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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

[MetalSlimeHunt]

This is really great for actually getting into the mindsets of the various republican factions:
http://www.democracycorps.com/attachments/article/954/dcor%20rpp%20fg%20memo%20100313%20final.pdf

One of the common words for Obama was "cute". I don't even.

Biden is clearly the more attractive of the two.

It's a shame the Moderate Republicans are so utterly sidelined in all of this. I still probably wouldn't vote for them, but they'd at least be palatable.

You have more optimism than I do.

I wholeheartedly believe that we will default next week. Not a single constructive option has gained real traction in the previous week, and both parties have only become even more resolute.

If that's what it takes to stop the Tea Party from controlling America, then that's what it takes. They don't own this nation, and they never will. If they want to rumble, then let's rumble. After all, we don't negotiate with terrorists.

[misko27]

\One thing I never understood about their fight, if supposedly they don't think the ACA will work, is: why not just let if fail? The entire Democratic party will look like idiots for vehemently fighting for a law that ultimately failed, and the Republicans come out on top saying "I told you so!". The only reasonable explanation I've heard is that they just don't like the law, and they're afraid that the law will be successful.

I've heard a lot about how people will be so addicted to the new entitlement it will be set in stone.

As a final note, all this SCOTUS talk reminds me of how funny it is that the constitutionality of our Supreme Court's "is it constitutional?" decisions nowadays were deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court. A wonderful example of recursion if ever there was one.

Supreme Court logic is inviolate.

The Onion is right again.

As the government shutdown nears a full week, neither house of Congress appears ready to budge. Here are some ways the standoff could be resolved:

• American public takes to streets and overthrows existing government following two unbearable weeks without access to the National Gallery of Art

• Depending on the kind of person you are, with a whole bunch of poor people either getting exactly what they deserve or becoming victims of a cold and heartless system
• With simple vote, whenever lobbyists give go-ahead to do so
• It’s conceivable that the Capitol building could collapse and kill everyone inside if high-powered explosives were to be planted at key structural weaknesses throughout the rotunda
• Boehner’s doe-eyed niece plaintively asks why she can’t go to Cuyahoga Valley National Park and see the bears
• Maybe a press release
• When we realize we had the power to end it all along, but we had to learn to believe in ourselves
• Asteroid 658 Eugenia
• Boehner and Obama lock eyes, kiss passionately, and realize their love is bigger than any problems between them
• Almost certainly with Ted Cruz proclaiming victory[/l]

You have more optimism than I do.

I wholeheartedly believe that we will default next week. Not a single constructive option has gained real traction in the previous week, and both parties have only become even more resolute.

The Democrats, for one, have 0 chance of compromising on such a basic issue. None. I would bet a lifetime of slavery that the Democrats will not concede to Obamacare demands. Now, on that note, Obamacare is no longer the issue. Republicans have moved to a old standby, General budget cuts. They still refuse Obama's demand for tax increases, so that will not get traction.

Simply put, it depends entirely on the willingness to avoid tragedy on Boehner's part. He knows his position in tenuous, a default would lead to a fall to the Democrats in the upcoming election, and simply agreeing could have him removed from the speakership. I think he is attempting to pad out a solution by not-compromising now, and he has slowly moderated the general republican demand to things Democrats have agreed to before; although it is very unlikely for them to agree to it again.

[Zangi]

Considering it, I kinda agree with the Democrat's reasoning.  They can't keep on kowtowing to the Republicans everytime they use the passage of the debt ceiling as a bargaining chip. 

A government stops being a government when people on one side can threaten to shoot the hostagecause the government to grind to a molasses' pace everytime they do not get their ransom.  If the Republicans 'win' this... whats to stop them from doing it again?  Will the Democrats also stoop to this when the tables are turned?

The US Gov't has a policy of not paying ransoms.  This is just the same thing in my eyes.

[Darvi]

ARGH, that font is nearly identical to the background colour.

[wierd]

Wild-eyed extremests are also notorious for self-immolation.

Banking that they won't is like betting 9/11 would never happen. Pure folly.

Right now, I am just contemplating which foriegn currency to buy.

[Darvi]

Bitcoins just got cheap...

[LordSlowpoke]

the lack of a silkroad really ruined demand for them didn't it

buy now, trade in for rifles when the prices go back up again

flawless plan yo

[MetalSlimeHunt]

You realize, of course, that with the fall of Silk Road the FBI may or may not have the necessary amount of Bitcoins to control the market.

[misko27]

Wild-eyed extremests are also notorious for self-immolation.

Banking that they won't is like betting 9/11 would never happen. Pure folly.

Right now, I am just contemplating which foriegn currency to buy.

None, the US would bring down the world. I would invest in something stable, like US bon-oh no, wait. Now see where the problem is? It's like Greece bringing down the Euro, but for the world, and for no reason. Gold maybe, that is still doing okay, and hell it should be doing even better after a collapse. Bear in mind though if nothing happens will will turn a loss.

In other news, stocks have begun to slide, significantly. The newest republican refrain is that Obama can continue to fund the government if the debt ceiling is passed, he just doesn't want to. This ignores he is constitutionally obligated to, of course.


My theory is the only way Tea-Partiers will be shocked, and their bubble bursted, is if they lose control of the House entirely. Maybe A Super-Majority in the Senate for good measure. A return to the time before 2010, essentially. They simply won't have any mandate to cling to anymore. They will have to face that, well, people said no.


If that happens, expect it more likely in 2016. mid-terms are a low-turn out year for democrats, but if a default occurs, anything is possible.

[FearfulJesuit]

I think by now default is inevitable, not because nobody can be assed to put a deal together, but because everyone wants one. The Tea Party is convinced it is going to get its agenda pushed through despite losing in 2012. The Democrats want to default because it will sink the Tea Party for good. The moderate GOP wants to sink the Tea Party so it can take the reins back. Of course Washington could end this nonsense in a second- but why would anyone want to? If it gets fixed, it's back to the same old gridlock, and nobody's interested in continuing that.

[misko27]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/whats-going-on-with-the-government-shutdown,34093/


Look at their bottom option. I think the Onion has actual political analysts it consults when making jokes.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Of course the Onion has actual political analysts. Knowing the situation intimately is vital to good satire. Their analysts are probably above average.

In other news, Obama may not be handling the stress of this all very well. ....Ted Cruz has made an appearance recently, right?

[wierd]

Re: currencies

Yes. I would either need raw gold, or a currency still based on gold.

This was exactly the issue I was looking at. No major traded currencies meet those requirements.

Bitcoin relies too heavily on a well functioning global data network and reliable energy. (Ever seen the costs in compute power for bitcoin these days?) It would never work as an option anyway.

The best I could do would be to buy currency far removed from US influence, then sell immediately after the default, and after the market price crash, but before the fallout ripples across the world economy.

[mainiac]

Why is it that when I make my argument it is in a simple "P, therefore not not P" statement but when you talk about my argument suddenly all this stuff appears that I never bloody spoke about.

My logic is not complex.  You slander me in every post.  You sir are a very rude person.

[Xantalos]

Of course the Onion has actual political analysts. Knowing the situation intimately is vital to good satire. Their analysts are probably above average.

In other news, Obama may not be handling the stress of this all very well. ....Ted Cruz has made an appearance recently, right?

Would anyone miss him?