Obama slams Republicans for threat to blow up entire economy

[JimC]

How long can this go on? Isn't there some sort of constitutional tie breaker that can force government to resume being a government? Or could this theoretically go on without an end in sight?

They wouldn't be in this mess if they were sensible, and had a Governor General appointed by the Queen to make such decisions...

[Ian]

How long can this go on? Isn't there some sort of constitutional tie breaker that can force government to resume being a government? Or could this theoretically go on without an end in sight?

Theoretically it could go on for quite a while. But running a government with so many workers being furloughed is like running your engine with the Check Oil light on. It'll keep going a ways, but things will start to wear down and there could be some very bad damage resulting from it.

But so far, the worst result may be damage to the Republican Party. The civil war within it is becoming more obvious by the day, and their public approval is in the toilet: yesterday Gallup had the party's approval rating at 28%, a record low for that polling company. And a new NBC/WSJ poll today has even worse results:

Americans blamed Republicans over President Barack Obama for the shutdown by a margin of 22 percentage points, with 53 percent saying the GOP deserved more blame, and 31 percent saying Obama did. Approval ratings for the Republican Party and the tea party were at 24 percent and 21 percent respectively -- both record lows as measured by NBC/WSJ. Obama's approval rating is a marginally positive 47 percent.
http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013 ... s-gop?lite

[klr]

How long can this go on? Isn't there some sort of constitutional tie breaker that can force government to resume being a government? Or could this theoretically go on without an end in sight?

They wouldn't be in this mess if they were sensible, and had a Governor General appointed by the Queen to make such decisions...

"Rock, paper, scissors ..."

[Ian]

There's a potential derail there. I've always like the idea of an aloof head of state being positioned above the government - someone who could, theoretically, put them all in a headlock and tell them to sort it out or be dismissed.

But that issue was resolved two hundred and thirty years ago, so there's no use in a derail here...

[Warren Dew]

So, any chance this mess is going to get resolved any time soon?

We're working on it. The mess is down to 83% of what it was thanks to the "shutdown"; hopefully we'll get rid of that 83% soon.

[Ian]

And people confuse teabaggers with crazy anarchists. Silly.

[Tyrannical]

How long can this go on? Isn't there some sort of constitutional tie breaker that can force government to resume being a government? Or could this theoretically go on without an end in sight?

They wouldn't be in this mess if they were sensible, and had a Governor General appointed by the Queen to make such decisions...

Ha! It's the Queens fault actually, no independence for Kenya would have meant no Obama Sr. chasin da white womenz down in Hawaii.

[cronus]

America needs a government? Might have one handy you can have.

[Seth]

How long can this go on? Isn't there some sort of constitutional tie breaker that can force government to resume being a government? Or could this theoretically go on without an end in sight?

There's a tie-breaker. It's called the mid-term 2014 congressional elections. It's only a year and a bit away. No time at all. Be over before you know it.

[JimC]

How long can this go on? Isn't there some sort of constitutional tie breaker that can force government to resume being a government? Or could this theoretically go on without an end in sight?

There's a tie-breaker. It's called the mid-term 2014 congressional elections. It's only a year and a bit away. No time at all. Be over before you know it.

The Chinese invasion of your paralysed country is due a few months before that...

Quick!

To the bat bunker!

[Seth]

Terrorists are more rational. When they take hostages, they tend to make demands that could actually be met. And they like to have a viable exit strategy.

You mean like those Somali pirate terrorists who took Capt. Phillips hostage a few years ago? They had an exit plan. Didn't work out any better for them than it will for the democrat party, although they did exit, rather abruptly, all at once.

BTW, "Captain Phillips" is an outstanding movie. And "Gravity" is an unbelievable miracle of a movie, I unreservedly recommend it, but see it in the theater in 3D.

[Seth]

How long can this go on? Isn't there some sort of constitutional tie breaker that can force government to resume being a government? Or could this theoretically go on without an end in sight?

There's a tie-breaker. It's called the mid-term 2014 congressional elections. It's only a year and a bit away. No time at all. Be over before you know it.

The Chinese invasion of your paralysed country is due a few months before that...

Quick!

To the bat bunker!

They'll be pretty surprised to see just how fast we can unfuck ourselves when we need to.

[JimC]

Unfucking!

I like that term!

[Tyrannical]

Terrorists are more rational. When they take hostages, they tend to make demands that could actually be met. And they like to have a viable exit strategy.

You mean like those Somali pirate terrorists who took Capt. Phillips hostage a few years ago? They had an exit plan. Didn't work out any better for them than it will for the democrat party, although they did exit, rather abruptly, all at once.

BTW, "Captain Phillips" is an outstanding movie. And "Gravity" is an unbelievable miracle of a movie, I unreservedly recommend it, but see it in the theater in 3D.

My understanding is that everyone else on board the ship was less than thrilled with Captain Phillips, since it was his recklessness and disregard for instructions that put him too close to the Somalia pirate areas.

[Collector1337]

For the past five years Obama has tried to compromise, the Republicans have acted like compromise is a bad word. Now that they are in a weak position, they are crying "Why won't he compromise?" all while holding a gun to the head of our country.

Well, you know what? We don't negotiate with terrorists.