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Ted Cruz

7 (6.5%)

Rick Santorum

16 (14.8%)

Michelle Bachmann

13 (12%)

Chris Christie

23 (21.3%)

Rand Paul

49 (45.4%)

Total Members Voted: 107

[Helgoland]

That's the LORD'S day! 

[misko27]

The Shutdown seems increasingly likely, possibly multi-day. The Senate will bounce legislation back to the House with mere hours to spare; the House voting against it would ensure a shutdown. Republican leaders believe, or say they believe, that a shutdown will be seen by the public as the democrats fault, and hope that the removing Obamacare aspect will cement their place amongst their constituents. Privately, many Reps express doubt.

Polls are in showing the Shutdown is universally unwanted, from liberals to independents to conservatives to the Tea-Party. It is seen as both sides not willing to compromise, of the 2, Republicans are seen as the more inflexible and the target of most blame, with almost all of Democrats, 3/4s of Independents and over half the republican party blaming them primarily. Obama is seen as more flexible, but not overwhelmingly, with a significant portion blaming him over the republicans. Very few people hold both parties in equal blame. Obama's Approval has dropped slightly, to 43%. The Health Care law is still unpopular by a margin of 13.3% Approval/Disapproval, although one of the averaged polls had Fox news at a comparatively higher number (19%), so make of that what you will.

The upshot is that the voters will be unhappy with Washington as a whole, but Republicans stand to lose a lot more. This is only a early impression, if and when it happens the actual numbers may be fairly different.

[ggamer]

It's the same situation as the last time a government shutdown happened under the Clinton Administration: A republican congress is going to be demonized by the public, even though both sides share equal blame in the issue.

Honestly, I couldn't give less than two fucks if the government up and exiled John Boehner to fucking Patmos, as long as something gets done. It has become abundantly clear that, unlike it's predecessors, this session of Congress simply cannot reconcile differences between parties.

The one outcome I'm afraid of is that, rather than try to reconcile the budget as our country desperately needs, congress will simply pass a resolution extending FY13's budget into FY14, effectively fucking us over even further.

Remember guys, the Clinton Administration federal government was shut down for three weeks, so don't expect a speedy recovery from our current uncooperative congress.

That's the LORD'S day! 

I see the joke, but some people in the federal government still do wish to maintain an image of religious tolerance, and many religions forbid things like voting on Saturday and Sunday. The best option would be to take a pre-existing holiday and make it a civic holiday, so that people are more likely to come out and vote.

[misko27]

Remember guys, the Clinton Administration federal government was shut down for three weeks, so don't expect a speedy recovery from our current uncooperative congress.

Problem: we can't afford that this time. The Debt ceiling is on Oct. 17th, and that's a "You pass it even by a little bit, US defaults on all it's debt" thing. That would be so much more destructive it wouldn't even be funny, not even to hurt the republicans. I can't even understate the damage that would do, and Congress is going to need every second they can to prevent it.

[ggamer]

Remember guys, the Clinton Administration federal government was shut down for three weeks, so don't expect a speedy recovery from our current uncooperative congress.

Problem: we can't afford that this time. The Debt ceiling is on Oct. 17th, and that's a "You pass it even by a little bit, US defaults on all it's debt" thing. That would be so much more destructive it wouldn't even be funny, not even to hurt the republicans. I can't even understate the damage that would do, and Congress is going to need every second they can to prevent it.

That's the scary part. I'm praying that the worst case scenario is Congress raising the debt ceiling again, and not simply defaulting on the US's debts

[MetalSlimeHunt]

It's the same situation as the last time a government shutdown happened under the Clinton Administration: A republican congress is going to be demonized by the public, even though both sides share equal blame in the issue.

No, it's pretty much entirely the Republican House's fault. Their stubborn politicking on even administrative issues such as these is the cause of all of this. If they want to get rid of Obamacare, that is their prerogative as elected representatives, but it is not acceptable for them to hold a metaphorical gun to the country's head in order to try and get rid of it underhandedly.

I see the joke, but some people in the federal government still do wish to maintain an image of religious tolerance, and many religions forbid things like voting on Saturday and Sunday. The best option would be to take a pre-existing holiday and make it a civic holiday, so that people are more likely to come out and vote.

As far as I know, there are no major religions that have anything important going on Tuesdays, so making current election days federal holidays and instituting mandatory voting would go a long way towards increasing turnout. Taking a pre-existing holiday would be a horrible idea, as people would be celebrating the holiday instead of going out to vote.

Remember guys, the Clinton Administration federal government was shut down for three weeks, so don't expect a speedy recovery from our current uncooperative congress.

Problem: we can't afford that this time. The Debt ceiling is on Oct. 17th, and that's a "You pass it even by a little bit, US defaults on all it's debt" thing. That would be so much more destructive it wouldn't even be funny, not even to hurt the republicans. I can't even understate the damage that would do, and Congress is going to need every second they can to prevent it.

That's the scary part. I'm praying that the worst case scenario is Congress raising the debt ceiling again, and not simply defaulting on the US's debts

They won't do it. Nobody has ever seriously believed that they would any of the previous times this has happened.

[Descan]

Vote on Halloween?

[Helgoland]

Vote on the first of May. Might get the Democrats a few more votes

[Sheb]

Is there really any religion with taboos on voting on Sunday?

[MetalSlimeHunt]

That depends on whether or not you see voting as work. If so, most Christian denominations forbid it.

[10ebbor10]

That depends on whether or not you see voting as work. If so, most Christian denominations forbid it.

Meh, most Christian denominations don't really care about it.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

That depends on whether or not you see voting as work. If so, most Christian denominations forbid it.

Meh, most Christian denominations don't really care about it.

Sure they do. Only in word of course, but that's true of all religion.

[Sheb]

Yeah, here in Belgium, voting always occurs on Sunday (and is compulsory), and I don't  remember ever hearing anyone having issues with this.

[Owlbread]

In Scotland a lot of shops don't even open on Sundays so I think we'd have a lot of trouble with any kind of compulsory voting day or what have you. Few people actually go shopping on Sundays for that reason. It's starting to change a bit now but we tend to take the Lord's Day quite seriously, especially out on the Islands where everything basically shuts down.

[Helgoland]

In Germany, all shops (except gas stations), offices and so on are closed on Sundays, but our election still traditionally takes place on a Sunday - and it works very well, without any protest from religious people. Then again, our religious people aren't trying to blow up the government, so your mileage may vary.