, meaning the Democratic Senate could vote down the legislation in a single vote with a simple majority and send the CR back to the House yet again.
House floor debate grew heated in the 10 p.m. hour of a very long Saturday on Capitol Hill.
Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., frequently reminded members to address their remarks to him, the presiding officer, and not to each other as they exchanged barbs of blame for the looming shutdown — yet members continued to make personal atttacks.
Democratic Rep. David Scott of Georgia shouted at Republicans — and over Republicans, like John Culberson of Texas, who shouted back — that they were consumed in partisanship.
“Your hate for this president is coming before the love of this country,” Scott said, claiming that Republicans intended to shut down the government “because you have been hijacked by a small group of extreme folks who simply hate this president.”
Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., did an impression of President Barack Obama, ridiculing the president for refusing to negotiate on the debt limit.
“There will be no negotiations,” Rohrabacher said, imitating Obama’s deep baritone voice.
“If this government shuts down, it’s because you haven’t accepted the compromise that Republicans have reached out to you and offered,” said Rohrabacher.
But House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., a vocal critic of funding the government at sequester levels, charged Republicans with not being satisfied by the White House’s concession that a CR would likely be held at $986 billion.
“The president said he’d sign your level,” Hoyer said. “Your level. You’ve won. But you can’t take ‘yes’ for an answer.”
The heated debate spiraled into burning rhetoric as each side tried to top the other.
“For those tuning in to this debate, I want to make sure there’s no confusion: This is not ‘Saturday Night Live,’” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Steve Israel, D-N.Y.
As Congress runs up against a Sept. 30 deadline that now looks even more difficult to meet, many lawmakers predicted at least a short government shutdown starting Oct. 1.
House Republicans appear to be hoping that if a shutdown does occur, the Senate — and its majority Democrats — will get the blame.
But even before Republicans sent the CR back to the Senate, Reid called the vote “pointless” and said “the American people will not be extorted by tea party anarchists.” White House spokesman Jay Carney also weighed in on Saturday, saying, “Any member of the Republican Party who votes for this bill is voting for a shutdown.”
But potential Senate action — or inaction — didn’t seem to faze House Republicans Saturday.
“We can’t control the Senate,” said Rep. John Fleming, R-La. “We can only control ourselves, and we’re gonna do what’s right and we’re gonna let the Senate take care of itself.”
“If the Senate hasn’t acted, then the Senate is to blame,” echoed House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky.
But while House Republicans try to blame Democrats, a recent poll suggests Americans would lay more blame at the feet of Republicans. However, Democrats would hardly be held harmless. If the government shuts down, 44 percent of Americans would blame Republicans, 35 percent would blame Democrats, and 16 percent would blame all parties equally, a CBS/New York Times poll found.
That sort of polling might have made Speaker John A. Boehner’s choice easier. Faced with accepting the Senate’s CR and then having a revolt from his own conference, or taking on Obamacare and shutting down the government, Boehner made his stand.
The battle is shaping up to be a precursor to a potentially more economically dangerous fight: the debt limit. President Barack Obama and Democrats insist they will not negotiate with Republicans over paying the nation’s debt; Republicans insist they will need to extract concessions in exchange for raising the ceiling.
House Republicans might not want to cave on the CR, for fear of appearing weak as they try to extract concessions on a wish list of GOP measures in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.
On the more immediate concern — the CR — some House Republicans were already indicating a willingness to pare back their demands if the Senate rejected their newest legislative ploy.
Republicans emerged from a closed-door meeting Saturday eager to vote on their latest legislative offering. But with more than 800,000 “non-essential” federal workers facing furloughs, and many more who would be working without a paycheck, the stakes continue to mount — and both sides are adamant they do not want a shutdown.
The desire to keep the lights on, however, is running up against a desire to address Obamacare and an even more damning issue: time.
In the Senate — where expediency is even rarer than bipartisanship — Reid isn’t expected to bring the chamber back until Monday, just 10 hours before a shutdown would take effect.
Does that delay the whole law or just the individual mandate?
The Vitter Amendment and eliminating *all* the waivers that have been granted since 2010 is a very powerful tool as well. The Democrats have very carefully nurtured an entire generation of voters driven solely by envy, and the GOP could very easily turn the Congressional waiver privilege to their advantage, if they had the balls to do so.
How about you "Little" Harry Reid The Senate's Leading Democratic Party Marxist? You obstructionist Pompous Ass you have put a choke hold on any economical recovery, any workable solutions on any issues, and any other voice being heard but yours and Obama's. Begone Little man. Ted Cruz's truths has you throwing toddler's tantrums and I think it's hilarious. Let's watch Little Harry have a meltdown LOL.
I’m Sorry, but I just don’t understand you comment? What do you mean about the Vitter thing? Sorry if this seems incoherent, but what the heck are you talking about?
The “Vitter thing” you asked about is an amendment proposed by Senator Vitter, which would force all Congresscritters and their staffers to have to go into the ObamaCare public exchanges *without* getting a 72% subsidy from the taxpayers. The original ObamaCare law was passed that way, but in August, Congress cut a deal with Obama where Congress and their staffers would get a 72% subsidy toward their health-care premiums on the exchanges. An outrage!!!
We are quick to criticize but slow to praise...The house needs to hear form us now.
Okay thanks, seems like just another amendment to be ignored by those in charge - or affected. Thanks for the information. And yes,k just another outrage!
Thousands of waivers have been granted since 2010, pretty much under the radar. But the Congressional waiver, which was granted only last August (and not exactly a waiver, but a 72% taxpayer subsidy which nobody else on the public exchanges will get, so close enough to a waiver for me), was highlighted by Ted Cruz's 21-hour stand this week.
More people are aware now, more people are watching, and I would love to see the Dems squirm, having to shut down the government to preserve their own ObamaCare waiver, just when the rest of us peons are learning what the law is really going to cost as of Jan 1.
Many remember the government shutdown of 1995/96 when a showdown between the majority Republicans and the Clinton Administration shut down the government for 28 days. They portrayed the Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich as a cry baby because, “He closed down the government because Clinton made him sit at the back of the plane.” Thankfully, compromise did come—a balanced budget over seven years, tax cuts, and changes in mandatory spending programs such as Medicare. It worked to Clinton’s advantage.
Today we face another shutdown where President Obama wants no compromise. The Democrats are using the same playbook they used against Newt Gingrich including the politics of personal destruction. They are saying that if you defy us, the government will be shut down and we will do everything to blame Republicans.
The Republicans in the House are like aircraft engineers and have the Constitutional mandate to insure the flight readiness of the budget. They are saying that the budget with Obamacare is a plane that won’t fly. Americans know that Obamacare is wrong and the Democrats secretly know it too. President Obama is in the cockpit crying, “Get this plane off the ground!” He is sounding more and more like a cry baby having a tantrum that is willing to starve grandma and vets to get his way. The aircraft engineers must take the bad part out or the plane won’t fly. A shutdown in this case will be on Obama; not the Republicans.
They need to make it clean and clear. Revoke all waivers, make Obamacare mandatory for all federal employees as long as the law exists. Period. Just that. And the continuing resolution lasts until next year only as long as that remains law.
Yepper - make them even more tire/cranky/mean-spirited. Would love to be a mouse in the room - sitting next to a bag of popcorn.
-—Reid said no paying the troops-—
The end result of that gambit could be the elimination of Obama and Reid.
The troops could decide that the named leaders are simply no longer needed
I am fed up with this craziness. The House needs to send the same original House bill back to the Senate with an ultimatum - “This is the best and final offer.†Here is my justification: Many have discussed how the American people could get rid of this corrupt government. Isn’t shutting down the government the best way of doing it? I have lost complete faith in the phony election process we keep participating in. Indeed, the electoral makeup today is such that that little change is likely. If there were an armed rebellion, lots of turmoil would ensue and government operations would be shut down anyway and a lot of Americans would lose their lives. Why not just starve the blasted SOBs into submission. It will not be pretty, but it is a preferred method to having to do it by force. Obama would likely continue to illegally spend our tax dollars and then the next step would be to stop paying our taxes. What are they going to do then?
“Many have discussed how the American people could get rid of this corrupt government. Isn’t shutting down the government the best way of doing it? I have lost complete faith in the phony election process we keep participating in. Indeed, the electoral makeup today is such that that little change is likely. If there were an armed rebellion, lots of turmoil would ensue and government operations would be shut down anyway and a lot of Americans would lose their lives. Why not just starve the blasted SOBs into submission. It will not be pretty, but it is a preferred method to having to do it by force. Obama would likely continue to illegally spend our tax dollars and then the next step would be to stop paying our taxes. What are they going to do then?”
A very interesting analysis. Thanks for posting it.
I’m sorry if I missed something here. But why doesn’t the house send back exactly the same CR to the senate? Defund Obamacare? What do they have to lose at this point?.
Why would they just hold it off until after the 2014 elections? Won’t that just help the democrats?
Perfect!
Something I read yesterday talked about mandatory and discretionary spending. Those things that are law, like Social Security, Medicare, etc. are mandatory spending. Apparently Congress can’t defund those, they can only repeal the law. Obamacare falls in to that category. It can’t be defunded but it can be repealed.
Okay, but now why are they sending a weaker version back up? If they had all of these plans ahead of time, the dems KNEW the Republicans were not going to stand tough. What a bunch of wusses.
I read today that if the Senate kicks it back to Boehner he may add on the Vitter Amendment.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.