POTUS TO GOP: THAT TEMPORARY EXTENSION WON’T WORK…. With the likelihood of a government shutdown increasing by the hour, House Republicans are now pushing one more temporary extension. The White House made clear this morning that this new stunt cannot and will not be taken seriously.
Congressional GOP leaders said on Tuesday that the Obama administration has informed them that it will oppose a last-ditch stopgap funding measure proposed by House Republicans to keep the government running for an additional week.
The Obama administration would neither confirm nor deny the reports…. That said, on Tuesday morning, GOP lawmakers and aides from both parties on the Hill said that the administration had made its opposition to the measure clear.
Well, of course. As stunts go, this new one borders on pathetic. Republican officials swore up and down a few weeks ago that they would, under no circumstances, consider another temporary extension. As of last night, however, they embraced a plan to extend the deadline one more week.
Are they looking for another $2 billion per week in cuts, just like the previous continuing resolutions? No, this time the GOP is demanding $12 billion in cuts over one week — and throwing in an anti-abortion rider, too.
The point, of course, is to play a little game. As we discussed this morning, Republicans have crafted an extension that’s designed to fail on purpose so they can try to point the finger elsewhere when the government shuts down. Instead of working on a sensible solution, GOP leaders are looking for stunts they can exploit later.
The perpetually confused House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor (R-Va.), told reporters, “We in the House have said consistently that we don’t want to shut government down, we just want to decrease spending.”
Except, the White House has already offered a plan to decrease spending. The White House is willing to accept larger decreases in spending than even Eric Cantor was proposing in February. It’s not the White House’s fault that House Republicans aren’t taking “yes” for an answer.
Honestly, what’s wrong with these people? Last week, they thought the comically unconstitutional “Government Shutdown Prevention Act” was a grand idea, despite being blisteringly stupid, and this week, they’re pretending to be sincere about a temporary extension they know full well has been crafted to deliberately fail.
I liked Congress so much more when adults were in charge.
