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John Boehner's Speaker Alert on Government Shutdown

Submitted by HPI on Sun, 09/29/2013 - 13:12

Congressman John Boehner (R-OH) is Speaker of the House. The country is two days away from a "shutdown" because Democrats refuse to rein in the country's spending to the degree Republicans would like to see happen, and Republicans are unwilling to give up their efforts. There are a few members who cross party lines in their votes.

Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI) sent out a mass email just yesterday with this introduction:

Right-wing extremists have proven this week that they will stop at nothing to defund ObamaCare and are willing to shut our government down if their demands are not met. Worse, we heard recently that they are recruiting candidates and working to elect a GOP Senator in Hawaii.

Republicans who are fighting for less spending are "right-wing extremists"? Rep. Hanabusa, isn't this a little extreme?

And Republicans recruiting candidates and working to elect a GOP Senator in Hawaii (to run against Hanabusa and fellow Democrat Senator Brian Schatz) is "worse"? What are Republicans supposed to do, take no action and hope to have a Democrat elected?

Even if Hanabusa had had a particularly bad day when she wrote this, one has to wonder at one who writes such claptrap, even to people that she apparently feels are close to mental vegetables.

Let's hear the Republican side of the impending "government shutdown" that Democrats are lamenting for public consumption. The following was just released within the past hour.

Republican Bill Keeping Government Open, Stopping ObamaCare Awaits Senate Action

By House Speaker John Boehner's Press Office

In this week’s Speaker Alert, we want to give you a brief state-of-play on efforts by Republicans in the House of Representatives to keep the federal government running and stop as much of the president’s health care law as possible.

“The House worked late into the night Saturday to prevent a government shutdown,” Speaker Boehner explained earlier. “And the Senate now must move quickly, today, to do the same.”

The plan passed by the House and awaiting action by the Senate would…

  • …keep the government running: As Speaker Boehner has said repeatedly, “the American people don’t want the government to shut down,” and Republicans are working to prevent it from happening;
  • …delay the president’s health care law for one year: President Obama has already delayed health care mandates on big businesses, and has signed seven bills repealing or defunding other provisions of this train wreck. The House-passed bill delays the law for all Americans. [WATCH OUR VIDEO]
  • …permanently repeal ObamaCare’s tax on pacemakers and children’s hearing aids: There’s bipartisan opposition to this tax on critical medical devices which is driving American jobs overseas.
  • …protect our troops: The House-passed measure ensures our military men and women get paid no matter what happens in budget negotiations on Capitol Hill.

As of approximately 2:00 PM ET, papers for the House plan had been delivered to the Senate. With a shutdown looming, Senate Democrats are now on the clock.

“If the Senate stalls until Monday afternoon instead of working today, it would be an act of breathtaking arrogance by the Senate Democratic leadership,” said Speaker Boehner. “They will be deliberately bringing the nation to the brink of a government shutdown for the sake of raising taxes on seniors’ pacemakers and children’s hearing aids and plowing ahead with the train wreck that is the president’s health care law. The American people will not stand for it.”

MORE FROM SPEAKER.GOV

Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), freshman member of the U.S. House and Chair of the House Republican Conference, delivers the weekly address:

  • Even though the president says he “won’t negotiate," Chair McMorris Rodgers argues that coupling an increase in the debt limit with spending cuts and economic reforms is a common-sense policy with a long bipartisan history.
  • 61 percent: By a 2-to-1 margin, the American people reject the president’s call for a “clean” debt limit hike and agree with Republicans that spending cuts and reforms that strengthen our economy should be attached.
  • House debt limit plan will reduce deficit, grow the economy: The Joint Economic Committee says the House plan includes “pro-growth policy reforms that will address some of the biggest challenges and opportunities in the American economy,” and contribute to the “goal of reducing federal budget deficits by more than the federal debt ceiling is increased.”
  • “Fairness For All”: Our latest video underscores why Senate Democrats should follow the lead of House Republicans and delay the president’s health care law for all Americans – not just big businesses. Watch it here.

HPI note: What exactly is the "sequestration" being mentioned frequently in the context of congressional budget battles? The dictionary definitions don't make sense in a congressional context. Dr. Paul M. Johnson of Auburn University helps us out. Click here to see his explanation.

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