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.

…than expect republicans in Congress to act rationally.

While we waited for the International Space Station to cross the sky this evening we took a few photos of the moon.

F32, 1 second, ISO 100, 200mm.

Lunacy is certainly the norm in republican Washington.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D), via Twitter:

Claire McCaskill ‏@clairecmc

Did House go home? 1:39 PM – 12 Oct 13

Yep, that’s insanity.

Today, at the top of the White House web site:

“Due to Congress’s failure to pass legislation to fund the government, the information on this web site

may not be up to date. Some submissions may not be processed, and we may not be able to respond to your inquiries.”

That’s using your pulpit to smack down bullies. Heh.  

The republican instigated government shutdown continues…

From Senator Claire McCaskill (D) today, via Twitter:

Claire McCaskill ‏@clairecmc

Working at Capitol. In caucus. 11:52 AM – 12 Oct 13

A sample of constituent responses:

Kevin ‏@KevinWalsh222

so do you think the R senators saying “we lost it was a dumb move” are falling on swords to bring down “joe mcccarthy cruz”?@clairecmc 11:55 AM – 12 Oct 13

sean patrick ‏@RoRuckus

@clairecmc Hang in there! 11:56 AM – 12 Oct 13

tlcesq ‏@tlcesq

@clairecmc 1) Nuclear option. 2) don’t cave. 11:56 AM – 12 Oct 13

Evidently, not into compromise for the sake of compromise or the sensibilities of the inside the beltway cocktail weenie circuit.

Scotts Contracting ‏@StLHandyMan

@clairecmc Be Part of the Solution is my advice…Don’t cave to the #GOP. #StayTheCourse they are on the Ropes and grasping for anything 12:01 PM – 12 Oct 13

Bison as metaphor ‏@bidwell_g

@clairecmc but can anything not harmful get done w/ GOP intransigent as molasses in winter? do not capitulate else pattern shall repeat 12:01 PM – 12 Oct 13

And there are a few responses from teabaggers who want the world to burn down. It’s in their nature.

And the republicans in Congress?:

NBC/WSJ poll: Shutdown debate damages GOP

….By a 22-point margin (53 percent to 31 percent), the public blames the Republican Party more for the shutdown than President Barack Obama – a wider margin of blame for the GOP than the party received during the poll during the last shutdown in 1995-96.

Just 24 percent of respondents have a favorable opinion about the GOP, and only 21 percent have a favorable view of the Tea Party, which are both at all-time lows in the history of poll….

….a whopping 70 percent say congressional Republicans are putting politics first….

[emphasis added]

Today, Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) via Twitter:

Rep. Vicky Hartzler ‏@RepHartzler

Did you know, Obamacare increases premiums in #MO 107% for young men and 36% for young women? #ObamacareFails 10:58 AM – 11 Oct 13

Some constituent replies:

Isaac Baumann ‏@Lunchboxc

@RepHartzler Did you know I’m 107% voting against you? 11:00 AM – 11 Oct 13

Terry Fillow ‏@Fillows4

@RepHartzler I think someone didn’t do her homework & is using talking points. 11:03 AM – 11 Oct 13

Bob Yates ‏@OldDrum

@RepHartzler No, I did not know that. Did you just make that up? 11:04 AM – 11 Oct 13

A skeptic. I wonder why.

Randall Rogers ‏@Randy520

@RepHartzler DO you know that I hope and pray that you willl not be re elected I really thought I had voted for the right person me the fool 11:08 AM – 11 Oct 13

Ah, buyer’s remorse.

Avocet ‏@_Avocet

@RepHartzler Step away from the shutdown and we can talk. #RepublicanWankers 11:11 AM – 11 Oct 13

Chris Clause ‏@ChrisClause1

@RepHartzler what will premium increases be long-term without Obamacare? 12:56 PM – 11 Oct 13

Frank Funaro ‏@FrankFunaro

@RepHartzler Did you know approval of the ACA has increased and #GOP is the most despised party in history since your #GOPshutdown? 1:55 PM – 11 Oct 13

In case anyone was wondering.

Rita Wheeler ‏@rwmw7172

@RepHartzler #Obamacare saves lives. For those who had 0% insurance premiums before, any cost is going to be over 100% – duh. 2:49 PM – 11 Oct 13

They’re not particularly happy, are they?

There was a story on one of the morning infotainment shows early today about a restaurant chain franchise donating one day of profits to help make up some of the loss in survivor benefits for military casualties which have been suspended due to the government shutdown. The person representing the franchise stated (paraphrased), “If enough people contribute it can be taken care of…”

I believe that’s the point of taxes in a representative democracy.

I await the arrival of a giant asteroid.  

From 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. this evening during “rush hour” in Warrensburg, at the corner of Maguire and Business 50, seven individuals picketed against the federal government shutdown. Three of the individual pickets were veterans. Warrensburg is in Missouri’s 4th Congressional District and is represented in Washington by Vicky Hartzler (r). Esquire‘s Charles P. Pierce leads with Representative Hartzler (r) in Meet the Morons Who Caused the Shutdown.

Whiteman Air Force Base is located ten miles east of Warrensburg. There is a significant population of military retirees, active duty personnel, and civilian DoD employees who live in the Warrensburg area.

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. That shouldn’t be a surprise considering the number of local people who were affected by the DoD furloughs. On occasion, when traffic was stopped at the light, the pickets engaged in conversations with drivers and passengers.

Two thumbs up.

“End the shutdown, do your job Vicky”

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)