All Gloves Should Now Be Off

So: They did it.  We get what we sowed when Obama and the Dems continued for years to treat people who act in bad faith as though the next round of negotiations could be done in good faith.  I'm not arguing that there was anything that Obama and the Dems could have or should have done differently, exactly, once Ted Cruz decided to use the entire world as his litter box to increase his standing in a hypothetical future presidential election.  But from the get go the Dems have allowed the Republicans, to come back to the bargaining table over and over and over again without destroying their worst actors.  They negotiated in bad faith all the way through the ACA and for every year since.  Boehner, in particular, at the behest of his caucus has always thrown extraneous stuff at the wall just to see what sticks. There has never been any punishment for that.  Seldom even a call out.

For example, right up until yesterday a Democrat was arguing that the Democrats had already negotiated and already compromised because they "let the sequester stand" in the current Senate CR.  She seemed to be arguing that the Republicans owed us a pity-vote for being such good sports.  Well, that's not the way they roll. And we shouldn't have either.   No agreements with the Republicans in the House or the Senate should ever be reached again without an exchange of hostages (and not the stupid ones that led to the sequester) and, frankly, if I were the Dems I'd try to take a scalp and demand Boehner shoot one of his caucus--lets take the fat boy from Texas, Sissy Farenthold's step grandson the perv.

The moment the Republicans started going back to the non-negotiating table the Democrats should have voted on repealing the Sequester line by line and re-installing everything that had been taken out. Perhaps Reid couldn't do that because of Senate rules, or because he couldn't get even the angry old guy Republicans to go along with it but I think the Dems should have made more of this point all the way along.

At least now they are proposing to stop with the comity and take out the knives (Roll Call)

Senate Democrats are considering leaking a series of emails between the chiefs of staff of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker John A. Boehner regarding employer contributions to congressional staff health care plans, multiple top-level sources said late Monday.

Senate Democratic chiefs of staff discussed the emails between Reid chief David Krone and Boehner chief Mike Sommers at a recent meeting, according to a source with direct knowledge of the meeting.

Leaking the emails would be unusual, given the taboo over disclosing personal communications between top staffers. But the missives also would reveal Boehner’s position on employer subsidies for congressional staff. Democrats believe the Ohio Republican’s decision to attach an amendment to revoke those contributions to the most recent House continuing resolution was a direct shot at vulnerable Senate Democrats up in 2014.

Senate Democrats believe that Republican efforts to force a vote on what some in the GOP have characterized as a congressional “exemption” are designed to politically corner Democrats like Kay Hagan of North Carolina or Mark Pryor in Arkansas, who represent more conservative states. Democrats contend that Republicans just want to campaign on the issue,while hoping the amendment will not pass.

But this really isn't enough. I hope the Dems have some serious dirt to release, county by county, in the home states of these assholes. I hope they are pursued by hordes of angry federal workers. I want the Dems to introduce a bill as soon as they get back into power that says that if you vote for a government shut down when a clean bill is on the table your county is put last in line for a return to federal money and FEMA aid and everything else.

In case I didn't make myself clear enough: I want Obama to grind their bones to make my bread.

--Aimai X posted at No More Mr. Nice Blog