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The Democrats agreed to the initial demands of 986 billion. This is not "my way or the highway." This is literally giving the GOP what it asked for. Then the GOP went back on their word.
Collins new plan still includes a delay of the medical device tax. (previously was a repeal of that tax)
This "sequester is law of the land" is a faulty new talking point. The stimulus spending was also the law of the land. Keyword: was. Both were temporary measures that have since expired. Additional point: the sequester is a budget deal. Eliminating major health care law changes is not a budget deal. The two aren't comparable in a "law of the land" fashion.
The GOP is 100% to blame.
Further question on this line: why should Democrats accept any of this in exchange for 10 weeks of additional government? What are the Republicans going to extort then?
IMO it is die hard attitudes such as stated that has lead to the situation we are in. Politics is the art of the possible. Compromise, give and take, not being afraid to take a little if continuing the battle means you lose the whole lot. No, both parties have played hard nose party politics with this country from the get go or at least back to january of 2011. You're right about the beginning or the start of this shut down belongs to the Republicans. Their stupidity in an attempt to achieve something that wasn't going to happen caused or started this. Now if it continues, it seems IMO the blame is shifting.
It is true that the republican House passed a lot of bills with stuff in them that was totally unpalatable to the democrats in the senate. But the senate has the power to add, delete and change any of those bills. Reid chose to table them making the Republicans mad instead of following the old time and true ways of addition, deletion and change. This made the republicans mad in the senate that their bills would not be brought up to be debated or voted on. Filibusters then reigned galore. Which came first, I don't know, but both parties went out of their way to obstruct the other. It boiled down the Reid and his Democratic senate telling the House my way or the highway and guess what, the house said the same thing back to Reid.
One last thing, the Democrats love the fact that this shut down and the antics of the house has caused them to drop from 30% of the electorate to 20% as far as who identifies with them. Mean while the Democrats have dropped from 35% to 30% and seem to be extremely happy to accept that drop as long as the Republicans drop more. Neither party is paying attention to the fact that those who abandoned or left both parties didn't go to the other party, they chose to become independents, indies rose from 36% to an all time high of 47%.
Read into that what you will, but I will tell you this, I am sick and tired of our elected officials being republicans and democrats instead of Americans. I hope they continue to after each other throats until their support drops to almost nil and we put those two supposedly majority parties on the trash heap of history. Both sure deserve it. Playing political games with this country future is plain ignorant IMO.