All Drama, No Responsibility

Round and round and round, we go. Where we'll land, nobody knows? Fall is fast approaching, so the G-O-TEA must manufacture a new crisis!

However, this manufactured crisis isn't actually new. Once again, the G-O-TEA gang are threatening a debt ceiling fiasco, federal government shutdown, and economic catastrophe all rolled into one. And now that the Senate Republicans who were thought to be interested in a budget deal are now walking away, we're likely in for another month of fiscal histrionics in September.

And of course, this also means House Republicans have a haute new excuse to kill comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). And so far, they look to be taking this path. And only that, but they're facing "TEA" tinged threats if they don't kill CIR.

"He has to hold the line. If he passes -- if he allows something to pass out of conference that looks anything like the Senate bill, and it is passed with a majority of Democrats, I think that will be the final thing he does as Speaker," [Senator Rand] Paul [R-Kentucky] told Laura Ingraham's radio show on Friday. "I think he knows that, and I think he's going to be very cautious." [...]

"I'm worried about conference," he said. "And what I would say is, the only way to avoid a problem with conference is for the Speaker of the House to say we are not going to conference and we will not allow a vote on anything coming out of conference that resembles a vote on the Senate bill."

Oh, yes. That's right. He went there.

And because Senator Rand Paul is also running for President in 2016, he is pandering hard to the 21st Century Know Nothings who comprise the contemporary Republican Party base. So of course, he has to set his hair on fire and threaten other Republicans who even utter any type of willingness to consider CIR. And of course, he has to condemn any attempt to pull his party away from his beloved cliff full of drama.

As we've discussed before, House Republicans are hoping to score a "two-fer"... No, make it a "three-fer". They're looking for an excuse to kill CIR, an excuse to force more austerity down Americans' throats, and something they can twist to embarrass President Obama. And right now, they think they found their hol(e)y three-fer with their latest and greatest manufactured crisis.

So much for Congressional Republicans demanding personal responsibility... (Why don't they ever take any?)