Republicans vs. Republicans, Round (Infinity)

As CNN reports, last Friday's vote by House Republicans to defund Obamacare as part of the budget battle turned out (surprise!) to accomplish absolutely nothing (again):

In a congressional version of hot potato, the Senate on Friday passed a short-term spending plan that would prevent a looming government shutdown and sent it to the House for a weekend showdown between Republican tea party conservatives and their more moderate party leaders.

The 54-44 vote on strict party lines came after Senate Democrats pushed through an amendment to restore funding for Obamacare that House Republicans had eliminated in their version of the spending measure, which would prevent the start of a government shutdown on Tuesday.

Now House Speaker John Boehner must decide whether to urge his divided Republican caucus to vote with Democrats to pass the Senate plan, or yield again to a hardline conservative wing that demands making continued government funding contingent on undermining Obamacare.

Pundits from both sides of the political aisle have been saying for weeks that Republicans will be blamed in the event of a federal government shutdown. Everybody knows it — even House Speaker John Boehner knows it — which is why the Senate spent little time pondering the House version of a spending bill and just sent back something realistic instead.

Oh, and remember Sen. Ted "Green Eggs and Ham" Cruz and his lame filibuster attempt?

The Senate began its votes Friday by easily overcoming a filibuster led by GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas against the spending plan.

Congressional Republicans really have no good options here. Either they pass the Senate plan and step out of a debate they'll never win with the public, or they continue to appease the Tea Party and hard-right conservatives, which causes significant damage to Republicans who aren't even in Congress. Have fun with that, Mr. Speaker.

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