WOO-HOO!!!
Jim Robinson is handling the Donations "this afternoon" while JustAmy runs her errands!!
PLEASE Make Your Donations now!!!!!
Posted on 10/09/2013 2:37:49 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
Steve Robinson's disappointment about the federal government shutdown Wednesday while standing outside the Topeka office of U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins reflected a personal stake in gridlock strangling the nation's political epicenter in Washington, D.C.
His wife is among about 800,000 federal workers furloughed in the wake of decisions in the House, Senate and White House to engage in a spirited tug-of-war over implementation of health insurance reform, the federal debt ceiling and other partisan financial conflicts.
Robinson, of Lawrence, said too many in Congress, including Republicans such as Jenkins, had anchored themselves to uncompromising tea party ideals espoused by the billionaire Koch brothers rather than represent the interests of Kansans in the 2nd District.
Ending the bickering and reaching a temporary remedy for the shutdown is difficult by virtue of a Republican Party fractured by tea party conservatives aligned with the Kochs, he said. At one point, he compared adherence to tea party thinking to lack of opposition to Nazis deporting prisoners to concentration camps during World War II.
"The tea party has become very real," he told about 25 people gathered for a rally. "You have to understand their mind-set."
The art of political finger-pointing has been on display among Republican and Democratic lawmakers, as well as President Barack Obama, as factions worked to assign blame for the first government closure in 17 years. The stalemate is now in its second week.
Jenkins, who wasn't in Topeka for this assembly of critics, was in Washington to vote in support of a string of measures designed to reopen select portions of the federal bureaucracy. She endorsed bills to pay on time federal employees working during the shutdown, to fund the Head Start program for children, and to form a House-Senate working group to study options for addressing the nation's debt.
"The House continues to vote to reopen the government by funding critical programs that both parties can agree on, like Head Start," Jenkins said. "Americans are fed up with this shutdown and the gridlock in Washington, and I agree with them."
She expressed distress with a portion of rhetoric spinning around Washington, which included "talk of putting guns to people's heads" and "holding hostages."
"This extreme language is inappropriate and moves us no closer to solving any of our country's problems," the congresswoman said. "There is enough blame to go around for why we are in this fiscal mess today, and we need both parties to work together to change course."
Dan Brennan, a representative of Topeka MoveOn, said at the rally Jenkins ought to shed her tea party alliances and endorse a vote in the House on the "clean" Senate-passed measure providing temporary funding for government operations.
Previously, Jenkins joined with House colleagues to adopt funding legislation designed to thwart implementation of the Obamacare health insurance law.
"She's being manipulated," Brennan said. "We just want to make her aware we want to reopen the government and lift the debt ceiling so they can pay their bills."
U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo, a Kansas Republican who serves the 4th District dominated by Wichita, said in an interview Wednesday the stumbling block was that Obama had no interest in discussing with congressional Republicans changes to the health law.
A reasonable bipartisan exchange can serve to improve prospects of debt-limit negotiations, as well as spark dialogue about reform of expenditures on federal entitlement programs that must be brought under control to be sustainable, he said.
"The president continues to say he's not going to have a conversation with a co-equal branch of government," Pompeo said.
She's the most moderate of the Kansas delegation!
Moderates always toss the baby out with the bath to go along with liberals.
You lost it as soon as you referenced the Koch Bros. Sounds like you gotyour talking points directly from the DNC......
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