Representative Vicky Hartzler (r). [file photo]

A letter to the editor in a small local paper in the 4th Congressional District:

The Federal Debt Ceiling is a result of the second Liberty Bonds Act of 1917.

Its purpose was to allow the department of the treasury to sell bonds in an orderly manner to pay the national debt. It set an upper limit on borrowing (accomplished by the sale of treasury bonds) to pay current debt.

It was modified numerous times through the 1920’s and 30″s and in 1939 a general limit was put into place. That limit has been raised numerous times over the years to allow the government to pay its bills. It has absolutely nothing to do with future spending. It is a cap set by congress on how much the federal government can borrow to pay its bills.

Raising the debt limit has been done 40 times under Republican administrations and 24 during Democratic Administrations. It has rarely attracted much controversy except for the party out of power to point out what a big spender the current administration is.

The debt limit has been modified ten times since 2001. The government shut down briefly with dire economic consequences during the time Newt Gingerich was speaker and increases in the upper limit have passed without much ado until President Obama Was elected.

Extreme elements in congress including our congresswoman Hartzler have pouted profusely and pulled all kinds of shenanigans each time an increase to pay existing debt was needed.

This time they have exceeded their previous antics by signing a letter to Speaker Boehner demanding that radical changes be made to our social security program.

Holding Social Security Hostage is not acceptable.

Here in Hickory County a large portion of our people rely on social security benefits for a basic living. Those not yet drawing benefits have paid into a system for years in anticipation. Changes proposed by the Tea Party republicans are unnecessary and unacceptable and are an outright attack on a system that has worked since long before I was born and I am seventy years old.

Vicky Hartzler is not working for Hickory County’s people. We encourage Speaker Boehner to allow congress a vote on a clean continuing resolution.

J C Owsley

Cross Timbers, Missouri [….]

[with permission of the author]

Previously:

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): they ain’t buying what you got to sell (October 17, 2013)

Protesting the budget shutdown – Warrensburg, Missouri – October 16, 2013 (October 16, 2013)

Technology and social media certainly have changed the way we access information about our elected officials. In the old days we might have written a letter or called our representative’s office. Now people can respond on Twitter and facebook. And everyone else can read it.

A sampling of comments posted on Representative Vicky Hartzler’s (r) facebook page in response to her statement about voting against the bill to reopen the federal government and raise the debt ceiling:

[….] I look forward to reading what you and your colleagues gained by costing the economy $24 billion. Your vote means that you would destroy the American economy to prevent expanding the number of people who can get health care.

[….] Please work with the others in Congress to avoid this type of shutdown situation and default in a couple of months.

So did you or did you not read the bill before voting on it?

[….] I think it’s awfully brave of you to fight the good fight. It’s an amazing sacrifice for a millionaire with a nearly $130,000 salary to give up just over 10 grand. I hope you continue the good fight by returning all of the nearly 1 million dollars you’ve received in farm subsidies as well. I also think you should do the right thing, and reject the onerous impacts of Obamacare by voluntarily withdrawing yourself and your family and and future qualifiers in your family from your vile government provided health care. (You probably have already withdrawn from it, due to the fact that you possibly couldn’t let a government bureaucrat determine your health care status.) In fact, you should make an effort, along with your colleagues to refund the millions of Americans who just received a very principled raise in their mortgages due to the devalued rating of government bonds. I hope you continue to make such sacrificial principled stands, and that you’re just so willing willing to have other people suffer for your principles.

[….] Perhaps the farm subsidy you receive with tax funds should be discontinued to help reduce the burden of debt.

[….] I thought about writing a carefully thought out and logical response to why I think you are totally wrong with your vote. Then I realized that, with all due respect, you just don’t get it. You would rather send our economy and even the global economy into a tailspin just because you…..ahhhh, why even try to explain it, you are a nitwit. And these other people that are supporting you….why don’t you just move to another country if you hate Obama so much. C’mon, people, admit it, you just can’t stand that he won reelection. I’m not his biggest fan, but at least he is better than one of the tea party idiots.

[….] Jesus would be so proud of you, for thinking about money before thinking about health care for the poor.

[….] I cannot support anyone so blinded by rhetoric that they are willing to burn down the barn, to kill a mouse. Am pretty much mortified that you represent my home.

[….] give up your own government benefits, the healtb care, the farm subsidies, the pension then you can talk about how fiscally responsible you are.

[….] Thank god common sense prevailed in spite of you.

[….] You are a worthless representative and a coward at heart. You would crash the economy? What goes around comes around. We will remind voters in November of next year that you were a hypocrite who said you were going to DC to solve problems and instead went there and created them. Say goodbye to your cushy job because you have let your electorate down!

[….] You supported the default of the United States of America. You have no idea of the consequences of your actions and therefore have no business representing the good people of this state. We deserve better, smarter and more dedicated people not only to your district, but in service to your country. You failed on both. We will remember what happened today.

[….] oh yeah get fiscally responsible after you vote FOR farm subsidies which YOU recieve. you are not fiscally responsible (no one who votes for subsidies for businesses can claim that title), you are simply a greedy opportunist.

[….] Raising the so-called debt ceiling is in NO WAY comparable with increasing a credit card limit or giving someone a blank check. Spending is NOT initiated by the Executive Branch — CONGRESS commits to spending via appropriations bills; the Executive Branch simply needs the authority to pay the bills Congress runs up, and raising the debt ceiling provides that authority.

Please stop lying to your constituents.

[….] At least the 800,000 employees you laid off have some relief. You and the other Tea Baggers have no respect for the working class in your district or your Country. Where is the GOP healthcare alternative for the millions of Americans without healthcare? If you truly are opposed to Government run healthcare put your money where your mouth is and give yours up!

[….] I give no thanks for your work. Your work does not express your stated values. People in your state are hurting while others are beyond thriving and getting rich off subsidies. The subsidies are a purchased commodity and not fairly distributed. And people are suffering with little or no assurance of food, health, or shelter.

[….] Very disturbed that you would support shutting down the government in order to deny healthcare to your constituents. The Affordable Care Act means my child with a pre-existing condition can not be denied insurance – something that’s been a major worry for our family.

[….] You voted to not raise the debt ceiling meaning that you voted to not pay bills that you yourself wrote. If I did that, I would go to jail.

[….] Sure Mrs. Hero, no problem when certain peoples just wasted billions to prove a pointless point.

[….] Tell it to the people who were laid off thanks to Boehner’s tantrum. You cry about Obamacare, and yet offer nothing to the millions of Americans who simply cannot afford to get sick.

[….] Vicky, you surely did not represent me in this last month. What a huge disappointment you’ve been.

[….] There was nothing good about this little stunt. You cost the American people BILLIONS of dollars. It’s time for Ms Hartzler to go back to Hartzler Farm and collect more government assistance.

[….] Thank goodness a few congresspeople were not able to subvert a law duly passed by the entire Congress and vetted by the Supreme Court. I will continue to vote for candidates who promote policies who serve all our citizens, rather than obstructionists who are willing to abandon a majority of our citizens.

[….] Keep raking in those hundreds of thousands of dollars of farm subsidies, Vicky.

[….] You’ll never have my vote, Vickie. Reckless.

[….] I’m not quite sure how costing the country $24 billion, dragging us to the edge of default, furloughing a significant portion of the work force, putting benefits for disabled veterans and children at risk, etc. constitutes fiscal responsibility, compassion, or any of the things you seem to think you were fighting for. [….]

[….] Ms. Hartzler. You are an ignorant fool. The deficit has gone down steadily for the last three years. The Affordable Care Act pays for itself. You voted for the farm bill that provides subsidies for you and corporate agriculture. You continued to be paid while your actions undermined the economy of the whole world and the strength of the dollar while people like my husband continued their jobs without pay. You are despicable and I am ashamed to be your constituent. Not that you care. You obviously do not care one whit about the people you swore to represent.

[….] But what your not telling us is the simplicity of the matter. You voted for default. You voted for our interest rates on our investment to plummet, you voted for China to actually act on the statement to “start building a de-Americanize world” because because of abnormality [IE: TP] in the US political body. Only 2 examples of what default means. This is not fiscal responsibility this is foot stomping of matter you apparently know very little about.

[….] As a constituent, there simply are not words available to me to describe the low opinion I have of the ideology to which you adhere in spite of ample evidence of its malignancy.

[….] Oh give it a rest. You’re still playing politics. You drove our country to the brink of disaster with you’re foolishness and tea party antics and the American people know it. And they will remember.

[….] I think you and your Teapublican colleagues were treasonous by voting to allow our country to go over the credit default cliff. My retirement account would have been worthless if that would have happened. Oh by the way the shutdown cost the economy $24 billion. When will you and your colleagues repay the public for this political stunt? Oh I know you and your colleagues will try to raid Social Security and cut/deny retirees and near retirees of their benefits. You need to publicly say that signing the Ribble Letter was a big mistake and you cannot in good conscious support Paul Ryan’s proposed cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

[….] Think about your statement, Vicky. “I could not in good faith support a plan that continues to hurt Americans”. That is a noble notion certainly, but you don’t know anymore than anyone else how this will eventually play out. You may be wrong….we may be wrong. It might just help Americans when all is said and done. Continuing though……you didn’t want to hurt Americans, you said, you voted in favor of something that would continue to shut down the government and allow our nation to default on its promises. You don’t think that would have hurt Americans….both in and outside of the 4th District? I really, really question your judgment on this. Ideology over country. This will haunt you into the next election. It’s an issue that needs to be dealt with.

[….] Ms Hartzler, I am very disappointed that you voted against the best interests of the country, and that you continue to promulgate these lies about health insurance and the debt limit.

[….] Ms Hartzler, I am very disappointed that you voted against the best interests of the country, and that you continue to promulgate these lies about health insurance and the debt limit.

And on, and on, and on….

Proud to be an anarchist and vandal:

Rep. Vicky Hartzler ‏@RepHartzler

I voted against funding #Obamacare and giving the Administration a blank check. Must think of future generations. [….] 9:31 PM – 16 Oct 13

A constituent is not impressed:

Matt Hendon ‏@MMHen22

@RepHartzler you voted to extend the #governmentshutdown and to default on our promises. Disappointed constituent. 9:36 PM – 16 Oct 13

And another:

Sarah Nussbaum ‏@saratastic

@MBersin @ssnich Apparently she isn’t too in love with her hundreds of thousands in crop subsidies each year on top of her house salary? 9:40 PM – 16 Oct 13

Previously:

A tale created by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing (October 16, 2013)

Via Twitter:

Sean Nicholson ‏@ssnich

Who in MO’s delegation voted for default? 9:13 PM – 16 Oct 13

Michael Bersin ‏@MBersin

@ssnich Guess. Actually, bet your mortgage payment on it. You’ll be completely safe. 9:16 PM – 16 Oct 13

Judd Legum ‏@JuddLegum

144 members of Congress vote for default, all Republicans 9:23 PM – 16 Oct 13

From Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D):

Nancy Pelosi ‏@NancyPelosi

The unnecessary shutdown America endured for 16 days has come to an end. Speaker finally did the right thing and allowed the House to vote. 9:20 PM – 16 Oct 13

Previously:

Protesting the budget shutdown – Warrensburg, Missouri – October 9, 2013 (October 9, 2013)

From 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. this evening during “rush hour” in Warrensburg, at the corner of Maguire and Business 50, six individuals picketed against the federal government shutdown.

Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) was one of fifty republican members of the House to sign a letter stating that Social Security should

be part of the debt/budget/fiscal negotiation process. Interestingly, Social Security does not contribute to the deficit or debt.

A supporter. The pickets’ signs will probably end up on social media, you know, like Twitter or Instagram.

In the hour that the group picketed they were greeted with supportive horn honking and “thumbs up”. There was a much smaller number of negative comments, including one person who yelled that “[Representative] Vicky [Hartzler (r)] was doing the right thing.” On occasion, when traffic was stopped at the light, the pickets engaged in conversations with drivers and passengers. One individual asked “Who’s Vicky?”

Probably not too concerned about the federal government shutdown or approaching the debt ceiling.

Also, previously:  

Rep. Vicky Harztler (R): go tell it to the Speaker (r) (October 1, 2013)

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): well, that didn’t go so well (October 2, 2013)

Because there weren’t television cameras at Head Start (October 3, 2013)

The greatest generation (October 3, 2013)

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D): I get reasonable communications from those who disagree with me (October 4, 2013)

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): for every season, spin, spin, spin, there is a reason, spin, spin, spin… (October 5, 2013)

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): climate change comes to the teabagger caucus (October 5, 2013)

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): voting to fund government one news story at a time (October 8, 2013)

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): “I <3 our national parks.” (October 9, 2013)

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): we can safely bet that your approval isn’t at 107% (October 11, 2013)

…like a fish without a bicycle (October 15, 2013)

An op-ed by Jim Staab, Professor of Political Science at the University of Central Missouri  [submitted by the author]:

The Anti-Federalists were those who opposed the Constitution.  Believing that the proposed Constitution gave too much power to the federal government, particularly the Senate and the presidency, they voted against ratification.  Patrick Henry, the fiery Anti-Federalist from Virginia, did not attend the Constitutional Convention because, in his words, “I smelt a Rat.”  The tea party is the modern-day version of the Anti-Federalists.  They are vehemently anti-government and are quick to label all federal programs as “socialist.”  They would strongly support Henry’s famous quip: “Give me liberty or give me death.”  The government shutdown is the latest example of the tea party’s anti-government zealotry.  Not happy with Obamacare, the tea party is attempting to highjack the law by shutting down the government, and the leadership in the House of Representatives has lacked the political courage to stand up to this fringe element of the party.  

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010.  Congress and the president passed the law with the following facts in mind:  15 percent of the American people were uninsured; health care costs account for 17 percent of the national economy; most insurance companies excluded coverage for pre-existing injuries or illnesses; and there was substantial cost-shifting in the current system.  Those who did not have insurance (either because they could not afford it or they did not think they needed it) passed on the cost of required medical services to current policy holders in the form of higher premiums.  On average the cost of uncompensated care raised family health insurance policies by $1,000 per year.  In an attempt to make health care more affordable for all Americans, ACA prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and imposes an individual mandate.  With a few exceptions, all Americans are required to purchase health care.  By bringing more people into the system, the federal government contends that the cost of insurance will go down.  Those on the left, who wanted a single-payer system, criticized the president for not going far enough.  Obamacare ironically originated with the conservative Heritage Foundation, which proposed the individual mandate as a way of accomplishing near universal health care while still maintaining private insurance.  The individual mandate was first tried in Massachusetts, during Governor Romney’s tenure as governor, and it has largely been successful.  After careful scrutiny in the federal courts, including 5 and 1/2 hours of oral argument at the Supreme Court, the nation’s highest tribunal upheld Obamacare in 2012.  While the law could certainly have been sustained pursuant to Congress’s commerce power, a majority of the Court, in an opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, upheld the law pursuant to Congress’s taxing power.  

If one opposes Obamacare (as many of the tea partiers do), there are a number of democratic options to take.  The most obvious method is to repeal the law.  On 37 occasions House Republicans have voted to repeal Obamacare, but they haven’t had the constitutionally-required support of the Senate.  Another democratic way to change the law is for the American people to elect public officials who promise to repeal it.   That hasn’t happened.  Despite the best efforts of Mitch McConnell, the minority Republican leader of the Senate, to see that President Obama would not be reelected, he was.  And despite the vulnerabilities Democrats faced in holding a majority in the Senate in 2012, they accomplished that too.  So, since the House Republicans have not been able to repeal Obamacare democratically, what has been their alternative?  They have chosen to tie the funding of Obamacare to the continued operations of the federal government.  Beginning October 1st, 800,000 federal employees have been furloughed, many federal agencies are not open for business, national parks and monuments are closed, some estimates predict the cost to the national economy will be $300 million daily, and a default on the national debt looms on October 17.  Congress’s approval rating stands at an all-time low (10 percent), and there’s little chance a government shutdown will improve matters.  I hope the American people will hold the tea party and the Republican leadership of the House responsible for the unfortunate, unnecessary, reckless, disgraceful, and ultimately harmful (domestically and internationally) shutdown of the U.S. federal government.

The clock is ticking:

Reign Of Morons: Apotheosis

By Charles P. Pierce at 7:45AM

….That is the state to which the whole thing has devolved. The denizens of the monkeyhouse are bringing the world economy to the brink of chaos in order to fk their own staffs over on health insurance. Or at least that’s what they say. In reality, what  this is about is a rump faction of one of our two major political parties that doesn’t think we should have a federal government at all, that wants to roll back its functions to a state half-past the Articles of Confederation, and that is doing so while believing itself to be some unholy combination of the Founding Fathers and the X-Men. They have cast themselves in their own action adventure movie, and the rest of us serve pretty much the same function as New York City does in The Avengers. We’re the set decoration that gets demolished as Our Heroes fight evil. These are pathetic, worthless children, playing dress-up, and smashing things because they like the sound of things breaking….

Senator Claire McCaskill (D), via Twitter:

Claire McCaskill ‏@clairecmc

Sending our country over a fiscal cliff is not conservative. It is reckless and irresponsible. 6:55 AM – 16 Oct 13

Uh, you can’t negotiate compromise with children who are playing dress-up and smashing things because they like the sound of things breaking.

Cue the asteroid.

At the White House petition site:

Due to Congress’s failure to pass legislation to fund

the government, We the People has been temporarily disabled.

As a result, you will be unable to create or sign We the People petitions. Once government funding has been restored, We the People will be reenabled. Petitions that were open as of October 1, 2013 will have their deadlines extended.

[….]

It appears the teabaggers in the House have stopped a vote.

Cue the asteroid.