Free Republic

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday blasted Congressional Republicans for their “wrong-headed” budget brinksmanship he said led to a partial government shutdown, while maintaining that city services are still immune to the impasse in Washington. “It’s time for the Republican leaders in Congress to step up, provide leadership and tell a small minority in their party to stop trying to hold the country hostage to their ideology,” Emanuel told reporters at an unrelated press conference on Wednesday. As the first federal shutdown in nearly 18 years entered its second day, Emanuel said city services are still unaffected by the shutdown,...

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) vowed to bring forward more piecemeal spending bills Thursday, as he expressed confidence President Obama would eventually be forced to negotiate. In a memo sent to House Republicans, Cantor called the Democratic position "untenable" and "unsustainable," adding that a steady diet of narrow funding bills would force Democrats to deal. "I am confident that if we keep advancing common-sense solutions to the problems created by the shutdown that Senate Democrats and President Obama will eventually agree to meaningful discussions that would allow us to ultimately resolve this impasse," he wrote. "The American people ......

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday blocked a House bill providing funding to reopen national parks amid the government shutdown, saying he would not allow the GOP to pick and choose from among favored programs and insisting the only way out is to pass all spending at the same time. Republicans tried to get an agreement in the Senate to restore the parks money along with funding for the National Institutes of Health, the military reserves and National Guard, and veterans affairs, but Democrats objected to each of those agreements in turn. [snip] The debate on the Senate floor...

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) has blamed the government shutdown on politicians like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), calling them “Cruzites.” DeFazio took the House floor Tuesday afternoon and offered up his definition of a “Cruzite”. “Shutting down the government –pretty radical. But we are really dealing here with for short –Cruzites, or I guess I would call them - they’re sort of anarchist, radical, libertarians who don’t believe in government,” DeFazio said. “They don’t believe in evolution they believe in devolution – devolve all the duties to the states,” DeFazio continued. “Dissolve the Union essentially. Go to some loose federalism and...

DAY 2: SENATE DEMS SHUT IT DOWN Senate Democrats Obstruct People's Agenda By Shutting Down Senate Committees Over Up-Or-Down Judicial Votes _____________________________________________________________________________________________________     "It's remarkable that Democrats have gone to such great lengths to put partisan bickering above the business of the American people. By following through on their promise to shut down Senate committees Democrats are choosing political showmanship over addressing the War on Terror, gas prices, the challenges of higher education, and other critical priorities. Americans elected their Senators to vote, not play games with the United States government. 'The Party of No' should be ashamed...