Shut the Government Down
Tea Party Wants Government Shutdown
If (WHEN) Shut Down Does Happen the Lynchburg Tea Party invites you to a popcorn and platitude gathering. All attendees will gather in a circle and tell each other their dreams and drink coffee. It will be very much like their regular meeting except instead of laughing and lying about Obama they will laugh at all the government services that people used to receive.
If the tea party can kill off the Republican Party completely it is their intention to end all the government programs that help regular people. Ending Social Security and Medicare are tops with the old taxed enough nuts. They will also try to end all Health Services for women, all aid to education from Head Start thru K-12 and on to Pell Grants. Bob Goodlatte stands shoulder to shoulder with this group and votes against senior citizens and working people.
Everyone is invited to the party. The last time the Republicans shut down the government it cost tax payers one and a half Billion Dollars. It is past time for the Tea Party to grow up and for the Republicans to reclaim conrol of their party and get this issue settled. It is a shame these child like idiots can't get along with normal people.
President Obama
President Barack Obama warned lawmakers on Friday that it would be the “height of irresponsibility” to shut down the
government over a spending battle, pressuring Republicans not to pursue deeper cuts. The Tea Party said it was up there on the scale of irresponsibility a ways but that they could do better so they smacked Bohner about his head and ears and sent him back in to demand more. Boehner looked like he had been crying.
Obama’s comments set the stage to blame Republicans should congressional negotiations collapse and the U.S. government runs out of cash when a short-term funding measure expires on April 8. The Tea Party claims the credit for shutting down the government and wants it understood it was their idea. OK, mark your calendars, the eigth is Friday and immediately upon shut down the Lynchburg Tea Party's party starts. There may be Conga and Line dancing.
“We know that a compromise is within reach. And we also know that if these budget negotiations break down, it could shut
down the government and jeopardize our economic recovery,” Obama said in Landover, Maryland.
Obama weighed in at a sensitive time in the negotiations and the tea party was irritated by his presence. The Tea Party pretty well has Republican leadership under their thumbs but Obama is a loose cannon who wants to work together to avoid a shutdown. The Tea Party has practiced chanting "Shutdown" in unison since November of last year and they have no plans to let Obama solve the crisis and waste all their practice.
The talks could still fall apart, but only the Tea Party is eager to cause a government shutdown that could lead to thousands of layoffs when voters are nervous about the shaky economic recovery and rising gas prices brought on by political unrest in the Middle East. The Tea Party thinks they can use these problems to propell them to more power.
Both sides (Democrats and the two thirds of the Republicans who are not Tea Party members) are believed to have tentatively agreed to $33 billion in cuts but are haggling over where the budget knife should fall. The Tea Party is holding out for $61 Billion and there is some disagreement in their ranks over whether that is enough. They are recording the names of Republicans who back a compromise so they can target them with a challenger next election. Any Republican who dares to have a thought that is not in line with the Tea Party will be replaced.
Harry Reid
“I’m happy to say that negotiations toward a compromise are moving forward. Not as fast as I would like, but they are
moving forward,” Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said on a conference call. If Harry only knew that Republicans are
too stupid to ever be satisfied he would not feel so happy.
Democrats want to cut defense spending and some benefit programs that normally lie beyond the reach of the annual budget process, and protect education and scientific research programs.
Republicans hope to deny funding to some of Obama’s top
priorities, such as Obama’s healthcare overhaul and greenhouse-gas regulation. Republicans plan to save money by ending Medicare and Medicade and means testing Social Security and raising retirement age to 70.
A $33 billion cut would represent a big victory for Republicans, as Obama had initially proposed a budget that would have increased spending by $41 billion but was never enacted. Obama wanted to work toward recovery of the economy before tackling the deficit but the Republicans see the bad economy as a help in them regaining the White House and Senate.
But newly elected Tea Party conservatives in the House of Representatives want deeper cuts, presenting a challenge to
House Speaker John Boehner. And that is just for the budget for the fiscal year that ends September 30. A bigger battle may be looming for the 2012 budget as Republicans eye further spending cuts, tax cuts and a revamp of big-ticket benefits like the Medicaid program for the poor and disabled. If Republicans could just get rid of the poor and disabeled they could craft a tax break for big business that they could be proud of.
John Has No Control of The House Cacus
BOEHNER Begs Tea Party Not to Make Him SHUTDOWN the Government. Tea Party Laughs in Boehners face. Boehner said on Friday that a shutdown would undermine Republican goals to cut government spending. The Tea Party will field a challenger to Boehner next election. The Tea Party will grow in strength as long as Americans vote for them. It is your country and you decide who runs it.
“Let’s all be honest, if you shut the government down, it’ll end up costing more than you save because you interrupt contracts. There are a lot of problems with the idea of shutting the government. It is not the goal. The goal is to cut spending, please don't make me do it.” Boehner told a news conference.
Up Date April 6
16 Senators write Boehner a letter requesting he not shut the government down. Moderate Democratic Senators Urge Speaker Boehner to Avoid Government Shutdown that Would Distract from Serious Long-term Fiscal Challenges. In addition to Mark Udall, the letter was signed by senators Tom Carper (DE), Michael Bennet (CO), Kay Hagan (NC), Tim Johnson (SD), Mark Begich (AK), Jon Tester (MT), Mark Warner (VA), Ben Nelson (NE), Kent Conrad (ND), Jim Webb (VA), Amy Klobuchar (MN), Mary Landrieu (LA), Claire McCaskill (MO), Bob Casey (PA), and Chris Coons (DE).
Mark Warner
Senators: Congress Needs to Focus on Addressing Debt, not Short-term Budget Fights
Jim Webb
A group of 16 moderate Democratic senators, led by Mark Udall of Colorado, today sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, urging him to prevent a shutdown of the federal government that would hurt our country's still-fragile economy and distract from the need to work together to address greater, long-term fiscal challenges. The senators agree that addressing the nation's debt requires urgent action, and they added their voices to those who are
extremely concerned that a minority in the Republican Party are pushing for a government shutdown solely to assert a political point.
Not only would a shutdown distract Congress from focusing on a comprehensive, bipartisan approach to debt reduction, economists have warned that it would stunt productivity, erode confidence in the U.S. economy and hamper job growth, the senators wrote. At a time when the economy is still recovering, they said, the federal government and Congress "should be single-mindedly focused on supporting economic development and job growth." Senate Democrats have shown significant flexibility, agreeing to Republicans' original proposal to keep the government running through the year while protecting jobs.
"Knowing that a bipartisan deal is within reach to cut tens of billions of dollars from current funding levels, it would be irresponsible to shut down the government and punish our constituents solely to assert a political point," the senators continued. "We stand ready to resolve this short-term funding debate in a common-sense way and work with you on tackling the even more daunting fiscal challenges our country must confront. The American people expect no less."
Back to the original story from April 5.
On Friday, several House Republicans said they would resist meeting Democrats in the middle on the size of the cut as they stood on the steps of the Senate. They want to stick to $61 billion in cuts that have already passed the House. "We do not wish to have the Tea Party challenge us in the next primary," they said.
"Getting rid of social security and giving the program to the boys on Wall Street will make a great start and ending Medicare would get them across the finish line," the GOP spokesman said. "Wall Street money factors heavily in Republican election efforts and we know which side to come down on."
“Anything less than $61 billion is an insult to the problem and I've never like old and disabeled people anyway” said Republican Representative Paul Broun. "Government does too much for too many" Brown continued, "If we can stop throwing our money away on the sick we can reduce business tax rates and get this country moving but we may have to replace Obama with a business friendly President for that to happen."
The size of the package could change, as Republicans pledge to push for deeper cuts in return for dropping measures that would block funding for birth control, environmental regulation and other agency activities.
Dozens of such restrictions are included in the Republican plan, and some of them will probably make it into the final bill. The portion of the budget that helps citizens with social issues is small but must be completely eliminated. Until all spare funds are channeled to big business we will never get this country back on track.
Dick Durbin
“Let’s not shut down the government on a fight over some bumper sticker issue that may have been around for the last 10 or 20 years,” Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said.
Congressional Democrats who saw Republicans punished by voters after a 1995 shutdown when Democrat Bill Clinton was president are eager to place the blame on Republicans once again.
Until Friday, Obama had largely resisted weighing in on the battle. Obama chose to do so because a Labor Department report showed a slight decline in the U.S. jobless rate to 8.8 percent and he felt it important to comment on the possibility of a shutdown that he believes could hinder the fragile recovery, White House spokesman Jay Carney said. Republicans had never planned on any kind of recovery until they regained the White House and Senate and welcome the shutdown as a way to keep their plans on track.
Democratic and Republican staffers were expected to work through the weekend to lay the legislative groundwork for the deal. Boehner said "I will not be in town as the Tea Party has ordered me to a meeting out of town and until I emerge from that meeting I don't know what I think." He continued "I may or may not support the deal the staffers come up with, only time will tell." John Boehner is a different kind of leader and the House has never before seen one like him.
BREAKING... LOCAL... NEWS
Lee Lintecum
County supervisors voted Tuesday (April 5) to accept the resignation of County Administrator Lee Lintecum, effective immediately.
The unanimous vote came after a closed session of nearly an hour and a half, and just one day after Lintecum submitted his resignation.
Claudia Tucker
Claudia Tucker, chairwoman of the board of supervisors, led Lintecum back to his office after the vote in open session.
Three supervisors thanked him for his service.
“I think it was clear to him we weren’t satisfied with his performance,” said Tucker, the District 2 supervisor. “Amherst County will move on. We’re a very vibrant county and looking forward to the future.”
Lintecum, who was hired in 2009 and who saw four supervisors’ positions turn over during his tenure, resigned in a brief email sent about 4 p.m. Monday, Tucker said. His email had offered a final day of May 31.
“I met a lot of nice people, enjoyed meeting them and working with them,” Lintecum said Tuesday.
Lintecum’s departure caps the end of an era of controversy for the Board of Supervisors that began with the forced departure of the former county administrator, Rodney Taylor.
Rodney Taylor
Amherst Counties Most Respected County Administrator
Taylor’s departure was followed by the firing of the former county attorney, Vaden Hunt, and then the resignation of the board’s former chairman, Chris Adams, who cited personal reasons. He was replaced by the now-District 3 supervisor, Robert Curd (Amherst).
Ray Vandall
Former District 4 Supervisor Ray Vandall (Madison Heights) quit last year and was replaced by Juanita Roberson.
Don Kidd, Last One Standing
The only remaining board member who participated in Lintecum’s hiring is District 1 Supervisor Don Kidd (Amherst), now the longest-serving member. Former Supervisor Vernon Wood did not seek re-election, after which Tucker was elected.
Frank Campbell
District 5 Supervisor Frank Campbell (Madison Heights) then won election, defeating the former chairman, Leon Parrish.
Leon Parrish has served the citizens of Amherst County for over half of his life and now works with Habitat for Humanity adressing the housing needs of the county. Leon proudly listed his membership in the Democratic Party for all those years of service. Leon is the Most Respected Member ever to serve on the Amherst County Board of Supervisors.
Lintecum’s tenure was marked by unusually tough budget times, during which the county departments cut their budgets, had no money to spare and did not receive raises. His resignation comes after Lintecum proposed a 2011-12 budget of $35,112,654, which is still under discussion.
A county staff meeting has been called for Wednesday (April 6).
And on the Senate Front
Tim Kaine
Tim Kaine, currently chair of the Democratic National Committee and Virginia's former governor, announced Tuesday that he will run for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Jim Webb.
Ending weeks of speculation about his future, Kaine declared his candidacy in the 2012 election in a Web video, just as President Obama did in kicking off his reelection effort Monday.
Stressing his roots in the state and his record as governor, Kaine tells supporters that he's running because "America has big challenges, and I'm convinced that Virginia has answers to help strengthen our nation."
Kaine's announcement follows a period in which advisors say he genuinely wrestled with the decision over whether to continue serving the president he was among the first to endorse or waging his own campaign again for the first time in seven years.
When Webb announced his decision to retire, Kaine initially seemed reluctant to run. But Obama himself emerged as one of his top boosters, and he told Democratic donors just last week Kaine would be an "outstanding senator" if he chose to run.
The Virginia Senate race promises to be one of the most fiercely contested of the 2012 cycle, as Democrats seek to maintain their six-seat majority in Congress' upper chamber after losing the House in 2010. Kaine's closeness to the president figures to be a major storyline in that race, especially as Obama contends for that state's 13 electoral votes at the same time.
Kaine's announcement video made no mention of Obama and instead called for a campaign of "balance and civility," which he said "is sadly disappearing from Washington." "Washington can learn a few things from Virginia," he said.
Republicans, however, came out swinging hard within moments of Kaine's announcement.
"Over the last several years, Tim Kaine has been the most vocal cheerleader in Washington for the reckless fiscal policies and massive expansion of government that have been the hallmark of the Obama Administration," Brian Walsh, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in a statement. "Republicans welcome the clear contrast that his candidacy presents and the choice before Virginians next year."
George Felix Allen
The frontrunner for the GOP nomination is George F. Allen, who held the seat for one term before losing to Webb in a bitter 2006 campaign. He, like Kaine, is also a former governor, as is the state's other senator, Democrat Mark Warner.
Virginia's Next Senior Senator
Mark Warner
BACK...TO...
...SHUTDOWN
How did we get here?
Democrats didn't pass a 2011 budget last year-instead, they passed a placeholder resolution. Then Republicans shellacked Democrats in midterm elections, bringing in Tea Partiers fiercely dedicated to cutting the federal budget. Both sides want to reduce the $1.5 trillion federal deficit, but Democrats suggested $10 billion in cuts, while Republican leaders proposed $61 billion in reductions. Hardliners on the Republican Study Committee tugged at the GOP from the right, demanding $100 billion in cuts. Unable to resolve the impasse, Congress has passed three "continuing resolutions" that keep the money flowing while leaders negotiate. Now it's crunch time for a deal. If Congress can't reach a compromise or pass another continuing resolution by April 8, the government will run out of money and be forced to shut down. The sides are frantically negotiating with a reported target of about $33 billion in cuts.
Shutdown: Who will turn out the lights?
Actually, no one. The Office of Management and Budget is responsible for making sure agencies have a plan in case of shutdown. During the two previous shutdowns, in 1995 and 1996, OMB Director Alice Rivlin and White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta coordinated the closure, and the OMB has reviewed plans this spring. But while federal agencies are responsible for having contingency plans in place at all times, agencies that could be affected say they haven't yet received any guidance on how to proceed if Congress can't make the April 8 deadline.
Shutting down the government should at least save money, right? Not necessarily. In fact, they have serious economic ramifications. An OMB calculation in January 1996 estimated the cost of the 26 total days of shutdown at $1.4 billion in taxpayer money.
The Damages: How much will taxpayers and businesses lose?
Shutting down the government should at least save money, right? Not necessarily. In fact, the 1995 shutdowns had serious economic ramifications. An OMB calculation in January 1996 estimated the cost of the 26 total days of shutdown at $1.4 billion in taxpayer money-although a good chunk of that came from back salaries paid to furloughed workers. But the National Park Service forwent more than $14 million per day in revenue, businesses and local governments near parks missed out on an estimated $295 million due to closures, and U.S. tourist industries and airlines lost "millions of dollars," according to estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. Not that the shutdown is bad for everyone's business: Back in 1995, local Washington, D.C. pizza magnate Frank Meeks sold a record number of pies as Congressional staffers worked over time.
Collateral Damage: How the 1995 shutdown changed history.
Newt is a Scam Artist and Low Life and a Republican Candidate for President.
You can't measure the effect of a shutdown in just dollars, though. During the last showdown between a Democratic White House and Republican-controlled Congress, Speaker Newt Gingrich's career was derailed by his handling of the budget crisis. (What ever happened to that guy?)
President Clinton
While President Bill Clinton emerged a winner, he wasn't unscathed. During the five-day government shutdown in November 1995, an unpaid intern named Monica Lewinsky worked late at the White House because paid workers were furloughed. It was during that time that the first sexual encounters between the two, which would eventually lead to Clinton's impeachment, occurred.
Mandatory Vacation: Only essential employees would report.
Although hundreds of thousands of workers were furloughed last time the government shut down, the term "shutdown" is a little misleading. "Essential" staff-such as FBI agents, air-traffic controllers, and Transportation Security Administration screeners-would still be on duty, and Veterans Affairs hospitals would still care for patients. Museums and national parks would be closed, but military bases would stay open. Visa and passport applications would grind to a halt. Like rain, snow, sleet, and gloom of night, a shutdown wouldn't stop letter carriers, because the U.S. Postal Service doesn't take federal money to deliver the mail. Also exempt from furloughs (and therefore still paid): the president, members of Congress, and presidential employees.
The Check's In the Mail: Social Security, food stamp money would still flow.
Shutdowns are politically perilous, and it's not just because they make Congress look petty. Citizens who receive government assistance are liable to panic, fearing they won't get their checks. The good news is that there's nothing to worry about-probably. During the 1995-1996 shutdowns, Social Security checks and veterans' benefits checks kept going out; funding for Medicare, Medicaid, and welfare didn't stop, although new applications weren't processed. But not everyone is safe: GI Bill payments, for example, were delayed. Presumably, the same pattern would play out today, though no one knows for sure. Would the tens of millions of Americans covered by USDA nutrition programs like school lunches and food stamps keep getting help? The USDA says it simply doesn't know.
Amherst County Virginia Democratic News
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