Must-Read Quotes About Republicans' Second Shutdown Showdown
With just five legislative days left before the end of the fiscal year, the pressure continues to mount for Republicans to govern responsibly and work with Democrats to keep the government open and begin negotiations on a budget agreement to replace sequester level spending cuts on defense and non-defense priorities. Here’s a round-up of must-read quotes detailing the disastrous impacts and political repercussions of another Republican-led government shutdown:
Republicans in the House, Senate, and state governments are strongly warning their colleagues that another shutdown showdown is an unsuccessful strategy and not in their party’s best interest:
Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA): “Shutting down the government is not in our political interest, it will undermine the Republican brand and it will hurt whoever the Republican nominee is in November.” [New York Times, 9/21/15]
Representative Tom Cole (R-OK): “Having charged up the hill once and been shot down, why would you want to do that again?” [U.S. News and World Report, 9/14/15]
Nearly a dozen House Republican freshmen: “[W]e are writing today to express our strong support for a funding resolution that will avoid another unnecessary and harmful government shutdown… [W]e were elected by our constituent’s [sic] to be principled, pragmatic leaders… The sixteen-day government shutdown in 2013 … not only hurt taxpayers with the loss of important government services — it actually cost more taxpayer money to close the federal government than to keep it open.” [Politico, 9/23/15]
Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY): “[A government shutdown] would be an exercise in futility.” [CNN, 9/15/15]
Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH): “Given the challenges and threats we face at home and abroad, I oppose risking a government shutdown, particularly when it appears there is no chance of achieving a successful result... During the last government shutdown, I repeatedly asked you [Senator Cruz] what your strategy for success was when we did not have the votes to achieve the goal of defunding Obamacare, but I did not receive an answer.” [The Hill, 9/17/15]
Senator Dan Coats (R-IN): “I don’t want to use a failed tactic for political purposes knowing that it’s not going to succeed.” [Politico, 9/10/15]
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME): “We really need a clean CR if we’re going to avoid a government shutdown.” [Politico, 9/22/15]
Governor John Kasich (R-OH): “The president's made it clear he is not going to sign it… I'm willing to fight all day long, but you've got to have a good prospect of being able to be successful. Because if you're not successful, you shut the government down, you open it up and you haven't achieved anything. You're just going to have people shake their head and wonder what your thinking was.” [Huffington Post, 9/13/15]
The overwhelming majority of Americans agree this is a failed strategy and do not want a repeat of 2013. Instead, they want their Representatives in Congress to act responsibly and fund our government immediately:
Majority of Americans: “More than seven in 10 Americans said they would prefer a budget agreement to prevent the government from shutting down, compared to just 22 percent who said it is more important for Congress to eliminate all funding from Planned Parenthood.” [Politico, 9/14/15]
Editorial Boards across the country are also joining in calling on Republican leaders to stop taking the government hostage in order to advance their partisan politics:
Los Angeles Times: “A mere two years after futilely shutting down much of the federal government in a doomed-from-the-start effort to ‘defund Obamacare,’ congressional Republicans appear determined to force another shutdown in a doomed-from-the-start effort to ‘defund Planned Parenthood.’ And with a few notable exceptions, the GOP presidential candidates have been cheering on this exercise in dysfunction…. [Another shutdown] would not only hurt the thousands of federal workers and contractors who'd receive no pay; it would deny constituents all ‘nonessential’ services, such as housing subsidies, small-business loans and environmental reviews of construction projects. And worse, it would hit the brakes on the U.S. economy and rattle global markets. Leaders from both parties and the Obama administration need to work out a compromise now, and spare us having to watch this bad movie again.” [9/18/15]
Washington Post: “The federal government’s authority to spend money on discretionary programs expires at midnight on Sept. 30 — just a week from Wednesday… The bigger problem is in the House, where Speaker John A. Boehner (Ohio) is struggling — once again — to rein in far-right conservatives who are willing to pass a funding bill only if it reflects their priorities, in this case, by ‘defunding’ Planned Parenthood. That is, they prefer grandstanding, on behalf of a cause most Americans don’t support, to governing the country… Still, as Mr. Boehner himself undoubtedly realizes, the ultras in his caucus are not only acting contrary to the national interest, but they are also acting contrary to the Republican Party’s own long-term political interest.” [9/23/15]
Wall Street Journal: “Congress is back in Washington, which means more intra-GOP drama when funding for the government expires at the end of the month. Some conservatives are trying to force a showdown over Planned Parenthood, but we wish they’d explain how this would benefit the antiabortion movement or the Republican majority… The problem is that this plan lacks even a small chance of success… Republicans got most of the blame for [the 2013 government shutdown], 53% to 29% for Mr. Obama in an Oct. 22, 2013 Washington Post-ABC poll. The GOP image tanked, with Gallup reporting the same month that only 22% of the country viewed Republicans favorably—the lowest rating for either party since the pollster started asking the question in 1992.” [9/8/15]
New York Daily News: “Once again, with shutdown specialist Sen. Ted Cruz leading the charge, Congressional Republicans are putting politics ahead of the full economic recovery Americans urgently need. Once again, they are threatening to shutter the federal government — as they did two years ago, in a petulant fit over Obamacare — to make a petty point. The target this time is Planned Parenthood… Understanding the senselessness of the showdown and the likely blowback at the polls, cooler Republican heads — Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, both impassioned foes of legalized abortion — insist they want to avert a shutdown. Let’s hope they’re up to the task; we’ve seen in recent years how these games of chicken can end in crashes.” [9/21/15]
Tampa Bay Times: “We have seen this bad movie before. Once again, the nation is days away from a federal government shutdown because some congressional Republicans would rather wage ideological warfare than act responsibly. And once again, it is a foolish power play that most Americans do not support, fuels further frustration with Washington's dysfunction and is doomed to fail. There are just 10 days left in the fiscal year, and Congress needs to keep the money flowing by Oct. 1 or large portions of the federal government will be shut down. The last time Republicans created such a showdown, it did not work out so well for them. A 16-day shutdown in 2013 had a $20 billion economic impact on the economy, and voters blamed congressional Republicans rather than President Barack Obama for that debacle… One of the most basic obligations of Congress is to fund the government, and the best scenario for avoiding a government shutdown is to approve a clean resolution that would keep the money flowing just until the end of December. There are other important issues demanding attention before the end of the year, from approving a new highway spending bill to raising the debt ceiling to renewing the Import-Export Bank charter. The last thing this nation needs is another government shutdown that roils the economy and increases voter frustration with Washington that already is sky-high.” [9/18/15]
The Sacramento Bee: “Another year, another doomed run at a government shutdown. For most of the week, the Republicans who control Congress have skirmished with themselves over whether to hold yet another budget deal hostage, disrupting lives and threatening the U.S. economy. In 2013, party ideologues idled the federal government for 16 days, trying to cripple the Affordable Care Act. This time, the pretense has been Planned Parenthood funding. A small group of conservatives, led by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, as ever, wants to defund the women’s health group over dubious claims that the provider illegally sells fetal tissue… Part of a lawmaker’s job is to respectfully find common ground with representatives of the rest of the American public. These self-indulgent threats and stunts alienate voters and reduce democracy to a contest of arcane parliamentary tactics. Enough beating on the Planned Parenthood piñata, and enough with the theatrics. Congress should fund the government and focus on people’s business.” [9/17/15]
St. Louis Dispatch: “The Republican Party is in a quandary. Congressional conservatives are threatening to shut down the federal government rather than allow funding for Planned Parenthood to continue… In advance of the 2016 presidential race, the divide is perilous for Republicans and the nation… Shutdowns aggravate Americans, as they should. The nation has distressingly low expectations for politicians of both parties, but keeping the doors open for basic government services is one of them… Clandestine videotapes, edited by abortion opponents, do not make a persuasive case against funding Planned Parenthood, much less for a shutdown. If Congress uses such questionable evidence as a rationale to disrupt much of government, Oct. 1 will be a raw reminder that compromise is nearing extinction. The GOP has precious few days left to marshal its members into a reasonable alliance for continued government funding.” [9/17/15]
Baltimore Sun: “Maryland has a bigger stake than most in this fight. We are home to about 300,000 federal employees, or 10 percent of the state's workforce, but the impact of a shutdown with its furloughs and missed paychecks extends to government contractors and many others in proximity of the Capital Beltway. The 2013 disruption proved costly to this state's economy, reducing Maryland's job growth to among the worst in the country. The same would happen again — unless some kind of stopgap resolution is approved… Surely, voters everywhere are tired of this brinkmanship. Even the Wall Street Journal, not exactly a bastion of liberalism, counseled against a shutdown, suggesting it would cost the party its shot at the White House next year and perhaps its majority in the Senate.” [9/9/15]
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: “The reason we are so weary of the word is that it’s so disappointing to repeatedly see the dysfunctional way political opponents interact with each other. The possibility of a partial government shutdown on Oct. 1 looms as a case in point. A group of conservatives is demanding cutting off federal funding of Planned Parenthood. Their approval of legislation funding federal agencies could be at stake. Making demands and issuing threats about consequences if the demands aren’t met is no way for leaders to operate. It sounds more like schoolyard bullying than conducting the business of government. The same thing happened two years ago when a Republican group of legislators took aim at the Affordable Care Act. They didn’t get what they wanted, and a partial shutdown of government occurred.” [9/17/15]
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