If you're wondering what the next ridiculously destructive posturing move House Republicans are going to be embarking upon (other than seeking reelection), it just might be outlined in a letter that they sent to Speaker of the House John Boehner.
Details started coming out this week about the letter, which asks House leadership "not to bring to the House floor in the 112th Congress any legislation that provides or allows funds to implement ObamaCare."
That, it would seem, indicates that Republicans are going to stage some kind of a fuss over the funding of the government, which has to be renewed either via a new budget (not likely, given the looney-toons proposals of the right) or a continuing resolution by October 1. Not passing one, or causing some showdown between the House, Senate, and White House, would, in theory, shut down the government about a month before Election Day.
And Florida Republicans are sooo in favor.
Of the state's 19 Republican House members, 11 signed the letter to Boehner: Jeff Miller, Steve Southerland, Richard Nugent, Cliff Stearns, John Mica, Gus Bilirakis, Bill Young, Dennis Ross, Sandy Adams, Connie Mack, and Allen West.
Boehner said he's not going for the idea of using the appropriations process to strangle laws, according to Talking Points Memo, though that doesn't mean the Floridians (and 116 of their closest friends) won't try to force the issue, because why not, eh? Temporarily shuttering the entire federal infrastructure is a small price to pay in the fight against creeping socialism.
West, for his part, tried to diffuse the situation last time the Republicans started taking hostages -- he (rather cartoonishly) supported the debt-ceiling deal before it was approved. He supported the whole "supercommittee" business and the steep cuts ("sequestration") that would be levied if the committee couldn't find the necessary cuts.
Now, of course, he's saying exactly the opposite. He tweeted earlier this week that "sequestration is damaging to our troops" and that you should really "watch my emotional speech on the house floor."
In that speech, he reverses his stance from supporting the compromise to calling it a "dark spectre that hangs over our country." Whatever it is, it's Congress' fault. It had a chance to avoid that whole mess and failed miserably.
West and his equally unreasonable colleagues aren't willing to honor that deal -- why should we have any faith in them to keep the government running instead of using it as leverage for their reelection campaigns against Obamacare?
Defund Obamacare Letter
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