And here we have yet another piss poor example of what passes for Republican leadership in Congress these days. I say that because while his office would not say whether Mitch McConnell is advising his GOP colleagues to oppose a plan by Sen. Mike Lee to defund Obamacare through a must-pass continuing resolution funding measure, his office did say that his party is "united" in getting rid of the unpopular health care law. Ok, does that not sound like a modern day version of "Who’s on first, What’s on second, and I Dunno’s on third"? It’s well past time for our emasculated congressional leadership to be replaced with someone who actually has some balls! Our current clowns simply talk out of both sides if their mouths.
Some boob, by the name of Don Stewart, who we’re told is the communications director for McConnell said in an email, "Republicans are 100 percent united in their support for repeal of Obamacare, and the Leader is a co-sponsor of a bill to defund it and a bill to repeal it." However, Stewart would not say whether McConnell opposes Sen. Lee’s plan or if news reports that McConnell is actively working against Lee are true. The continuing resolution, or CR, is legislation to fund the government for a certain period in the new fiscal year, which starts on Oct. 1. It is must-pass legislation that Congress and the president must come to an agreement on by Sept. 30 or the government would shut down for lack of congressionally authorized funding.
Lee wants the CR to include language prohibiting any further funds for Obamacare, particularly the individual mandate, which, as it stands now, is supposed to kick in on Jan. 1, 2014. A separate and distinct bill to repeal Obamacare would not have the same budgetary bite as the CR, which must be passed to keep the government operating. This guy, Stewart said, "The Senate Republican Conference is united in its goal of a full repeal of Obamacare. Sen. McConnell is a co-sponsor of a bill to defund the law and a bill to repeal it." He then went on to say, "Members are having multiple and ongoing conversations about how best to repeal and defund the law—but all with the same goal." Sorry, but that sounds like a bunch of political bullshit to me!
Senator Lee is circulating a letter to his Senate colleagues that he plans to send to ‘Dingy Harry’ Reid calling for defunding any further implementation of the health care law. At one time the letter reportedly had as many as 17 signatures. However, the number is down to 12, according to Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard, who is citing McConnell as being one reason Senators are now backing away from Lee’s plan. Top GOP Senators, including John Thune and John Cornyn, had signed on. But by Wednesday, five senators who had supported the letter initially, had "asked to have their names removed," including Cornyn. Sens. Kelly Ayotte, John Boozman, Mark Kirk and Roger Wicker have also reneged on their support.
"This wasn’t a coincidence," Hayes wrote. "Sources tell The Weekly Standard that Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell made clear he didn’t like Lee’s approach and the fact that media reports were suggesting Republicans were eager for a shutdown." Ryan Taylor, communications director for Sen. Wicker said, "Upon reflection, the senator became convinced that the implicit threat of a shutdown is not the most effective way to influence the final result." And in speaking of Wicker, Taylor actually went on to ‘claim, "He is a proud cosponsor of multiple legislative efforts to stop the Obamacare train wreck, and he will not stop pursuing those efforts." This is just more political BS!
And then we had Sara Lasure, a spokesperson for Senator Boozman, who simply said, "Those reports are incorrect," when asked if Boozman was told to back away from the letter after first signing on. She chose not to elaborate further on the subject. The Club for Growth also pointed straight to McConnell. "We are disappointed by rumors that Senate Republican leadership is pressuring Senators not to sign Lee’s letter or to remove their names, they should instead encourage others to sign on," said Club for Growth President Chris Chocola in a statement Wednesday. He went on to say, "If Senator McConnell is committed to defunding ObamaCare, then he should sign the Lee letter and promise not to support a continuing resolution or any budget that funds Obamacare." Right On!
While the status of Lee’s push remains uncertain, a similar effort is underway in the House, and being led by a letter from Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.). As of Thursday, the House letter had 65 signatures and "members are still signing on to support the effort," Emily Miller, communications director for Meadows, said in an email. Those signed on in the House may face opposition from the GOP leadership, as Speaker of the House, Bonehead Boehner said no decisions have yet been made on how to handle the Affordable Care Act’s, aka Obamacare, funding in the continuing resolution to fund the government past Sept. 30. Boehner has to decide if he’s going to do what’s best for the country, or what’s politically expedient.
Our limp-wristed Speaker of the House, John Boehner, said the House will do "everything we can to make sure this doesn’t really go into effect," on Thursday, but when asked if that includes defunding the law in the CR, he would not say. His idiotic response was to say, "No decision has been made about how we're going to deal with the CR next month, in September." Boehner has been very critical of calls to shut down the government before, insisting that is not in the Republican’s plans either over the increasingly unpopular health care law or fights over raising the more than $16 trillion debt limit. "The Democrats think they benefit from a government shutdown," Boehner said in 2011, during a budget over the debt ceiling. "I agree."
So here we are, folks, once again finding ourselves between a rock and a hard place because we seem of have no one who possesses the necessary leadership skills, guts, or political will to do what we all know is necessary. Instead they pussyfoot around, claiming to be united in their stand against what is the nightmare of Obamacare, and yet seem perfectly unwilling to do that one thing that they know would rescue us from the consequences of it. So here we sit, waiting for these guys to do what we elect them to do and what we pay them for. Which is the arrangement that a majority of these folks seem totally unable to grasp. And they seem to expect us to accept how it is they view that arrangement. We can no longer allow that sentiment to continue!
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