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Friday links! So close edition

By Dan Brooks in Friday Links October 11, 2013 1 Comment

For a second there, it looked like the we were out of the woods on this whole shut-down-the-government-and-cause-a-world-economic-crisis thing. The president has rejected House Republicans’ proposal to raise the debt ceiling for six weeks, which would have demanded minimal concessions from Democrats but also would not have ended the shutdown. The government is still closed, and our statutory borrowing authority has a little less than a week. But there is reason for hope: the GOP’s proposal made no mention of Obamacare, and enough GOP moderates are breaking ranks with the ideologically pure that a clean continuing resolution is possible. Today is Friday, and we are so close to having a functional government. Won’t you pine with me?

Let’s get our nation’s girlfriends back to work!

By Dan Brooks in Uncategorized October 10, 2013 1 Comment

Chris Cox of South Carolina mows the lawn at the Lincoln Memorial, because he is awesome.

I am not as good as this guy, but I do have a column in the Indy this week, in which I lament that the federal shutdown has caused a political stalemate in my household over my “work” habits. I thought that it had been published just in time, as the House GOP is meeting today to discuss a plan to raise the debt limit through November 22 with no strings attached. But that plan would not do anything about the shutdown, presumably so that the Republican Party can complete its metamorphosis into two beautiful butterflies, each with one wing. We’re not out of the woods yet, dear reader. We’ll be back tomorrow with Friday links.

For Tea Party faithful, phase one is denial

By Dan Brooks in Politics versus Government October 9, 2013 0 Comment

Rand Paul (R–KY) describes to the Senate Roommates Committee how he blew it with a drunk girl.

We’re in week two of the federal shutdown—which Fox News has taken to calling the slimdown—and default is eight days away. It’s safe to say that some Congressional Republicans are regretting their decision to tie a continuing resolution to defunding Obamacare. That plan didn’t work, in part because it somehow did not include an endgame in which the president called their bluff. An intellectually honest delegation might have admitted defeat and moved forward, but the Republican Party has not. Erick Erickson believes the GOP is winning, for maybe the stupidest reason imaginable. And a growing number of conservative Republicans are telling themselves and the press that—contrary to economists, financiers and the American business community—breaching the debt limit wouldn’t be so bad.

Close Readings: Michele Bachmann declares End Times

By Dan Brooks in Close Reading October 8, 2013 3 Comments

A rare image from Stars Without Makeup catches Michele Bachmann without her prosthetic eyes.

Our fine furloughed friend The Cure sent me a link to this radio interview Michele Bachmann did with a show called Understanding the Times, in which she declares that we are in “God’s end times.” “Maranatha come Lord Jesus,” the Minnesota congresswoman said, “His day is at hand.” You can read a distilled version of her gibbering godspeak here. “Maranatha,” by the way, is an Aramaic expression that either means “our lord has come” or the imperative “come, lord.” It is also a brand of nut butter. Close reading of Bachmann’s particular brand of nut butter after the jump.

I offer you an honorable compromise. Give us the fuel and just walk away.

By Dan Brooks in Politics versus Government October 7, 2013 2 Comments

Speaker John Boehner addresses the House.

Even as Congressional Republicans insist they are willing to negotiate—as if the other side had any demands—the federal shutdown drags on. Although previous reports from anonymous moderates held that John Boehner was determined to pass a clean debt ceiling increase, the Washington Post reported yesterday that he is willing to risk default. “That’s the path we’re on,” Boehner said on ABC’s This Week, unless President Obama offers some undetermined concessions on the Affordable Care Act or federal spending. Page 2 of the same article contains this paragraph:

Some Republicans argue that missing [routine Social Security payments] would not amount to a governmental default. They say that would occur only if the Treasury Department fails to make interest payments to investors.

It’s good to see the GOP’s priorities remain intact.