US Politics--playing chicken with a government shutdown... Again.

[Summah]

Why do the Republicans think this will turn out any better for them than last time when they took the majority of the blame? Or do they just not care because the election is far away and they weren't punished at the polls for their behavior last year?

[TerraPrime]

Why do the Republicans think this will turn out any better for them than last time when they took the majority of the blame?

Because

they just (do) not care (since) the election is far away and they weren't punished at the polls for their behavior last year?

[aceluby]

What I find funniest is the willingness of Senate Republicans to throw Boehner under the bus on this one. All signs point to a clean budget in the end.

How dysfunctional is our govt when you can get more of what you want by being the minority party?

[Swordfish]

Why do the Republicans think this will turn out any better for them than last time when they took the majority of the blame? Or do they just not care because the election is far away and they weren't punished at the polls for their behavior last year?

Can you quantify the ways in which this hurt them last time?

[Commodore]

if a minority of Dems are filibustering the spending bill that a bipartisan majority of elected representatives in both houses support, why aren't they responsible for the shutdown?

[Larry of the Lawn]

Summah, you are probably reading new updates and articles from last year. The government shutdown threat worked out terribly for Repubs (other than them cleaning up in the midterms) but there's no way they'd try it again.

Oh... wait... nevermind.

[aceluby]

if a minority of Dems are filibustering the spending bill that a bipartisan majority of elected representatives in both houses support, why aren't they responsible for the shutdown?

Who is the party again that is adding riders to the bill that can't pass on their own?

[TrackerNeil]

if a minority of Dems are filibustering the spending bill that a bipartisan majority of elected representatives in both houses support, why aren't they responsible for the shutdown?

The question is not who is responsible but who the public will hold responsible, and in shutdown situations, it's always Congress. And while, yes, they paid no electoral price in 2014, every time the GOP shuts down the government and then caves, it gives up leverage to try again. It's just a losing situation, which is why McConnell is searching for an exit strategy.

[ThinkerX]

I suppose a budget shutdown is one way to get rid of Homeland Security. My personal view is HS was never needed in the first place, and is part of the groundwork for a totalitarian state anyhow. But I see republicans in particular as willing to do almost anything - including passing a clean bill Obama will sign - to keep that agency afloat. Bummer.

[Summah]

Unfortunately something like 85% of DHS employees are considered "essential" and so they must work during a shutdown, even without pay, so the DHS (which I agree is unnecessary and totalitarian-like, and the name is creepy) still functions during a shutdown.

[aceluby]

Yeah, the DHS is completely redundant; which is ironic given it was sold to the public as the agency to bring all of the agencies together and has failed miserably.

The only thing needed to prevent another 9/11 type attack is locks on the doors accessing the pilot and stringent background checks on those pilots. That's really it. Instead we got redundant, totalitarian govt 'security' programs that cost an arm and a leg, laws that take away our constitutional rights, and multiple wars that didn't really have anything to do with the attacks in the first place.

'Murika!

[BloodRider]

I personally think shutting down HS would be a great thing. It is a great example of unnecessary gov't bloat, formed in a reactionary time. It cannot really justify its costs, even from a basic duplication of effort POV, let alone on the merits of what it has accomplished.

[DanteGabriel]

I personally think shutting down HS would be a great thing. It is a great example of unnecessary gov't bloat, formed in a reactionary time. It cannot really justify its costs, even from a basic duplication of effort POV, let alone on the merits of what it has accomplished.

Brought to you by the party of small government! Oh, but right, Bush the Lesser was never really a proper conservative, which they realized right around the time his incompetence became too great to ignore and his popularity tanked.

[Fez]

Yeah, the DHS is completely redundant; which is ironic given it was sold to the public as the agency to bring all of the agencies together and has failed miserably.

The only thing needed to prevent another 9/11 type attack is locks on the doors accessing the pilot and stringent background checks on those pilots. That's really it. Instead we got redundant, totalitarian govt 'security' programs that cost an arm and a leg, laws that take away our constitutional rights, and multiple wars that didn't really have anything to do with the attacks in the first place.

'Murika!

Well, also bomb sniffing dogs at the airports, and basic metal detectors. But otherwise, yes, I agree.

[TrackerNeil]

Brought to you by the party of small government! Oh, but right, Bush the Lesser was never really a proper conservative, which they realized right around the time his incompetence became too great to ignore and his popularity tanked.

I know, right? That same regime brought us Medicare Part D, a large entitlement program that really facilitated the Affordable Care Act. Nothing like Republican rule to bring all manner of government largesse, eh?

[awesome possum]

And let's not forget that with the Keystone Pipeline, the party of small government is all for forcing citizens off of the land they own via eminent domain and selling said land to private corporations.

[lokisnow]

And let's not forget that with the Keystone Pipeline, the party of small government is all for forcing citizens off of the land they own via eminent domain and selling said land to private corporations.

And keystone is all steel manufactured in foreign countries rather than supporting American jobs.

[awesome possum]

Forgive the source, but it's a nice read. This billionaire governor taxed the rich and increased the minimum wage - Now his state's economy is one of the best in the country

When he took office in January of 2011, Minnesota governor Mark Dayton inherited a $6.2 billion budget deficit and a 7 percent unemployment rate from his predecessor, Tim Pawlenty, the soon-forgotten Republican candidate for the presidency who called himself Minnesota's first true fiscally-conservative governor in modern history. Pawlenty prided himself on never raising state taxes -- the most he ever did to generate new revenue was increase the tax on cigarettes by 75 cents a pack. Between 2003 and late 2010, when Pawlenty was at the head of Minnesota's state government, he managed to add only 6,200 more jobs.

During his first four years in office, Gov. Dayton raised the state income tax from 7.85 to 9.85 percent on individuals earning over $150,000, and on couples earning over $250,000 when filing jointly -- a tax increase of $2.1 billion. He's also agreed to raise Minnesota's minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2018, and passed a state law guaranteeing equal pay for women. Republicans like state representative Mark Uglem warned against Gov. Dayton's tax increases, saying, "The job creators, the big corporations, the small corporations, they will leave. It's all dollars and sense to them." The conservative friend or family member you shared this article with would probably say the same if their governor tried something like this. But like Uglem, they would be proven wrong.

Between 2011 and 2015, Gov. Dayton added 172,000 new jobs to Minnesota's economy -- that's 165,800 more jobs in Dayton's first term than Pawlenty added in both of his terms combined. Even though Minnesota's top income tax rate is the 4th-highest in the country, it has the 5th-lowest unemployment rate in the country at 3.6 percent. According to 2012-2013 U.S. census figures, Minnesotans had a median income that was $10,000 larger than the U.S. average, and their median income is still $8,000 more than the U.S. average today.

...

Gov. Dayton didn't accomplish all of these reforms by shrewdly manipulating people -- this article describes Dayton's astonishing lack of charisma and articulateness. He isn't a class warrior driven by a desire to get back at the 1 percent -- Dayton is a billionaire heir to the Target fortune. It wasn't just a majority in the legislature that forced him to do it -- Dayton had to work with a Republican-controlled legislature for his first two years in office. And unlike his Republican neighbor to the east, Gov. Dayton didn't assert his will over an unwilling populace by creating obstacles between the people and the vote -- Dayton actually created an online voter registration system, making it easier than ever for people to register to vote.

The reason Gov. Dayton was able to radically transform Minnesota's economy into one of the best in the nation is simple arithmetic. Raising taxes on those who can afford to pay more will turn a deficit into a surplus. Raising the minimum wage will increase the median income. And in a state where education is a budget priority and economic growth is one of the highest in the nation, it only makes sense that more businesses would stay.

A great example to point to for the trickle down crowd.

And keystone is all steel manufactured in foreign countries rather than supporting American jobs.

And the oil, owned by private Canadian corporations, is also exported. What a group these Republicans have become, trying to push American citizens off of their own land so that foreign corporations can profit.

[Swordfish]

Didn't take long to get to the anti GOP circle jerk portion of the politics thread I see.

This might be a new record.

[Summah]

I'm not a fan of Pawlenty's or anyone else on the right, but that comparison of jobs added should really take the Great Recession into account, because that was his last two years in office and the new governor is governing at a time with an economy that's getting better nationally. And I suspect once that's taken into account that the difference will not be as large as what that article says.