GOP’s huge Tea Party mess has only just begun

[DonViejo]

John Boehner thought the last few weeks were rough? The coming months could present him with even more headaches

BY BRIAN BEUTLER

Last night, Republicans stood aside as Congress increased the debt limit and reopened the government. In return, they got nothing. Or more accurately, they got something that already existed, and gave Democrats something they’d been blocking for months.

The deal Harry Reid struck with Mitch McConnell includes a formal negotiation over the federal government, which GOP senators and various House Republicans have objected to since the spring. In exchange, Republicans got a redundant measure to assure Obamacare’s existing income verification mechanisms are actually verifying beneficiary incomes (for a less bullish take on this measure, see David Dayen’s take here).

It’s a fig leaf, minus the properties that allow it to conceal anyone’s nether regions. A fig leaf with the chlorophyll sapped out of it. Republicans can spin it among themselves as a Democratic concession, but they can’t rightly look back at the ruin of the past month, and the content of the deal, and expect that they can extort unreciprocated concessions from Democrats next time around.

The questions on everyone’s mind are, Will they try anyhow? And what will the coming months look like if they don’t?

I think the answer to the first question is “probably not,” mostly for the reasons I noted above. Republicans didn’t just sacrifice an incredible amount of public cachet in this fight. Their leaders also revealed, for the second time this year, that they’re not willing to actually allow the country to default just to preserve party unity or pressure the president to cave. Unless they’re stricken with a nihilistic sense of bitterness and the feeling that they have nothing left to lose, there’s little reason to think they’re going to approach coming deadlines the same way they approached these past two.

full article
http://www.salon.com/2013/10/17/gops_huge_tea_party_mess_has_only_just_begun/

[Politicalboi]

1. We've only just begun

To live. White lace and promises, a kiss for love and we're on our way.

[florida08]

2. there's pork in that deal too

of which McConnell got 2 billion.

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/arrest-and-try-house.fb40?source=s.icn.fb&r_by=9247969

[SunSeeker]

3. It is not pork. It is a much needed infrastructure project that will produce jobs.

It was for a crucial Ohio River construction project, just the sort of thing we need right now. The provision authorizes $2.8 billion in funding for the Olmsted Locks and Dam on the Ohio River between Kentucky and Illinois.

The entire commercial navigation system of the Ohio River faces a choke point near Olmsted, where two locks and dams with century-old technology are barely cobbled together and at risk of failure. This is not pork, this is repairing crumbling infrastructure.

Just because it happens to be in McConnell's state does not make it any less beneficial. And if this is all it took to get McConnell's cooperation on ending the shutdown, all the better.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

4. The American public has finally seen through the Republicans

but it is up to us to keep the pressure on

[Iceberg Louie]

5. These teabilly clown antics are just the beginning

With their worldviews firmly entrenched in the alternate-reality conservative bubble, Cruz, Lee and company have been rightfully emboldened by the weakness of House leadership. They are equally rightfully emboldened by the sheer volume of media focus they received through this whole ordeal. Much like the unruly child who finds that insufferable behavior yields attention, albeit negative, the teabillies' deplorable conduct has only been reinforced by cameras, microphones and ink. I guess one could call it the Britney Spears approach to PR; any press is good press.

For these reasons, further clown antics are inevitable. And as long as they have enough waterheads in their heavily gerrymandered districts who adhere to their ideology to the extent that they unquestioningly champion the disheartening hypocrisy of the Randy Neugebauers of our federal elect, their buffoonery will have enough of a support base to continue to encourage it.

[UCmeNdc]

6. You cannot pay ransom for extortion

More important lesson learned by the President and other democratic leaders is the fact it is no use in paying or even negotiating ransom demands. To do so only leads to more extortion demands.