Republican Congressman Talks Government Shutdown

[cal04]

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/republican-congressman-talks-government-shutdown/

Washington saw a bit of a mid-90s flashback on Friday.

Representative Lynn Westmoreland, a Georgia Republican, reportedly indicated at a gathering of social conservatives that a government shutdown could be in the offing if the G.O.P. takes back the House in this year’s midterm elections – and asked the activists to stand with the party if the government did come to a halt.

The congressman said at the Faith and Freedom Conference that a Republican-led House would look to pass spending bills that President Obama would probably veto, Politico reported, perhaps leading to a shutdown similar to what occurred after Republicans took over Congress following the 1994 elections.

“We want you with us,” Mr. Westmoreland said, according to Slate. “We gotta have you there. Because they’re going to come and say, ‘Daddy can’t go to V.A., the national parks are closed.’”

Not surprisingly, those comments have sparked some pushback from Democrats. Representative Chris Van Hollen, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a Friday statement that a shut down would, among other things, hurt veterans and recipients of Social Security and Medicare.



AUDIO: GOP Rep Says Shutting Down Govt, Even The VA, Is Worth ‘The Pain’ Because Govt Is Full Of ‘Gangrene’
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/09/10/westmoreland-shut-down/

WESTMORELAND: If we hold the line, if we get those courageous men and women to be part of our majority. If we say look, the American people we’re listening to the American people, this is what we’re going to do. If government shuts down, we want you with us. We want you with us. We gotta have you because later on you all will call us and say look I didn’t get my check. Daddy can’t go to the VA. You know, the National Parks are closed. We need to be sure that you are with us because let me tell you this, all Americans need to understand. We need to understand this and I hope you can help share this analogy with people. Just as when you talk about what is going to possibly happen, you know I was unfortunate to cut myself with a chainsaw. I don’t know how many of you have cut yourself with a chainsaw. Chainsaw is not the cleanest instrument if you’re going to cut yourself. <...> He said this is going to sting a little bit and it hurt like crazy. But you know what, if he didn’t clean out that wound, it would have never healed. I would have got gangrene. I would have died from it. And what has happened with this country, we have put bandaids on things that need to be cleaned out. It’s going to take some pain for us to do the things that we need to do to right the ship.

[Supply Side Jesus]

1. Bring it On

It made Clinton look spectacular...let's do it.

[opihimoimoi]

2. Whacky Whackos on the loose...Newt tried it and never was the same...since... FAIL

[lonestarnot]

3. Worked so well for them before.

:rofl:

[deacon]

4. That party is useless. They are part of the problem. n/t

[safeinOhio]

5. While things may seem a little dark now,

2012 is starting to look like the year of the progressive.

:toast: