Free Republic

So what was accomplished by the government shutdown? Peter Beinart declares that, contrary to conventional wisdom, the resolution of the shutdown was a Republican victory because their "surrender" consisted of perpetuating federal spending at sequester levels. But I think what was accomplished was bigger. What was accomplished was that the conservative base communicated how serious it really is about reducing the size of government. The usual game in which the Democrats try to grab for as much as they can get, and Republicans fight back by giving them only half of it—and the result is that government still keeps growing,...

John McCain took a swipe at Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert in an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams Wednesday night. During the interview, Williams brought up a statement Gohmert made last week at the Values Voter Summit claiming that the Republican Arizona senator supports al Qaida. Speaking at an event at the conservative conference, Gohmert referred to McCain as a “guy who’s been to Syria and supported al Qaida and rebels.” McCain told Williams that it isn’t worth responding to someone who “has no intelligence.” “Sometimes… comments like that are made out of malice, but if someone has no intelligence...

<p>Senate Republicans emerged Wednesday from the Capitol meeting that ended the shutdown and debt ceiling crisis at least for a couple of months, saying, “Never again,” followed by, “I told you so.</p>

October 16, 2013 Minutes After Debt Ceiling Is Raised, Obama Shows Up With List Of Things To Spend Money On Stephen Kruiser Start learning Mandarin, kids. “In fact, there are things that we know will help strengthen our economy that we could get done before this year is out,” said Obama from the White House briefing room. “We still need to pass a law to fix our broken immigration system. We still need to pass a farm bill. And with the shutdown behind us and budget committees forming, we now have an opportunity to focus on a sensible budget that...

On his radio show recently, Glenn Beck urged his listeners to “defund the GOP.” Sarah Palin has threatened to leave the Republican Party; Rush Limbaugh calls it “irrelevant.” The Senate Conservatives Fund has targeted mainly incumbent Republican senators for defeat. Erick Erickson, one of the right’s most prominent commentators, wonders if what's coming is “a real third party movement that will fully divide the Republican Party.” Conservatives have declared war on the GOP. Tired of feeling taken for granted by a party that alternately panders to them and sells them down the river, in their view, Tea Partiers and others...

Sen. Lindsey Graham was the only Republican in South Carolina’s GOP-dominated congressional delegation who voted for the deal that reopened the federal government. “This agreement is far from great news, but it brings to an end, at least temporarily, a disaster,” Graham said. “It stops the bleeding and gives us a chance to regroup. On the positive side, the agreement preserves the spending caps and makes modest changes to protect taxpayers from what will be rampant fraud in Obamacare income-verification procedures.”

Rep. Barletta Statement on House CR and Debt Limit Vote 10/17/13 WASHINGTON – Congressman Lou Barletta, PA-11, today voted for legislation to fund the federal government through January 15, 2014 and extend the debt limit until February 7, 2014. Barletta issued the following statement: “I never wanted the government to shut down, nor did I want to default on America’s financial obligations. After weeks of attempts at negotiations and many House votes to reopen the government, I believe we are finally on a path to move forward and get back to the work of governing the country. While the final...

The dollar and European shares fell on Thursday as market relief at a last-ditch U.S. budget deal gave way to worries over the economic impact of the 16-day government shutdown and prospects of a re-run early next year. Chinese credit agency Dagong, downgraded the U.S. sovereign rating to A- from A with a negative outlook, driving further dollar losses.

The final deal to avert a breach of the debt limit and end the government shutdown included what has been described as a “small concession” to Republicans: tightening the income verification measures for customers on the Obamacare insurance exchanges to qualify for subsidies. But considering the hurdles associated with this step – and the enormous IT problems we’ve already seen with the exchanges – the concession may not be small at all. As one prominent health care expert tells Salon, the impact could contribute to an attempted sabotage of the law by those who want to see it repealed. Rather...

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has floated a proposal for a couple years now as a last-chance way to avert a crisis and allow the president to raise the debt ceiling without congressional approval, with Congress having the ability to strip that authority with a two-thirds veto – and that’s sort of what the bill to be voted on tonight provides for (see pages 24 ff. of the bill).Assuming it passes tonight, the debt ceiling will be suspended until February 7, meaning the treasury can borrow what it needs to fund obligations until then. Then within the next 14 days, the House and...

... Obama will deliver a statement on Thursday at 10:35 a.m. about the need for Democrats and Republicans to work together on fiscal issues following the 11th hour deal in Congress that ended a 16-day government shutdown and averted a debt default. "I'll have more to say about this tomorrow...

Former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Wednesday that Ted Cruz’s push to shut down the government over Obamacare was doomed from the start, a “kamikaze mission” that hurt efforts to resolve the country’s debt crisis. “Lack of unanimity, even among the most conservative members of Congress, was a fatal flaw in this,” Hutchison said, her most critical comments yet about her successor, Cruz — a fellow Republican, tea party darling and vocal leader against the new health care law. “Most Republicans wanted to negotiate on the issue of spending and the debt and the deficit,” she said in a Dallas...

In Washington’s limitless supply of corruption with American tax dollars, the deal that re-opened a supposed “closed” government included something extra special for Kentucky Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: a $2.8 billion provision to boost funding for the Olmstead dam and lock project on the Ohio River, calling into question the fed’s willingness to fund expensive projects when the country is flat broke. A priority for the minority leader, the Olmstead project would benefit eastern states like McConnell’s Kentucky, Tennessee and Illinois.

The bipartisan deal to reopen the government and temporarily lift the debt ceiling includes one small Obamacare element—a provision that says people’s incomes must be verified before they can get Obamacare subsidies to help pay their insurance premiums. But this was not a concession to Republicans, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday. “It’s, you know, it is, frankly, a bit of a fig leaf, which we were happy to give, but that was not a negotiation. That was not what Ted Cruz and the others started to demand that we give them.” …

<p>The Senate Conservatives Fund, which has suggested it might oppose Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in a primary next year, alleges McConnell got a bit of sweetener in the Senate’s plan to reopen the government and extend the debt ceiling.</p>

The US Senate has passed a bill to reopen the government and raise the federal debt limit, with hours to spare before the nation risks default. The Democratic-controlled Senate's bipartisan compromise won swift approval by 81 votes to 18. It will now be sent to the House of Representatives, whose Republican leadership has begrudgingly said it will support the measure. It comes hours before the deadline to raise the $16.7tn (£10.5tn) limit. President Barack Obama is set to speak shortly at the White House. The deal would extend the federal borrowing limit until 7 February and fund the government to...

Rush Limbaugh: GOP ‘so irrelevant’ By: Mackenzie Weinger October 16, 2013 02:25 PM EDT Rush Limbaugh on Wednesday blasted the Republican Party as “irrelevant” and responsible for “creating one of the greatest political disasters” he’s ever seen. “I was trying to think earlier today, if ever in my life I could remember any major political party being so irrelevant,” the conservative radio host said on his show, according to a transcript. “I have never seen it. I have never seen a major political party simply occupy placeholders, as the Republican Party is doing.” Limbaugh slammed the Republican Party for consistently...

Capitol Hill talk regarding the Senate deal apparently includes a provision that would take away the Congress’ power to increase the debt ceiling. According to Politico, it looks like the buzz appears to be true.: The plan includes a proposal offered by McConnell in the 2011 debt ceiling crisis that allows Congress to disapprove of the debt ceiling increase, which means lawmakers will formally vote on whether to reject a debt ceiling increase until Feb. 7. Obama can veto that legislation if it passes. If Congress fails as expected to gather a two-thirds majority to override the veto, the debt...

Buried inside the new stopgap spending bill are several pork project goodies, including nearly quadrupling the maximum price of a dam project on the Ohio River that is turning into a boondoggle — up to nearly $3 billion. The bill also includes $174,000 of taxpayer money being sent to the widow of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg. The death gratuity, which has been paid to widows of other lawmakers in the past, raised hackles since Mr. Lautenberg was a multimillionaire, while the government is $16.7 trillion in debt. But lawmakers did nix one provision that was in an early draft...

At the last GOP conference meeting of the two-week government shutdown, no lawmakers went to the microphones to give their take. Instead, after Speaker John Boehner told Republicans they had “fought the good fight,” they all rose up to offer a standing ovation. “It was one of the easiest meetings we’ve ever had,” says Representative Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina. “I think he has strengthened his position in leadership,” Representative John Fleming says about Boehner. “He hung in there with us. He’s been reluctant to go to these fights and now that we have stood up and fought for our...