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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Government Shutdown Over, Default Averted, Debt Ceiling Raised

From CBS News:

Senate passes bill to end shutdown, avert default; House to follow

House Passes Bill to End Shutdown, Obama to Sign


SuccubaSuprema writes:  Watching the vote being taken in the House of Representatives (on C-Span, because I'm not the only person in the house and the other person was insistent on watching the actual vote), I could not help but notice that every vote against this was cast by a Republican.  This intransigence is due to a fallacy named variously "Bifurcation Fallacy," "Black-and-White Thinking," and "False Dilemma" (among other less common names), about which (and related matters) I am still working on a somewhat lengthy post.  Fortunately, some members of that party behaved responsibly and voted for it.

Updates:

Central to the Topic

CBS News:
Congress ends shutdown, averts default, but at what cost?

CNN:
There's a little pork in that bill: The 5 most surprising provisions in the debt deal

SuccubaSuprema writes:  Most of this "pork" is not even remotely controversial.

Also from CNN:
Republican congressman: It was worth the fight

SuccubaSuprema writes:  Come back from Lala-Land, Representative Mulvaney.  The real world is calling you (and all the other "Republican" Representatives and Senators who voted against an end to the shutdown) to pull your head out of your behind and face the simple fact that you're out of touch and in denial.  Nobody wants this childish kind of nonsense except Far Right Wing Extremists, of whom there are fortunately far fewer than you seem to believe.

Then again ...

ThinkProgress:
Ted Cruz Admits Budget Standoff Was All About Building Fundraising Lists

SuccubaSuprema writes:  Maybe the shutdown is seen by those Far Right Wing Extremists who raised funds in excess of $1 million as a result of the stunt as "worth" the so-called "fight," but what about the damage done to the rest of the nation (and the public relations disaster for the Republican Party which is now suffering low approval ratings), and the economic costs?  Clearly, non-patriotic opportunism is alive and well in the 21st century.

The New York Times:
Republicans Back Down, Ending Crisis Over Shutdown and Debt Limit

Hands Empty but Spirit Unbowed, House Republicans Take Stock

The Washington Post:
Who voted against the Senate bill to end the government shutdown?

The Blaze:
U.S. House Passes Budget Deal, (Almost) Ending Shutdown – How Did Your Rep. Vote?

Jim Hightower's Commentaries:
A Congress of comics: Laugh 'til it hurts

The Huffington Post:
Michele Bachmann: Government Reopening Is 'A Very Sad Day'

Talking Points Memo:
Conservatives Learned The Wrong Lessons From The Shutdown Debacle

Fallout

NBC News:
Poll: Amid shutdown, Republican falls further behind in race for Va. governor

The New York Times:
Calling America: Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?

Voters’ Anger Over Shutdown Is Inspiring Democrats to Run

Revisionism

Slate:
The GOP’s Alamo:  Republicans are wasting no time in rewriting the history of their own defeat.

SuccubaSuprema writes:  This is hardly surprising, as it fits the pattern of behavior the Far Right Wing Extremists have demonstrated repeatedly.  The story is, however, worth reading, because Knowledge Is Power.  Even more outrageous, though, is this next claim, picked up by The New Civil Rights Movement.

The New Civil Rights Movement:
Michele Bachmann Explains How Shutdown Ended: ‘Republicans Were The Adults In The Room’

SuccubaSuprema writes:  Come again?  David Badash (the author of the article) summed it up rather nicely:  "Michele Bachmann‘s grasp on reality is getting weaker by the day. ... Let’s remember for a moment that the Tea Party is who created the shutdown and brought our nation to the brink of default."

(Semi-)Related

CBS News:
Government shutdown, debt ceiling vote interrupted by House stenographer

US News & World Report:
House Stenographer Dragged From House Floor During Shutdown Vote

ABC News:
House Stenographer Credits ‘Holy Spirit’ for Her Rant Against Congress

SuccubaSuprema writes:  The Supreme Council of the 33° of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the SMJ has a nice F.A.Q. page which should dispel at least some of the assertions of the woman in question (of course, the reader will have to be rational if he or she seeks the truth, and part of being rational means letting go of bias, unwarranted assumptions, and paranoid propaganda).

Disclaimer:  many of the men in my family are (or were before they passed from this life) Freemasons, and several of the women in my family are members of the Order of the Eastern Star (as I once was myself before I stopped paying my dues because I had little time to be active) and/or other Auxiliary Bodies;  some will see this as cause for an allegation of vested interest, while others will recognize that I might actually know a little something about the organizations in question from first- and second-hand experience, rather than bias based on whispered rumors or shouted scare tactics invented by enemies of liberty.  Note, however, that I do not claim to speak for Freemasonry (no woman can be a Mason in a regular, legitimate Lodge or Masonic Body) nor any of its Auxiliary Bodies (some legitimate Auxiliary Bodies admit women as well as men, and some are for women only).  I certainly make no claim of speaking for every individual member of one of these legitimate groups, since some of the members may not be representative of the ideals of the organizations.  I myself am not representative of the ideals of the Order of the Eastern Star, which is a very definitely Christian organization, whereas I later became a traditional polytheist (which is another reason I stopped being active and subsequently stopped paying my dues);  note, however, that most legitimate Masonic and Auxiliary Bodies are non-sectarian to the point of not requiring affiliation with any particular religion or espousing any dogma apart from belief in some "Supreme Being" (specifics are left up to the individual to decide for him/herself) and the immortality of the human soul.  I simply point to sources of true information on the subject, in an effort to counter lies.




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