They are using our members and they're using the American people for their own goals. This is ridiculous.
John Boehner, R-OH, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
Great Scott! Who can John Boehner be ranting at? Organized labor? The people who run MSNBC? Perhaps the mysterious, not to mention, nefarious Illuminati? Why no. He is bent out of shape by the greasy plutocrats who control outfits like, The Club for Growth, Americans for Prosperity, and Heritage Action. These are the same ruthless beasts who pulled the strings behind the Ted Cruz anti Affordable Care Act crusade. They are the same ones who hope to hand pick the next president of the United States and make him their bitch.
Was this some great awakening on the Speakers's part? Hardly--it is more like utter frustration. It was Boehner who took most of the heat during the government shutdown and default crisis. And he was the one who kept getting shot in the ass by members of his own caucus while they were running amok in a blood frenzy.
Yes, we're back to budget wrangling and the speaker and other republican members of the house--the ones who actually believed the polls--are ready to strike a deal. They don't want any part of another fiasco that ratchets up the heat on them and lets the democrats and Obama play the martyrs. Lets face it, the president was able to dodge the heat on the ACA roll out for nearly a month because yokels like Cruz were reading "Green Eggs and Ham" instead of doing their jobs.
Paul Ryan, R-WI, who was last seen as the lesser part of a losing duet, and Patty Murray, D-WA fashioned a budget which would keep things going through 2015. According to Ryan, "By having a budget agreement that does not raise taxes and does reduce the deficit and produces some certainty and prevents a government shutdown--we think its a good agreement."
The billionaires behind the super pacs are having none of it. They are willing to go all in once more because the measure calls for spending levels slightly higher than the sequester limits. That and it makes it look like republicans are willing to compromise with the black dude in the white house, which is never an acceptable thing.
Predictably Rand Paul and Marco Rubio have come out against the deal. Both are worming their way toward presidential campaigns in a couple of years and neither want to be on the wrong side of the Bucket o' Money crowd.
In fact, Paul, in an effort to prove his fiscal chops to the big boys, is actively campaigning to cut off federal unemployment benefits to 1.3 million people. That is the number of Americans who will lose them at the end of December if congress fails to reauthorize what is known as, The Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program.
In a recent speech the senator from Kentucky claimed extending the benefits, "would be a disservice to the jobless." His public thinking is that by extending benefits we are encouraging people to become part of the permanently unemployed. In a fit of Paulist logic he added it was a known fact the longer you stay unemployed the harder it is for you to find a job, therefore if we cut the benefits off at 26 weeks, more people will find jobs quicker. Indeed, and that diploma showing you have a degree in biology will look great hanging on the wall of the break room at the local Target store.
Actually, Princeton University economist, Henry Farber says, Paul's assertions are abject bullshit. Okay, he didn't put it exactly that way, however he did note the extension of unemployment benefits hasn't affected people finding jobs quickly and it certainly hasn't reduced the overall job finding rate.
Well, what is a little truth when you have to keep the Koch brothers happy? Right now bucks are more important than ballots. After all, they don't let you on the train if you can't afford a ticket.
So there we have it. Boehner appears fed up with the murky crowd behind the hard core right wing and Rand Paul has illustrated perfectly why the republican party enjoys the reputation it has with the working poor, the disadvantaged, and the unemployed.
All this and it is only Wednesday.
At least the sun is finally out.
12-11-13
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