Friday, September 23, 2011

GOP Takes America Hostage. Again.

Here's a shocker. The US House Republicans are refusing to compromise on the disaster aid/temporary funding bill, and are threatening to shut down the government unless they get to cut those auto industry loans, right now! And, just to show you what a bunch of petulant, spoiled children they really are, they decided to play even more politics by throwing in $100 million in cuts to the DOE to kill green energy efforts, citing their manufactured outrage over the Solyndra incident as reason.

They have left the Senate with a choice: Cut American jobs, or shut down the government. And you better hurry with a decision, because we are leaving for another vacation next week.

“The House bill is not an honest effort at compromise,’’ said the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada. “It fails to provide the relief that our fellow Americans need as they struggle to rebuild their lives in the wake of floods, wildfires and hurricanes, and it will be rejected by the Senate.’’

Mr. Reid said he had hoped House Republicans would move toward the middle. “Instead,’’ he said, “they moved even further toward the Tea Party.’’

If the Senate balks, it is not clear how the two houses would overcome the resulting impasse and avert a government shutdown. Most federal agencies need money to continue operations beyond Oct. 1. The disaster relief fund of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is running short of money. And lawmakers were planning to leave town for a recess scheduled for next week.

Know what?

Democrats need to say, "We won't let the Tea Party cut American jobs!", and shut down the damn government if you have to.

A livid Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) told reporters Thursday night "We're fed up with this...we're sick of it, we're tired of it."

I hope so. Even the US Chamber of Commerce is against the cuts to the auto industry loans. And the $100 million to other green energy efforts is just silly, especially in the light of reports that many Republican lawmakers "privately sought Federal loan guarantees for green energy companies in their districts while publicly accusing the Obama administration of 'crony capitalism'" on the Solyndra deal.

How many times are we going to let the radical fringe take the country hostage before we say enough is enough?