THE WEEK THAT WAS

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” – L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

The 16-day government shutdown has been shutdown. The fed is back up and running and hundreds of thousands of non-essential furloughed government workers (a measly 17 percent of the massive Republic) are back on the non-essential job. Life is rough for them. They’ve had to give up their two-week Netflix binges and will still get paid (some of them twice!) for their non-essential, non-work. Sigh. Now they know whatwelfare is like.

The grand finale of the shutdown theatre ended with a typical Capitol Hill compromise in which the Democrats got everything they wanted, with the added bonus that the GOP is being blamed for a shutdown no one would have noticed had the liberals not made it seem like the end of life as we know it. We’re back to square one. Obamacare never actually moved on from square one. The website is one big “computer loading” hourglass. Similar to the stuck hourglass, Obamacare seems to have all the time in the world.

There was a food stamp riot at a Wal-Mart in Mississippi. Chaos ensued when a computer “glitch” caused EBT cards to stop working temporarily, and the shelves were wiped clean. People were outraged that these people were taking what they didn’t pay for…Uhm.

The debt ceiling will be raised. Again. Somebody’s been listening to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s latest…

Turns out German people are rude, and there’s a reason for it: “The explanation is that the country’s centuries old divisions may make some feel like they are ‘surrounded by enemies.’” Arnold Schwarzenegger* is trying to break this stereotype by becoming both our friend and our president!

*Austrian, I know, but close enough.

Via: Human Events

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Obama says 'willing to compromise' in long-term, but no fiscal talks now

President Obama used a lengthy White House non-press conference Tuesday to once again accuse "extreme" Republican lawmakers of holding the nation for "ransom," while offering a somewhat nuanced framework for fiscal talks in which he's "willing to compromise" -- but not negotiate. 

The president tried to stake out his position during a lengthy exchange with reporters in the White House briefing room. Even the nature of the event was unclear. Though it was not considered a formal press conference, the president answered questions from 11 reporters and spoke for over an hour. 

The takeaway was that the president, while willing to talk with Republicans about "almost anything," will not do so until they pass a spending bill and raise the debt ceiling. 

"I've been willing to compromise my entire political career," Obama said. "But I'm not going to breach a basic principle that would weaken the presidency, change our democracy and do great damage to ordinary people." 

House Speaker John Boehner fired back Tuesday afternoon, calling the president's position "not sustainable." 

"What the president said today was, if there's unconditional surrender by Republicans, he'll sit down and talk with us. That's not the way our government works," Boehner said. 

Via: Fox News

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Reid: Government funding offer ‘biggest compromise I ever made in my career’

WASHINGTON — Despite refusing numerous Republican offers of compromise over the past several weeks, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid now claims that his insistence on that government spending remains the same represents “the biggest compromise” he has ever made.

Reid has repeatedly declared that the only way to end the government shutdown is for the House to pass the Senate’s funding bill, which funds the government at sequester levels for the next two months. Republicans have offered amendments to that bill, and want to resolve the differences between the two parties with a conference committee.

Reid has refused those proposals, and the Senate has each time sent back the same “clean” funding bill, which continues to run the government at sequester levels, to the House.

Republicans have accused Reid of being intransigent and of refusing to negotiate.

“By refusing to negotiate, Harry Reid and the president are putting our country on a pretty dangerous path,” Boehner said Tuesday.

But Reid says that by agreeing to funding the government at sequester levels, which he says is $70 billion less than he would like to use to fund the government, is a huge compromise in and of itself.

“It’s the biggest compromise I ever made in my career as a member of congress of some 31 years,” Reid said. “It may not sound like much to some people, but it was really big. And my caucus remembers what I asked them to do. So for someone to suggest to any of my Senators that we haven’t negotiated is simply unfair. And to say that we won’t negotiate is unfair!”

Reid has said Democrats are willing to negotiate on anything Republicans want, but only after they pass the Senate’s funding bill and re-open the government.

Via: Daily Caller

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WH Says GOP Has 'Moved Away From Compromise', Then Vows Not to Compromise

(CNSNews.com) - White House spokesperson Jay Carney criticized Republican leaders for moving “away from compromise,” but when asked if the administration would accept any delay in Obamacare, he replied, “No.”

"House Republicans have decided to pursue a path away from the center, away from compromise in favor of voting on a piece of legislation that they know will not become law,” Carney said Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, GOP leaders announced their plan to approve a continuing resolution (CR) spending bill through Dec. 15 that includes legislation to defund Obamacare.

House Republicans also claimed they would unveil a plan next week that would delay Obamacare as part of a vote to raise the debt ceiling.

When asked if the administration was willing to accept any delay in Obamacare in order to avoid a government shutdown, Carney replied, “No. The Congress passed the Affordable Care Act. The president signed it. The Supreme Court upheld it as constitutional.”

According to Carney, White House strategy in the debate over funding the government and raising the debt ceiling includes President Obama talking with business leaders and expressing the need for compromise.

Via: CNS News

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