The Smiley Smile Message Board

Yup, the assholes in Washington are gridlocked again and "non-essential" (LOL) federal services are shut down. How about we shut the whole damned thing down and replace it with nothing?

l wonder if the roads are still outside...

Oh god...
"The impasse means 800,000 federal workers will be furloughed Tuesday. National parks, monuments and museums, as well as most federal offices, will close. Tens of thousands of air-traffic controllers, prison guards and Border Patrol agents will be required to serve without pay. And many congressional hearings — including one scheduled for Tuesday on last month’s Washington Navy Yard shootings — will be postponed."
Gross.

Dont worry the Obamedia is howling 24/7 how unfair it is, etc so it wont last long.  ;D

What I enjoy most about Obama, the Democrat party (and their media) is how good they are at blaming other people.  They're really good at it.  Just watch.

(http://theconservativetreehouse.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/obama-busting-a-move-550x366-e1309818221884.jpg)

Good article about the media's timid treatment of the government shutdown.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/10/1/reporting-governmentshutdowndemocracy.html

Rocky, thanks for sharing that.  I found that article so demented and in total denial of reality, that I actually had to use my brain -- my brain Rocky!! -- rather than relying on my instincts and common sense.  And using one's own brain is hard work!

The author's view of "the media" existed in some weird, removed, purgatorial dimension.  It was if his view of the media was the result of viewing them through a warped fun-house mirror --- but not before projecting that onto another warped, fun-house mirror -- and from there, twice removed -- the author chose to view and judge the original image.  Why?  That seems overly complicated, requiring extra mental processing.  I assume he's insane.

QUOTE:  "But the political media's aversion to doing anything that might be seen as taking sides".   :-*  Don't tell the FoxNews haters, but the media DOESN'T take sides no more.  Tee-hee.


In reality, without all the silly funhouse mirrors -- the mainstream media is actually Obama's lotion boy.  Trying their best to blame Conservatives, Tea-Party "extremists."

And, the Republitards (and their media) seem equally good at the Blame Game.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Sen_Mitch_McConnell_official.jpg/220px-Sen_Mitch_McConnell_official.jpg)

Oh boo hoo hoo "you lost the election last year.. just go away and come back in four years" --- isn't that what Rush said in 2005?   >:D

Sigh... The Republicans are trying to slow the Democrats down a bit and take one last look before we roll out this new budget... What's so terrifying?

Is Mitch McConnell supposed to mean something to me?  Is that who you think you're up against?  Classic.  Cuz I'm pretty sure this softball was willing to fundalize Blow-BamaCare to the max.

I'll say this about your boy Mitch McConnell... Obama's willing to negotiate with Iran but not him.  Cuz he's "too extreme."

G.O.P. Elders See Liabilities in Shutdown
WASHINGTON — The hard-line stance of Republican House members on the government shutdown is generating increasing anger among senior Republican officials, who say the small bloc of conservatives is undermining the party and helping President Obama just as the American people appeared to be losing confidence in him.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/04/us/politics/gop-elders-see-liabilities-in-shutdown.html?exprod=myyahoo&_r=0

Heh heh heh It seems that no matter what the Republitards do, they can’t help shooting themselves in the foot, hardee har har har. Remember “dressage horses”, “car elevators”, “Cayman island accounts are people” and the dog on the roof of Mitt’s car LOL.  We have a front row seat while the Republitards dismantle the country.  Now that’s real Entertainment Tonight!  LOL

For you BB I have updated my pic of Mitch McConnell.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Galapagos_giant_tortoise_Geochelone_elephantopus.jpg/220px-Galapagos_giant_tortoise_Geochelone_elephantopus.jpg)

The headline, today and 50 years from now, will be the same: Republicans closed the government to keep millions of their fellow Americans from getting affordable health care.

And one more till I visit my bartender:  >:D

(https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/p320x320/1378596_679274468750201_426742867_n.jpg)

Let's be fair. Iran is no threat to anyone.

Unreal, actually it's beyond baffling. After everything in the other thread there is still a notion of this creating "affordable" health care.

Here's the breakdown: Higher monthly premiums, less coverage, higher deductibles. Everyone will see it, everyone will eventually be personally affected by these changes in their own health plans whether it's now or a year later after the extension runs out for large companies.  Again, though, I've only been in direct contact and receiving all the paperwork as the "benefits manager" for the past few months, I don't know near as much as the political hacks spewing out the information in the media.

It won't sink in until it hits you personally. Until then, don't take it from people directly affected, though, it's better to read talking points from DC. It's more fun and convenient to believe a myth rather than accept the truth.  :)

Are you serious??
GFool addressed the disaster of the "affordable" healthcare suicide mission your Leader and his gang of Nitwits are on... so I'll address the politics of the shut down...

You're so wrong -- again.  The GOP's winning this sick little Shutdown fight -- and you don't even know it!  How isolated is your media??  OBAMA and THE 'RATS shut down the government.  The House just proved it -- they've been sending all these funding bills up to Dirty Harry -- to keep things running -- and he, Dirty Harry, himself said "NO!"  THE DEMS WANT THE SHUTDOWN for some twisted little political game they play by themselves -- in the bathroom, with gerbils and rope, I assume.  :-D

It's abundantly clear what's going on and it's totally backfiring in the 'Crats faces.  Obama's polls are falling into the toilet.  Why??  Hmm?  Is he winning? 

The Vets not being admitted into the WWII Memorial??  If you've been following the news... barricades and such were put up to keep people from visiting -- when these were previously open 24/7/365, with no security.  The barricades were put there ON PURPOSE to create your precious "headlines."  It's so over-the-top and ham-fisted.  And it's all blowing up in the Dems faces.

Chucky Schumer was flipping out.  Cursing Ted Cruz.  Does that sound like "victory?"

What about Harry Reid being asked (by a reporter! no less) if he would cut the sht, and allow whatever funding bill to go thru, if it could save a kid's life or something -- and this dark little soul said -- "why would I do that."

WAKE UP.  Rome is burning.

I think this is just the new normal.  Nothing's going to get solved or changed for the better, it's just slowly going to get even worse until we're living in a world that's like all the science fiction movies.  Big dark towers full of who knows what, curfews, government running everything and nothing makes sense, Big Brother, etc.

With that said, though... I'm making the best of it.  When I wake up in the morning, I have a great day no matter what the fools in washington are doing.  I had a great day today, and i'm going to have a great day tommorow.

You having a "great day," without the help of Washington, pisses the Progressive Left off.  Please report all "great day" activities directly to your local IRS bureau -- immediately.  Bring your papers -- aka, checkbook or bank routing number.  

Who knows, you might be given a refund! -- but most certainly, be prepared to pay.  Do you vote?

John McCain Blames Tea Party For Government Shutdown

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/10/john-mccain-tea-party_n_4075052.html?ncid=txtlnkushpmg00000037

hardee hardee har har har

I love my country, but I'd really really like to see the GOP play chicken with Obama and see who cracks.

Honestly, I'm glad they did this. Everyone hates Republicans these days, I hate it. Just because they aren't agreeing with everything people believe in.

Listen. We SHOULD help each other out. I know even people on this very forum who have had rough times and need some help. The thing is, they bounce back.

We can't just raise the debt ceiling to pay for healthcare for those who seem to think they don't need it. Cause guess what? That's going to be my generations problem, so thanks.

What kind of a CRAP country is the US anyway it can’t even manage to keep Yosemite open LOSERS

I love this!  ;D

A Thursday NBC News/Wall Street Journal national poll found the GOP’s approval rating down to (gulp) 24 percent!

http://news.yahoo.com/why-republicans-should-be-very--very-afraid-192943188.html

 I don't know exactly how Obamacare will play out - some of it likely good, bad and/or ugly - but the Republican Party has truly jumped the shark. A govt shutdown is NOT the way to stop Obamacare, which was indeed passed into law then upheld by the Supreme Court. (Note they have backed off their demands for defunding/dismantling Obamacare since all polls show the majority of Americans - even those with grave doubts about Obamacare-are opposed to shutting down the govt for such a purpose.)

 The GOP has been hijacked by a small band of nihilistic extremists, many of whom are in safe seats thanks to gerrymandering. The Speaker of the House could end this RIGHT NOW but he is a coward.

 Some are attempting to to sell this sad tale as a standard partisan equivalency but the real story is that the 2013 shutdown marks the moment when the majority of Americans perceived the GOP as the gross and disgusting object it has truly become.

 I have no love for the Democrats, and one party democracy is a scary thing. But the only solution for me (at present) is stop voting for Republicans. Perhaps the GOP will evolve into something better, or maybe this gang will say "hi" to the Whigs as they enter the dustbin of history. Time will tell.

Agree with ya about the Rethuglicans, Centrist Steve.

Reagan speech writer Peggy Noonan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uW9Ld6bHYk&feature=youtu.be

And good ol' John McCain hisself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dQfV-0R4ZY&feature=share

 John McCain: The Last Republican?

 Bean Bag-

 What is wrong with you? Yes, the polls show there are no heroes in this, including Obama,  but they just as surely show the GOP is taking a far greater hit. If Obama caves to the demands of the Pee Party, as the GOP at large seems to have done, a dangerous precedent will have been set.

I want to relate a story that just developed locally over the weekend, starting Friday morning with a chance phone call by a local representative to a radio show that turned into something far greater. And with far greater implications, but I'll leave that to everyone's own opinion of what happened.

Unfortunately, I doubt this will break nationally, though I could be wrong. Even in the local media reports, there are inaccuracies and incorrect facts, and I just happened to be listening Friday when it happened in real time.

I say that because it goes against several points of the "narrative" that's being promoted in the national media. Again, take it for what it's worth if you're taking sides.

There is a Philadelphia restaurant called the "City Tavern". It's been run as a theme restaurant of sorts, based around it's history dating back to the colonial times in the 1700's when the area taverns were a meeting place and watering hole for historical figures like Ben Franklin. Also, when Philadelphia and Boston were the epicenters of colonial activity during Revolutionary times.

The City Tavern serves food and drink with a historical theme anchoring the whole experience, from the menu to the type of dinnerware and the atmosphere of the restaurant itself. It's one of those "time machine" type of things that people not only go to for a dinner or drink but also book large parties and functions to get that historical experience.

The City Tavern is privately owned, and employs roughly 80 workers, again all private employees, not government workers. It also is located in what is considered a "historical district", what is zoned as such, and therefore the ownership of this restaurant includes being classified as a lease of the property rather than owning the building, because the historical site cannot be purchased under many laws and codes. If you want to open a business, you can be classified as a "vendor", and pay the lease, but you as the business owner are responsible for operating that business and paying your workers, as well as maintaining everything inside that business. But, again falling on what is zoned as a historical site, you cannot own the site.

That's the background.

There was a similar "shutdown" in the 90's, when Clinton was President and Gingrich the Speaker. The City Tavern was not shut down. Why would it be? The employees are private, the business is privately owned, there is no government employee working in the business and the business is not run by or staffed by the government. The payroll and budget is met by a private owner.

Yet in 2013, the business was ordered closed due to the shutdown. It's a historical area, which is being shut down, therefore the business must shut down as well. The owner who is also the chef appealed to the mayor, various politicians, Washington DC itself...no effect. Sorry, you're closed due to the shutdown. This left his business having to cancel bookings and reservations which he listed as costing in or near the 6-figure range in losses, as well as having 80 employees who depended on both salary and tips out of work.

Fast forward to last Friday. A Philly congressman named Bob Brady called into a radio show Friday morning to talk shop and clarify a few issues he had heard on the station. Totally unsolicited, he was not a scheduled guest who had been booked ahead of time. That conversation ended, and in on odd stroke of coincidence, the owner/chef of the City Tavern was booked in the hour after Rep. Brady's call. The owner told his story, full of detail and information that would not have been published or reported in the media, including exact figures on lost bookings and out-of-work employees who he was trying to keep in daily contact with during the closure.

The owner also said that his questions and pleas to various government officials and departments were met with either no response, or a basic sentiment of "tough luck", it's a government shutdown.

Yet, remember, the restaurant is not run by the government, and the employees are not government workers. AND, they stayed open during the last shutdown in the 90's for those reasons.

So the host has an idea - it seemed to hit him during the conversation - Has rep. Brady been contacted about this? He just called in, let's try to arrange something with him, see if he can help.

Brief background: Rep. Bob Brady is a democrat representing districts in Philadelphia. He's known as being one of the better bargainers and negotiators in the area, as well as having considerable "pull" in the area and in DC when it comes to certain budget and funding issues. Most often, he is one of the go-to men who is called in when a union negotiation seems to be at a stalemate. Union reps trust him, and he has a unique way of being able to bargain things out and come to a deal in the end.

He also has a reputation for being there for his people. He's always at events in the Philly neighborhoods, and he's not wearing a three-piece suit and tie. He's considered "one of the guys" in his areas, and he does seem to get things done for his people. That is a hard reputation to earn in Philly, and surrounding areas, because like many areas we're littered with a bunch of phonies and empty suits...whose only direct contact with their constituents is at town-hall forums held at senior centers on weekday mornings when most of the people are at work.

So Brady and the owner of City Tavern are put in touch - Brady had not heard of the Tavern's issue until he was told about it through the radio show.

Rep. Brady then proceeds to navigate the federal government network to get some results.

Unlike the owner/chef, or any of us, he knows who to call. And when he doesn't get a good answer, he knows who to call next. And he has a way of cutting through the bullshit to get results.

Sure enough, his complaints and questions go to the Interior Department, who oversees the various historical sites and parks, right to the Secretary Of The Interior. Brady in his usual style says something like "I talked to some people", and eventually got to the top of the chain, where he says his comments included reminding those people who funds them in Congress...again, recall Brady sits on several of these committees that fund these things.

Guess what? The Department of The Interior "allowed" City Tavern to reopen, this weekend. The chef said he barely had time to get ready, he went with no sleep as he and his staff got all the workers scheduled, went to his food distributors and markets to stock the place for a service, and he was back serving meals.

So, let's take a look at this. And draw your conclusions as you see fit.

Rep. Brady used his political pull to get in touch with the Interior Department. They, through the cabinet-level position of the Secretary Of The Interior's office who Brady spoke with, ordered that the City Tavern be "allowed" to open, as it had been in the 90's during that shutdown.

Makes sense - the Tavern employees and business is privately run, there are no government workers involved in running the restaurant. Why should they be shut down? And under whose authority?

If the Secretary Of The Interior - a cabinet level appointment - and the Department of The Interior have the authority to order a reopening of the Tavern, they also made the call to order it closed. Seemingly for reasons different than existed in the 90's.

Right?

What were those reasons in 2013? We know who made the call, if it were the GOP-led Congress holding the cards and making the calls, why didn't Rep Brady contact them to reopen it?

The decision to close the private business down came from the Interior Department. Whose leadership is a cabinet level appointment made by the president.

Add it up, and after all of that, ask why would the Interior order a business like City Tavern to close? And why did it take Rep. Bob Brady to get a result or even get the attention of those who ordered it closed in the first place?

Oh goodie.  And just what is a "dangerous precedent" exactly?  Enlighten


Cuz, you know... in no way would ANYONE accuse the danglin' terd of a totally fascist healthcare system takeover is in anyway "a dangerous precedent."

(http://images.wikia.com/uncyclopedia/images/6/69/Gerald_Scarfe_Pink_Floyd_The_Wall_-_Hammers.jpg)

"Tea Party setting a dangerous precedent"  :lol  That's funny.  I'm cryin...  :'(



Sorry for being so indignant about all this.  I know you guys think I'm over-the-breakfast table about this stuff.  But... "oh goodie."  I'm saying that because I'm delighted to have the health care industry in the hands of people I don't think know anything about the health care industry.  Oh... and that just paid 640 MILLION DOLLARS for a website that doesn't work!!  ::)

(http://076dd0a50e0c1255009e-bd4b8aabaca29897bc751dfaf75b290c.r40.cf1.rackcdn.com/images/files/000/001/831/original/original.jpg)

Yeah.

  Dangerous precedent  "Majority rule" has always been the way of these things. If a small minority is allowed to hold the govt hostage in order to overturn a law that has been upheld by the Supreme Court, THAT would be a dangerous precedent. 

What about the precedent of closing a business like the City Tavern in the example I posted, when there were 80 private workers, none of them government workers, effectively locked out of their own privately-owned business by what appears to have been an order from the Department Of The Interior? There was no precedent for this - it set what is also a dangerous precedent in a way - especially considering the business remained open during the previous shutdown when the historical sites around it were closed.

If a cabinet-level government agency can close a business for no reason other than what would seem to be an attempt to call attention to the effects of this shutdown, what else can they shut down with no reason, or precedent?

Speaking of precedent with the Affordable Care Act, what precedent was set when the "settled law" of health care has been changed or amended a handful of times by the authority of the president without a congressional vote, or any other procedural methods?

I'd argue one president deciding to change a law and not following the standard procedure nor that which is allowed in the Constitution or structure of the government is setting a dangerous precedent.

Don't like something in a law that has been passed, signed, and approved by the Supreme Court? Change it! Just go ahead, change it to suit your needs. The law says large businesses need to comply by a certain date, the president decides that date isn't necessary, amend the law and extend the compliance deadline for a year, no voting necessary.

Sounds like a precedent to me.

That's right -- we haven't really talked much about how the President AMENDS the law on the fly.  A law that Moon Dawg and the robed strangers on the Supreme Cert have deemed Constitutional and therefore infallible.  The Prez is doing this.  Changing the law on the fly.  Anyone angry about Ted Cruz ... care to man-up and respond to this??  Hmm?

dangerous precedent?  No... it's a liberal demorat.  Nothing they do is dangerous.  And I'm not implying that anyone on here doesn't think it's dangerous... I'm speaking of our media/pop culture... which only see Ted Cruz as "holding hostage" the nation.  All while the Prez and the "Rats" pass a law against the will of the people and then use that as a blank check to do whatever they see fit.



But Ted Cruz is dangerous.  Right.  Ted Cruz.  Who, I might add, isn't doing a damn thing "unconstitutional."  In fact.. he's the only one doing his Constitutional job.  Representing the views of his people, as he should.  And using his position to speak about it.  And using the House as ... oh, what's it called? 

CHECKS AND BALANCES.  The gov't (Prez, Senate, SCOTUS) have all agreed to enforce the gov't on it's people.  And the House (a small minority) is using its constitutional authority to save the poeple from a runaway Prez, Senate and SCOTUS.
 :wall

  I never said Obamacare was infallible. Neither did the Supreme Court. What I said, basically, is that shutting down the government when you don't get your way is bad news. Good or bad, glad or sad, Obama won this battle.

What's bad for the country is good for Obama.  He didn't get his way, so he shut the gov't down.  And as you say, he "won."  What did he win?  More importantly, what did we lose?

Anyone else see the irony in yet another change being made to the Affordable Care Act this week, coming from the White House, with no vote, no resolution, no debate, no negotiation...just a change ordered from the White House.

Now the "deadline" has been extended again on the individual mandate to carry individual health insurance.

Let me understand this: So many people from John McCain to Harry Reid and the rest of the peanut gallery said "this is settled law, it musn't be changed!"

"Settled law", is it? Mustn't be changed? Supreme Court ruled on it, all of that, we can't extend it because it's "settled law"?

Yet it gets extended and changed again without any of the procedures in place to amend any law, by the order of the executive branch of the government, disregarding the notion of settled law.

Gotta love politics.  :)

The "deadline extension."   :banana

This is Demorat Jeanne Shaheen.  New Hampshire.  ::) Just one of the turds up for reelection, and is hoping she can get an extension, so we forget about our pending doom, that her party rammed up our collective shoots.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-TVubLUFrl6w/TXQFgqSrCnI/AAAAAAAACOI/EFr7DIzJ-GY/s1600/Sen.+Jeanne+Shaheen1.jpg)


Thanks Jeanne.  Of course, we all know... this extension is not for us.  It does nothing for the people.  Responsible people have to plan ahead.  Companies are still going to plan for the inevitable.  People's hours still get cut.  People still won't get hired.  Insurance plans are still going to continue down the price-hike turnpike.  People are still going to be dropped from their freakin' plans.

This does NOTHING.  It's for Jeanne.