Udall, Bennet Land Flood Relief Dollars In Shutdown Settlement

UPDATE #2: The over two week-old shutdown of the federal government and accompanying debt ceiling crisis ends, for a couple of months anyway, as FOX 31's Eli Stokols reports:

In the end, all but one member of the Colorado congressional delegation voted in support of the legislation to re-open the government and avoid a potentially catastrophic default on the nation’s debts, which passed both the House and Senate Wednesday night.

Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, voted against the legislation, which passed the House on a vote of 285-144, with nearly all Democrats and roughly half of the House Republicans voting yes.

You'll recall that Lamborn had allegedly given up the fight well over a week ago, but with passage assured, it looks like he took the safe-seat opportunity to cast a protest vote. No doubt the 18,000 federal employees in his district appreciate his conviction. And please try to be understanding next time Lamborn's district catches fire.

Having voted to reopen the shuttered federal government and extend the debt limit, with only the most token of concessions compared to their original strident demands to "delay or defund" the Affordable Care Act, we'll leave our readers to debate the extent of the GOP's failure tonight. We'd say somewhere between epic and total.

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UPDATE: Sen. Mark Udall's statement a short while ago:

Mark Udall welcomed the passage today of a bipartisan deal to avert a destructive government default and end the ongoing federal government shutdown, which has hurt Colorado communities, Main Street businesses and middle class families for more than two weeks. The bipartisan agreement includes a Udall-championed provision to help Colorado rebuild flood-ravaged roads, bridges and highways.

"One of Congress's top duties is to support job creation, strengthen our nation's economy and help middle-class families thrive. But for several weeks, an extreme faction of one political party in one house of Congress manufactured a crisis and held our economic recovery hostage," Udall said. "It comes as no surprise that Coloradans overwhelmingly have rejected this extremist brinksmanship and instead implored members of Congress to collaborate on a bipartisan path forward. I’m proud that this bipartisan agreement finally will reopen our federal government, avoid a default on our nation's obligations, and deliver much-needed aid to Colorado's flood-ravaged communities — a provision I fought for."

"In the coming weeks, I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address issues that I've pushed for years: reducing our nation's debt, passing immigration reform and a farm bill, putting in place more sustainable energy policies and making the federal government more accountable to taxpayers. But we must responsibly tackle these issues in inclusive ways that reject brinksmanship and political games."

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Image via Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Golden)

9NEWS' Raju Chebium:

A Senate deal aimed at ending the partial government shutdown and averting a debt default includes a nice chunk of change – $450 million – to help Colorado fully recover from the recent floods.

Aides to Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet say the Democratic lawmakers worked to include language in the deal to lift the $100 million annual limit on emergency highway funds Uncle Sam is allowed to provide to help states recover from natural disasters…

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the deal later today but the House's plans are unclear.

9NEWS omits this detail, but this is the same money that the entire Colorado delegation sought prior to the shutdown in the wake of last month's devastating Front Range floods. You'll recall that officials from both parties, including New Jersey's Republican Gov. Chris Christie, hammered Colorado Republicans for their "hypocrisy" (Christie's term) in seeking these funds after voting against relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy in January. The Washington Post reported that New Jersey Sen. Jeff Chiesa blocked the funds until given assurances that they would not be paid from the Hurricane Sandy relief money Colorado Republicans voted against–which they originally would have been. Local officials will be greatly relieved to see these funds fast-tracked as part of the deal to reopen the government, as opposed to waiting for another vote down the road.

There is still a chance, of course, that some or all of our Colorado House Republicans will vote against the Senate's bill to end the shutdown. The deal isn't expected to garner much conservative support, and will likely pass the House with the support of Democrats.

Given everything that's happened, we would strongly recommend Colorado Republicans swallow their ideological pride (or shame as the case may be) and vote yes. And then apologize to New Jersey.

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Government Shutdown Day 16 Open Thread

"Only dead fish go with the flow."

–Sarah Palin

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Government Shutdown Day 15 Open Thread

"All nonsense questions are unanswerable."

–C. S. Lewis 

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Like It Or Not, Mike Coffman Owns The Shutdown

?

Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank began yesterday's column on "the Cruzification of the GOP" thusly:

When a poll came out this week showing that the government shutdown was putting Republican Mike Coffman in danger of losing his Colorado congressional seat, the lawmaker responded with the serenity of martyrs through the ages.

“Whatever the consequences of doing what’s right,” he told a Denver TV station, “I’m willing to take those consequences.”

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.

Rep. Mike Coffman's resolve to stand with his fellow House Republicans and allow the federal government to shut down, as occurred beginning the first of this month, was amply demonstrated. Coffman told reporters that "this is a negotiation," very much in approval of using the shutdown as a negotiating tactic. We also want to note for the record this C-SPAN video clip from debate just before the shutdown. Coffman upbraids Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman for not "reading" the GOP's bill, and reassuring Waxman that "those reforms in place in the provisions of Obamacare prior to 1 October, will remain in place." 

But as our readers know, in the end Rep. Coffman lacked the courage of Sydney Carton before the guillotine in Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. As the shutdown of the federal government entered its second week, Coffman appeared to break with his colleagues by claiming support for a "clean" continuing resolution, reopening the federal government without the demanded delay or "defunding" of the Affordable Care Act. The next day, however, Coffman abandoned that promise, telling the Denver Post he wanted some kind of unspecified bigger bargain that included renewal of the government's borrowing authority. Coffman also said he would not sign on to a Democratic attempt to force the House to vote on a "clean" resolution.

Coffman enjoyed a round of highly favorable press when he announced his support for a "clean" continuing resolution to reopen the government. His abandonment of that promise a day later received much less attention. But the fact is, every day this shutdown drags on, Coffman takes damage simply for being part of the Republican House majority the public holds responsible for the whole mess. Coffman's waffling on the shutdown, then waffling on his waffling, contribute to a growing narrative of untrustworthiness–like paying lip service to DREAMer students before voting against them, or justifying his vote for abortion restrictions by highlighting exemptions he used to oppose. Just because the lede got buried this time doesn't mean Coffman's intransigence and doubletalk won't be used against him in the long election cycle that lies ahead (sorry, Vince Carroll).

Mike Coffman, perhaps more than any politician in America after redistricting in 2010, must juggle his ideological loyalties with the opposed interests of his increasingly outraged constituents. The lesson may be, at least in Coffman's case, that's just impossible.

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Government Shutdown Day 14 Open Thread

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Government Shutdown Day 12-13 Open Thread

"The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision."

–Helen Keller 

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Government Shutdown Day 9 Open Thread

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Government Shutdown Day 10 Open Thread

To return to the topic of talk radio before Jason logs in with the latest "I am shocked, shocked I tell you, that talk radio hosts do not question republican guests."

Talk Radio outlets in the United States are approximately 90% conservative outlets.

This monopoly allows Republicansto do the following:

1) Consolidate the conservative base – talk radio demographics swing toward older people, who are rapidly becoming more conservative…

2) Feedback on talking points-talk radio gets callers when hosts can stir up anger…

so one can hear the same arguments from hosts across the radio band, nationally and locally.  Propagandists can fine tune their message by listening to the kind of response the talking points are getting….and adjust accordingly.  Democratics have not such feedback loop, except some sorry excuses for "push polls" and focus groups.  Conservative hosts also consistently reinforce what callers are saying…this gives the illustion to conservatives that they are being "listened to," and are an important part of the political process and party.

(None of the emails that I receive daily from top democrats…whom I am supposed to be really, really, impressed with because they address me by my first name…..allow a reply…..they all have, however, a link to give money…..even Jon Stewart screemed the othe night to dems, etc.."Stop sending me emails.)

3) GOTV…this is the most important in low turnout elections…ie. mid-term….ie. 2010.

4) Radio becomes important if and when people are in the car and heeding warning not to text or use cphones…..the casual listeners turns on the radio to get traffic and weather….and hears conservative talking points, also.  Since, there is absolutely no opposing views expressed, the casual listeners may think the talking points are valid or are even "news."

 And while we are focused on the "crazies"….remember that Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to mention four big northern states that voted for Obama but who have republican controlled legislatures and statehouses…all benefit from the conservative megaphone that is talk radio.

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Government Shutdown Day 8 Open Thread

"Passion makes idiots of the cleverest men, and makes the biggest idiots clever."

–Francois de La Rochefoucauld 

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Government Shutdown Day 7 Open Thread

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

"I think, personally, it would bring stability to the world markets."

–Ted Yoho (R-FL) [on breaching the debt ceiling]

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Government Shutdown Day 5-6 Open Thread

"All morons hate it when you call them a moron."

–J. D. Salinger 

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Making Mike Coffman The Face Of The Shutdown

The Hill's Alexandra Jaffe reports on a hard-hitting new shutdown-themed ad campaign from the Democratic aligned House Majority PAC. The goal of this campaign is straightforward: attach embattled Colorado GOP incumbent Rep. Mike Coffman's face and name indelibly to the enormously unpopular shutdown of the federal government presently dominating the headlines.

House Majority PAC, the super-PAC focused on electing Democrats to the House, is launching a wide-ranging multimedia ad campaign hitting all of its top nine Republican targets on the government shutdown…

The super-PAC is targeting Reps. Coffman, Heck, Joyce and Southerland with individually tailored television and Web ads accusing them each of playing "games" with Americans for their role in the shutdown.

…Democrats believe the shutdown will ultimately be a political winner for them, bolstered by polls that show Americans largely blame Republicans. House Majority PAC joins the two central party committees in attacking Republicans for it and labeling it as the "GOP shutdown."

"This harmful and unnecessary government shutdown is a result of House Republicans’ complete embrace of the extremist, Tea Party mentality and their abject failure to pursue a reasonable course that would have prevented a shutdown and the economic damage it’s wreaking all across the country,” said Andy Stone, communications director for House Majority PAC.

That Coffman is getting an even higher degree of attention than most of the nine Republicans on House Majority PAC's list is another indicator of the marquee national importance of the CD-6 race going into 2014. In a district remade out from under the formerly safe-seat Coffman into a culturally and economically diverse battleground, and this time with a strong Democrat opponent to challenge him, the stage is set for the grandest congressional fight in Colorado since Bob Beauprez battled it out with Mike Feeley to win the closest race in the nation in 2002.

The latest press reports have Coffman still rejecting a "clean" continuing resolution to resume funding government operations without the added demands from Republicans to gut the 2010 Affordable Care Act health care reforms. However, that increasingly appears to be the only way out of a standoff that the GOP apparently initiated without a viable exit strategy.

The lopsided polling showing major political damage ahead for whoever the public ends up blaming for the shutdown reveals a wide open opportunity for Democrats to deal a severe blow to Republican credibility ahead of the next election. Those same polls show that, despite a full-court press campaign to shift the blame away from Republicans for the shutdown which has admittedly softened numbers by a few points, voters are still set to blame them by a large plurality. For every bad thing they read about the shutdown, every personal inconvenience they suffer or hear about from friends and neighbors. If, in CD-6, voters come to associate Coffman's face with all of the negative consequences of the shutdown–especially as it persists and the effects worsen–this could be a lasting, even decisive, gift to Democrats in this race.

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Airtight Shutdown Denial From Coffman, Tipton

Rep. Scott Tipton (R).

?In the Craig Daily Press, a statement from GOP Rep. Scott Tipton on how he really tried, tried mind you, along with his fellow House Republicans, to avoid shutting down the government Tuesday:

As I’ve said throughout this process, my constituents have sent a strong message that they do not want Obamacare because it’s raising health care costs, restricting access to care and costing jobs in our communities.

The House is listening to the concerns of our constituents and has done everything possible to effectively address Obamacare and keep the government open. It’s unfortunate that the Senate and president would rather force a government shutdown than listen to Americans or even have a conversation about possible alternatives to Obamacare to create a truly affordable and accessible health care system.

On Monday night, we voted once more to heed the call of the American people by sending legislation for the third time to the Senate to keep the government open, as well as to go to conference with the Senate. We fought to require equal treatment for all Americans under Obamacare by delaying the individual mandate and repealing the unfair subsidies that the president issued for Congress. There should be no special treatment in Obamacare for Congress or anybody else, and since the president already has exempted businesses and other special interests from the Obamacare train wreck, he needs to do the same for hard-working American families and individuals.

Despite this, the Senate voted down the continuing resolution that would have treated all Americans fairly under Obamacare and even went as far as to refuse to go to conference with the House to work out a solution to keep the government open. It’s deeply troubling that the Senate and president are willing to shut down government in order to protect special treatment for some, including Obamacare carve-outs for Congress, while hard-working Americans are forced to bear the burden of this bad law.

Rep. Mike Coffman (R).

?For a thorough debunking of Tipton's "Obamacare carve-outs for Congress" falsehood, see this FactCheck.org entry. We haven't checked to see if this statement is actually verbatim duplicated talking points, but it's pretty close. And as the Denver Post's Allison Sherry reports, the other "competitive" Republican representative from Colorado, Rep. Mike Coffman, says he too is not yet ready to endorse a "clean" continuing resolution to reopen the government:

“This is a negotiation,” Coffman said. “I think there’s a belief that compromise is wrong but I believe that to govern, particularly in divided government, you have to compromise.”

He said he was considering supporting a continuing resolution to fund the government that also repealed the unpopular medical device tax — something both Democrats and Republicans have said they’d like to reform.

Sherry's report on Coffman was in the context of word that a growing number of Republicans would be willing to support a "clean" continuing resolution, meaning a bill to fund the government without undoing the Affordable Care Act. But no Colorado Republican members of Congress as of this writing are willing to join them. To the extent that the shutdown of the federal government is highly unpopular, we would have recommended that the swing-district embattled Rep. Coffman in particular have joined Republicans seeking a quick resolution.

As of this writing, no such wisdom has prevailed.

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Government Shutdown Day 3 Open Thread

"The whole country is one vast insane asylum and they're letting the worst patients run the place."

–Robert W. Welch, Jr.

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Government Shutdown Day 2 Open Thread

This is the Tea Party strategy as I see it.

1)  Just about a week ago, Cruz did his 21 hour rant against Obamacare.  This did two things-Put Cruz in the spotlight and highlighted the arguments against Obamacare.

On the same day, tea party people fired a shot across the bow of the “Republican elite,” charging them with “thwarting the will of the people” and intimating them with the possibility of tea party challenges, not just in district elections, but for party positions.

The goal was to force Boehner into a “no compromise” position on defunding Obamacare or to delay funding for a year, in the Continuing Resolutions that the House sent to the Senate. And, to convince Boehner not to allow a vote on the “clean” CR from the Senate.  Cruz lobbied Republicans in the House and by Saturday, he had cowed Boehner, who is now on board with that strategy.

The Republicans are talking about a “united front” behind Cruz with Boehner supporting the Cruz/tea party faction.  Cruz was all over Sunday talk shows consolidating his position.

 (Evidently, there are enough Democratic and Republican votes in the House to pass the Senate clean CR resolution; but allowing that vote would cost Boehner his Speakership.  I don’t understand the latter contention because I don’t understand what the “rogue” Republicans would do….the “rogue” Republicans are now the moderates, like Peter King.)

The first part of the Tea Party strategy was successful.

2) The second part of the strategy was to allow the government shut down. 

3) The third part of the strategy is to capitalize on the glitches in the Obama care new health insurance “exchanges” and the increase in some premiums and other problems attributed to Obama Care.  Talk radio is critical to this PR effort.  Yesterday, the lines

were open all day as people called in to complain about crashing websites and in comprehensible instructions.  The goal here was to create public opinion that Obamacare

was so awful that the republicans were right to try and defund or postpone its implementation.

I am not so sure that this is working.  People are frustrated with the technological problems, but, my sense is that the public wants the problems fixed NOW without anymore delays.  This is strategy that may backfire on the Republicans.

4) The ongoing House republican strategy now is to:

  – Influence public opinion by sending small funding bills to the Senate that would fund popular programs…such as VA services and National Parks.  It is anticipated that Reid would not allow such bills to come to the Senate floor and the repubs would then publicize Reid’s refusal.

-Attempt to break the solidarity among Democrats in the Senate by “pealing off”

One or two vulnerable Democratic Senators with such bills.  Joe Manchin of West Virginia is sent as one potential break away.

-Work to shift blame from Congress to the President, i.e. “ The President won’t negotiate and won’t intervene to help break the deadlock.”  Chris Christie, certainly not a Tea Party favorite, but part of the new “United Front” initiated this campaign by his attack on Obama, yesterday, for not “being in charge.”  (Talk radio is reporting that Obama wanted to get Reid and Boehner together in the White House and Reid refused.  This may not be factual, but it is the kind of rumor that can be spread via talk radio.)

President Obama is scheduled for a trip to the Far East shortly. If he leaves the country, with the government shut-down and Congress in deadlock, I predict, the public will turn against him and with that, the dems will lost all leverage.

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Cantor’s Poignant Demonstration of Empty Shutdown Rhetoric

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) today served up two scoops of delicious irony, and perhaps the best illustration possible of the difference between bluster and policymaking. From Cantor's Twitter feed:

Except, they were actually setting up for a press conference. Hence the half-table left empty for media microphones.

The Colbert skit writes itself, doesn't it?

Colorado native, young professional, progressive cowgirl. 4-term FPE (aka masochist).

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Government Shutdown Day 1 Open Thread

"You can't make anything idiot proof because idiots are so ingenious."

–Ron Burns

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As Federal Shutdown Nears, Fingers Pointing at Republicans

UPDATE: New ABC/Washington Post poll shows similarly bad polling numbers for Republicans on the eve of a shutdown:

Republicans’ weaker standing stems from lower marks from political independents but also fellow Republicans.

Only about a third of independents approve of Obama’s work on the budget (34 percent), but an even smaller 21 percent support congressional Republicans (congressional Democrats fall in the middle at 27 percent).

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No real surprise here, as CNN reports:

The Democratic-led Senate on Monday afternoon rejected a proposal by the Republican-led House to delay Obamacare for a year and repeal a tax on medical devices, increasing the chances no deal to avert a shutdown would be reached.

House Speaker John Boehner now must decide how to respond with the Senate again rejecting attempts to halt Obamacare. He could put a "clean" spending provision to a vote…

As we've mentioned previously in this space, polling has been clear for weeks that Americans will blame Republicans in the event of a government shutdown:

A new CNN/ORC poll shows that Americans are not happy about the prospect of a shutdown, which is happening because Congress has been unable to pass a budget for the new fiscal year that begins Tuesday.

According to the poll, 68% of Americans think shutting down the government for even a few days is a bad idea, while 27% think it's a good idea.

And it appears most Americans would blame congressional Republicans for a shutdown: Sixty-nine percent said they agreed with the statement that the party's elected officials were acting like "spoiled children." [Pols emphasis] Democrats, however, weren't far behind: Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they too were acting like spoiled kids.

There is still time for House Republicans to do something besides just try to please their Tea Party masters. It will be interesting to see if House Speaker John Boehner can appeal to reason before a shutdown is implemented, or if he has just given up and, in effect, ceded leadership to Sen. Ted Cruz.

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GOP Trades Shutdown Frying Pan For Debt Ceiling Fire?

Ready for Round 2?

That's the latest report from the Washington Post today:

With federal agencies set to close their doors in five days, House Republicans began exploring a potential detour on the path to a shutdown: shifting the fight over President Obama’s health-care law to a separate bill that would raise the nation's debt limit.

If it works, the strategy could clear the way for the House to approve a simple measure to keep the government open into the new fiscal year, which will begin Tuesday, without hotly contested provisions to defund the Affordable Care Act.

But it would set the stage for an even more nerve-racking deadline on Oct. 17, with conservatives using the threat of the nation’s first default on its debt to force the president to accept a one-year delay of the health-care law’s mandates, taxes and benefits…

Obama said he would not negotiate delays or other changes to the law as part of budget talks or the debt ceiling process, saying “the Affordable Care Act is here to stay.”

Economically, the consequences of Congress refusing to raise the so-called "debt ceiling" would be far greater than the impacts of a government shutdown. The last major impasse over raising the debt ceiling in 2011 was extremely costly to Republicans politically, helping sink already-dismal approval ratings for Congress in truly unprecedented territory. Each episode helps convince undecided voters that Republicans, as a party, are more interested in ideological fits of pique than governing–and risking the nation's credit rating is just not a responsible thing to do.

But if that's the road Republicans want to go down again, they'll have no one to blame but themselves when–and not if–it blows up on their faces as it did two years ago.

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Doug Lamborn Muddles Through Obamacare Shutdown Debate

Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado Springs).

As the Colorado Springs Gazette's Tom Roeder reports, Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs is sort of worried about the consequences of a shutdown of the federal government in his party's increasingly desperate battle to kill the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare. After all:

A government shutdown should be avoided, Lamborn said. In his military-heavy 5th Congressional District, as much as 40 percent of the economy is based on Pentagon spending.

The Defense Department has warned that a shutdown would delay paychecks for troops and payment on contracts. It would be the first time since the Revolutionary War that the military has delayed pay during wartime.

"No one wants a government shutdown," Lamborn said.

With that said, gentle reader,

[H]e might embrace a shutdown if it puts a wooden stake in Obamacare.

"As bad as a delay of pay would be, we have to remember that Obamacare is causing tremendous turmoil in the economy," Lamborn said. [Pols emphasis]

We seriously doubt the soldiers and defense contractors in his district would agree with that tradeoff. But the fact is, Lamborn's boilerplate rhetoric, and his party's endless fiscal brinkmanship, has always conflicted with the massive economic dependency of the 5th District on government funding and spending. It's a conflict that has been thrown in sharp relief over and over, from Lamborn's hypocritical disaster relief requests–after accusing the administration of using disaster relief to curry political favor, and voting against Hurricane Sandy relief–to the local business Mitt Romney toured last year that received a pile of stimulus money.

F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously wrote that "the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." If Rep. Lamborn is any guide, Fitzgerald was mistaken–we don't know anybody who'd call him a "first-rate intelligence." At the very least, Lamborn is not living up to the "ability to function" part.

Which is, of course, the part that matters.

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