The Federal Government Shutdown Comes To A Predictable Close

Yes my friends, the long national nightmare (16 days) of a partial government shutdown (roughly about 13% of the federal government) is about to end more or less predictably.
Part of why we got here was an attempt by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Tx) and Mike Lee (R-Ut.) to force a total defunding of Obamacare.
The problem with that strategy is that they went on their own and figured that all would come to their way of thinking.
That is not how things work.
One of the problems with their approach is that it appears they not get anyone in house or senate leadership involved at all. Had either or both made a convincing case to the leadership and had one leader totally on board, a unified front could have gotten more concessions from the Democrats that, while eventually getting the same end game of funding the federal government and increasing the debt ceiling. The two senators tried to stage a revolt from the ground up. And thus it was a a bad strategy to begin with. Now we get nothing tangible and the Democrats can gloat for a while.
But there are silver linings.
One, we know who the spineless Republicans are.
Yes, Congressman Peter King is a leader of the spineless brigade. For some petty reason, he is still smarting from fellow Republicans for not rushing to vote for immediate federal government assistance for people recovering from Hurricane Sandy.
Mr. King, get over it.
Of course there is always Sens. John "F--- You" McCain (R-Az.) and Lindsay Goober Graham (R-SC) and they are just, well losers is the word that comes to mind. Why they could not bear to lose their permanent seats on the Sunday television talk show circuit to use to beat up on fellow Republicans.
Another thing that we have learned is that Obamacare is the disaster that we on the conservative side said that it was.
The roll out of the Exchanges is not nearly the story here. It is the reality that many, many Americans are coming to realize that they were blatantly lied to by the Dear Leader, President Obama, and his Democrat allies.
First, those who think that the federal government shutdown clouded the picture on the roll out of Obamacare do not give the public any credit. Yes, we can chew gum and walk at the same time. We can deal with the federal government debacle and the Obamacare debacle. The reality it only accentuated why Sens. Cruz and Lee were trying what they were doing.
When it was not all the difficulty (still occurring) of actually getting on the website, it was millions of Americans realizing that they were going to lose their doctors and not able to keep their health care plans as promised by the Dear Leader, President Obama, et al. And if they could, their health care costs would rise dramatically, even if they meet the requirements to obtain a subsidy. I highlighted two people right here. The most precious is this lefty from the Daily Kos website realizing that yes HE would have to pay a higher premium. Hey Tigre, don't say that we crazy right-wingers did not try to warn you. Oh yeah, Tigre is from California. As are the other two people in my link. Hmm, are they realizing that welfare comes at a cost? Just askin . . .
And for the rest of you out there, if you are dumped onto an Obamacare exchange and are lucky enough to get that federal government subsidy, most of you will have an unbelievably high deduct able should you actually use your new found affordable (Guffaw! Guffaw! Guffaw!) health care. (Need to sign up for a digital subscription to read the linked article but there is a free option-the story is important to read.)
The reality is that the federal government shutdown did make the Obamawhore media take notice of the multiple pitfalls of Obamacare. Regrettably, long after the fact that the law was passed. They took the former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) at her word about having to pass the bill to see what was in it.
And we learned that there is a rarefied air in Washington, D. C. That the political class cares about themselves and not really the American people as a whole. And throw in the punitive nature of how Team Obama dealt with what they did and did not shutdown and it is really apparent.
But make no mistake, the Republicans did lose on battle points. But I still believe we will win the war in the mid-term elections next year.
And in the end the reason will be Obamacare more than anything. Because people that like the idea of health care for all are beginning to realize that there is a cost to that. Not just in higher hidden taxes but in the quality of health care going down. The long waits not just to see a doctor but in getting a referral to see a specialist. This is the predictable results of health care for all and the government subsidizing it.
At least Sens. Cruz and Lee were willing to fight the predictable effects of Obamacare. However the best way to fight is to adopt the Burn It Down approach. Let Obamacare go full force. And make sure to force the political class to have to take it too. And employee mandates? Vote to have that as well. Sometimes the best approach is to let the damage happen. Yes it is going to be painful, but sometimes people need that cold water in the face to realize what they should have known in the first place.
Yes, the can is kicked down the road and the federal government will be funded and the debt ceiling will be increased. But the war is not over at all. Not by a longshot.

Shutdown Follies And The Real Battle Over The Debt Ceiling

I don't know what to say about the federal government "shutdown" that has not been said already.
What is amazing though is the totally arbitrary nature of what does and does not fit in the "shutdown" category.
OK, it appears that war memorials, most outdoors and not in great need of having a great deal of on site staffing, are cool for "shutting" down.
But Camp David, the presidential retreat, not so much.
In fact, the National Park Service is making damn sure to make in painful for visitors to access our national parks.
According to this in the Washington Times, a park ranger openly expressed his disgust at making things hard for American and international tourists

"It's a cheap way to deal with the situation," an angry Park Service ranger in Washington says of the harassment. "We've been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. Its disgusting."

I know, hard to believe, isn't it?
But nothing says that this whole "shutdown" is nothing but theatre is forcing veterans out of open-air memorials to the wars that they served in.
We know about the World War II memorial and a bunch of late 80 and early 90 year olds basically telling the NPS to take a flying leap. But hey, why not pick on the Vietnam vets?
Yeah, this should be a public relations disaster for the Dear Leader, President Obama.
But he gets a huge assist from the senate majority leader, Sen. Dingy Harry Reid (D-Nev-one thing that you can't blame on California!) and this choice comment he made in a exchange with CNN's reporter Dana Bash:

         BASH: “You all talked about children with cancer unable to go to clinical trials, the House is          presumably going to pass a bill that funds at least the NIH. Given what you’ve said, will you  at        least pass that? And if not, aren’t you playing the same political games that Republicans are?”
          REID: Listen, Senator Durbin explained that very well, and he did it on the floor earlier. As did Senator Schumer. What right did they have to pick and choose what part of government is going to be funded? It’s obvious what’s going on here. You talk about reckless and irresponsible. Wow. What this is all about is Obamacare. They are obsessed. I don’t know what other word I can use. They’re obsessed with this Obamacare. It’s working now and it will continue to work and people will love it more than they do now by far. So they have no right to pick and choose.
          BASH: But if you can help one child who has cancer, why wouldn’t you do it?
          SCHUMER: Why pit one against the other?
          REID: Why would we want to do that? I have 1,100 people at Nellis Air Force base that are sitting home. They have a few problems of their own. This is — to have someone of your intelligence to suggest such a thing maybe means you’re irresponsible and reckless.
          BASH: I’m just asking a question.

Ahh, before we discuss Sen. Dingy Harry's compassion, I suppose that Sen. Chuckie Schumer (D-New York) does make a better attempt at answering the question at first than does Sen. Dingy Harry.
But yes, why care about one child with cancer? How about the multiple people, children and adults, that can benefit from the National Institutes of Health being funded and open to continue clinical trials? The fact is that Sen. Dingy Harry does not really care about the children with cancer any more than the 1,100 people that he cited at Nellis Air Force base that are not working due to the "shutdown".
It's all about who is going to "win" the "shutdown" battle.
Really, no side will "win".
Seriously, at this point some adults are going to have to come out of this and state the obvious.
Hey, knock it off! This has gone on too long and no one wins. So unless each side gives up on something, both sides will lose.
It is painful to write that. Because I do believe that O-Care is truly an abomination. That the vast increase in the size and depth of the federal government goes against all that is American. But we have a real battle coming up in the debt-ceiling negotiation. And that is a way to exact concessions from Team Obama. For no matter how Team Obama spins it, the fact is that if it comes to pass, it will be that under his watch, the Dear Leader, President Obama, the United States will default on loans. If the economy totally tanks, it will be really hard for Team Obama to blame the House Republicans as the culprits.
The "shutdown" is making its point. Yes, the president can just make life miserable for the American people in many needling ways. But a default on our loan obligations will affect every single American, born and unborn. Thus time to end the "Shutdown Follies" and fight an winnable battle for the American people