Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
An important point from Kevin Drum on the Tea-Publican hostage taking demands. John Boehner Has Been Cruzified on a Cross of Tea:
By the end of September, the Republican strategy had become crystal
clear: demand unceasing concessions from Democrats at every opportunity
without offering anything in return and without any negotiation. A month
ago, Democrats might have shrugged over the medical device tax. Today, they
know perfectly well what it would mean to let it go. It means that when
the debt ceiling deadline comes up, there will be yet another demand.
When the 6-week CR is up, there will be yet another. If and when
appropriations bills are passed, there will be yet another. We've already seen the list.
There simply won't be any end to the hostage taking. As their price for
not blowing up the country, there will be an unending succession of
short-term CRs and short-term debt limit extensions used as leverage for
picking apart Obamacare—and everything else Democrats care about—piece
by piece.
There's no way that any political party anywhere in the world would
willingly put itself in this position. Does this mean that Democrats are
"jamming" Boehner, leaving him no way to save some face? Yes it does,
and human nature being what it is, that's truly unfortunate. But what
other choice do they have? The newly Cruz-ified Republican Party has
left them with no alternative.
The TanMan is like Johnny Rocco in Key Largo, he always wants more. It's never enough. (h/t crooksandliars.com).