The Republican Party laid down with dogs and now ... they're just going to scratch harder

by Barbara Morrill

Now that the Republican temper tantrum that cost our economy billions of dollars and negatively impacted hundreds of thousands of American lives is finally over, the GOP is getting back to the business of wondering why so many people don't like them.

Today's edition of the Republican version of soul-searching comes via Politico, in an article about the GOP's big money donors, still reeling from shellacking the party took in 2012, questioning the way forward amidst the fallout from the Republican shutdown. Recognizing the damage the tea party has done to the Republican brand, one mega-donor notes:

"So many in the House are hard-right reactionary tea party," he told POLITICO during the shutdown. "And those Republicans, it appears, are ready to self-immolate, and are willing to risk the destruction of the party by risking the destruction of the economy, by risking a default."

Got that? The tea party Republicans are all about self-immolation and the destruction of the economy ... so, the solution for the establishment, big money business branch of the GOP?

... he was set to meet with Priebus privately this past Wednesday. "What he really needs to do is tell me in such an impassioned way what his ideas are, how we can bring these Republicans together."

Well, sure. As long as there's enough passion in the plea.

And we await the next ransom demand ...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/18/1248552/-The-Republican-Party-laid-down-with-dogs-and-now-they-re-just-going-to-scratch-harder

Republicans Lost The Shutdown Battle, But Still Refuse To Stop Fighting Against Obamacare

By Tara Culp-Ressler

Throughout the budget debate that culminated in a 16-day government shutdown, right-wing Obamacare opponents claimed that it was their “last chance” to stop the health reform law. Ultimately, that last-ditch effort was a total failure. Republicans didn’t achieve any major changes to Obamacare in the compromise to re-open the government.

Nonetheless, right-wing Republicans are doubling down on their failed strategy. Rather than conceding that they’re out of chances to get rid of Obamacare, conservatives are simply changing their tune. Now, GOPers say they won’t give up the fight:

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX): The Tea Party lawmaker was the primary architect of the GOP’s shutdown strategy. But now that it’s failed, Cruz won’t admit defeat. “I would do anything, and I will continue to do anything, to stop the train wreck that is Obamacare,” he said on Thursday. He has also hinted that he hasn’t ruled out pushing for another government shutdown over Obamacare.

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA): Vitter tried to use the funding negotiations to push through an Obamacare-related amendment that would ultimately force Congress members and their staff to pay more for their health plans under the law. He was unsuccessful, and the final agreement didn’t include his amendment. But Vitter isn’t fazed and promises to keep pushing to amend the law anyway. “I’m not going away, and this issue is certainly not going away,” Vitter said on Fox News this week.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL): Speaking on the Senate floor over the summer, Rubio told his colleagues that shutting down the government represented “our last chance and our last best chance” to undermine Obamacare. Now, the senator is saying that Republicans will keep fighting anyway. This week, he told Fox News that there is going to an “all-out revolt” next year, once the rest of Obamacare’s major provisions take root. “And that is, I think, the moment to absolutely act and say we are going to get rid of this law and then look for opportunities in the future to replace it,” Rubio said.

The Heritage Foundation: During the shutdown battle, Heritage’s political arm told its supporters that it needed their support because “we only have one more chance to repeal Obamacare.” The group didn’t deliver. Now, Heritage is simply assuring its supporters that it won’t stop fighting the law. The group’s president, Jim DeMint, published an op-ed this week claiming that most Americans’ lives “are not dominated by the electoral cycle,” so those people “shouldn’t have to wait three more years for Congress to give them relief from this law.”

FreedomWorks: The right-wing group recently claimed that shutting down the government “may be the last best chance to defund Obamacare before it goes into effect.” Rather than adjusting their strategy, the group is now planning rallies to discourage young Americans from signing up for health coverage. The group says that Obamacare will still be a losing issue for Democrats up for re-election in red states — although outside polling has shown that the shutdown fiasco has made more than a dozen House seats more winnable for Democrats.

Mainstream Republican leaders, on the other hand, have admitted recently that the ongoing crusade against Obamacare is hurting their party as a whole. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told the Hill that he won’t allow another government shutdown in another futile attempt to stop health reform, particularly after the hit to Republicans’ approval ratings. “I think we have fully now acquainted our new members with what a losing strategy that is,” he noted.

As the shutdown demonstrated, however, it doesn’t necessarily matter what the GOP leadership thinks. Last month, as the deadline to pass a continuing resolution drew near, mainstream members of the GOP indicated that they didn’t support shutting down the government over Obamacare. At least 49 Republicans publicly came out against the strategy. Nonetheless, Republicans ended up falling in line behind Ted Cruz anyway.

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http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/10/18/2803231/shutdown-obamacare-gop-double/