Sunday, October 6, 2013

Could Boehner Go All The Way?


Could Boehner Go All The Way?

With the government now shutdown, both the Republicans and Democrats have taken to the airwaves to continue the battle in the publics eyes of just who’s to blame for this mess. Most of the eyes of the nation have turned to two people – President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House, John Boehner. While White House Representatives have done most of the talking for The Obama Administration, Boehner went on “This Week,” which is an ABC News program to talk for the Republicans.  

When he appeared on the show, the host George Stephanopoulos asked Boehner, "If Obama continues to refuse to negotiate, the country is going to default?” Boehner responded, "That's the path we're on.” "I'm willing to sit down with the president, but his refusal to negotiate is putting our country at risk."  When he was asked about a potential continuing resolution, Boehner responded, “There are not enough votes in the House to pass a clean C.R.,” Both sides have taken to the airwaves to spin the shutdown, but as we noted in our last few blog posts, it seems as if Boehner has hit the hardest on the airwaves making it known that he won’t attempt to pass a continuing resolution if President Obama and the Democrats don’t make any concessions. (1)

           What is important for us to note is that the big deadline date is October 17th. If a resolution or budget is not passed before then, the nation will no longer be able to pay its obligations and will go over our nations debt limit, which we know would prove to be catastrophic to an economy that has just gotten over a recession. In essence, the nation would have no more cash to pay its bills, which is a problem. One wouldn’t think the biggest debate would be over Obamacare, and it would be about the debt limit, but that’s what the debate has turned into.  According to Boehner, “I and my members decided the threat of Obamacare and what was happening was so important that it was time for us to take a stand. And we took a stand.” Even Boehner noted that he “Thought the fight would be over the debt ceiling,” He also said, “but you know, working with my members, they decided, well, let’s do it now. And the fact is, this fight was going to come, one way or the other. We’re in the fight.” As we also noted in our last blog post, the Republicans have made a stand with regards to Obamacare. They have decided that this is the time to address it, and it seems as if they are willing to continue the shutdown until they get what they want. (2)
         As of now, there isn’t much more to report since the shutdown occurred. There is 11 days and counting until the big October 17th deadline. Like we said last week, deadlines spur action. Whether the action is inaction remains to be seen.

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