Senate leaders appear close to US debt ceiling deal

Senate leaders appear close to US debt ceiling deal (via AFP)

With a potential debt default looming, Senate leaders appear close to a deal to avoid a self-inflicted political calamity that would shred US credibility and rock the global economy. Senate Republicans are scheduled to convene Tuesday at noon to review…

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Americans Defying Obama’s Shutdown Of The Lincoln Memorial

Government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the Earth

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Shutdown: N.J. Republicans mirror deepening divisions within national party

Shutdown: N.J. Republicans mirror deepening divisions within national party (via NJ.com)

WASHINGTON — Rep. Scott Garrett insists Democrats are to blame for the shutdown — now in its 11th day — saying it was them who “failed to fund the federal government” and must negotiate a rollback of the Affordable Care Act. Rep. Leonard Lance…

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Catholic Priests Are Subject To Arrest For Military Ministry During Government Shutdown

Civilian Catholic priests employed by the federal government have been forbidden by the Obama administration from performing their ministries with military personnel during the government shutdown and are subject to arrest even if they do so voluntarily, according to John Schlageter, the General Counsel of the Archdioceses for Military Services, USA.

This morning, the House of Representatives passed a resolution, 400-1, urging Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to allow continued performance of religious services on military installations during the government shutdown.

There is no indication that the Archdiocese will defy the ban on their priests performing religious services. Rather, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio thanked Congressman Doug Collins of Georgia for sponsoring the resolution and urge the U.S. Senate to pass it.

“Military personnel enjoy, like all Americans, the First Amendment guarantee of the ‘Free Exercise’ of religion, Broglio said, “In the current political climate, however, nothing can be taken for granted. I am grateful to Representative Collins and the many other House members who recognized the importance of passing this resolution, which reflects the seriousness with which the American people take their Free Exercise rights. It can only be hoped that the members of the US Senate will act decisively in order to favor the same First Amendment rights.”

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Obama Closes The Ocean

It’s not just the WWII Memorial that the Obama administration is spending money on to enforce the shutdown.

The National Park Service informed Florida charter boat captains that the 1100 square mile Florida Bay is closed and that they are prohibited from taking anglers into those federal waters.

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The Government Shutdown: Another Election, another Distraction!

 By Cynthia Johnson

How many politicians does it take to screw in a light bulb? I’m sorry, I meant screw the citizens! Just a little levity to take the sting away from the pesky political bug bite.

We’re just a few weeks away from Election Day and the politicians are playing naughty again. The result, a government shutdown which is just their way of throwing a tantrum until things are done their way. They’ve been kicking and screaming for a few days now and apparently “Obamacare” is the target. But why would the plutarchy ever want to reject an idea which would bring some relief to the poor and poverty stricken? The Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act (or ACA for short) goal is simple: Give more Americans access to affordable, quality health insurance and to reduce the growth in health care spending in the U.S. Sounds fair enough so why the tantrums? I, personally believe that it mostly stems from the plutarchy thinking that they will have to pay for lazy people who don’t want to work. If we were to ask many of them their opinions about the welfare program, you would probably hear the same thing. Unfortunately, their statistics are a bit off as it has been known for quite a while that the majority that are receiving Medicaid and food stamps are in a southern state called Mississippi where the largest population gets some type of assistance.. I also believe that there is major profiting by investors via the pharmaceutical companies and medical supply companies and the new plan will cause the distinct possibility that someone making 500 million per year will now make 449 million instead. Yes, the numbers are extreme but so are the wealth averages in comparison to the poverty level average.

President Obama made the following statement: “One faction of one party in one house of Congress in one branch of government shut down major parts of the government all because they didn’t like one law,” Mr. Obama said. “This Republican shut down did not have to happen, but I want every American to understand why it did happen. Republicans in the House of Representatives refused to fund the government unless we defunded or dismantled the Affordable Care Act. They’ve shut down the government over an ideological crusade to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans. In other words, they demanded ransom just for doing their job.”

Yeah, Yeah, yada yada…they are holding their breath until the POTUS does what they want…who does this hurt? The citizens of the United States who are more than just poor, but more like destitute.

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The Guy Who Wants To Be Cory Booker’s New Boss

U. S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid anointed Newark Mayor Cory Booker as New Jersey’s next Senator in a PBS interview last July.  That was before the Special Senate Primary Booker was engaged in with Congressmen Frank Pallone, Rush Holt and Assembly Speaker Shelia Oliver.

Asked by interviewer Judy Woodruff about the absence of a black Democratic member of the Senate, Reid responded, “”Well, just hold your breath, Cory Booker’s on his way from New Jersey. That’ll happen in October.”

View the video at the 12:06 mark.

This afternoon a CNN reporter asked Reid, “If you could help one child with cancer, why wouldn’t you do it?” as a follow up to her question about why Reid isn’t letting the Senate vote on the House’s bill to fund the National Institute of Health during the government shutdown.

Reid responded, “Why would we want to do that?” and went on the insult the reporter’s intelligence.

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Not quite a shutdown

Sandy Hook, the Monmouth County arm of the Gateway National Recreation Area, is closed to the public as a result of the Federal Government shutdown.

But vehicles were driving in and out of the park when I drove by this afternoon.

Ranger Tim Quinn said the Marine Academy of Science and Technology is open as are “the cooperators,” the non-profit organizations that have their offices in the park.  The Coast Guard Station is also open.

Quinn said all others are prohibited from entering the park, by car bicycle or foot. He said several members of the park staff were sent home after working four hours today and referred me to the press office for the answers to any other questions.  I guess the press office is working.

In addition to Quinn, there were five rangers gathered in toll house at the entrance to the park.  Asked if he was getting paid, Quinn laughed and said, “I’m not volunteering for the government.

The Jersey Tomato Press reports that 800,000 “non-essential” government employees are out of work. Passport offices and the Federal Housing Administration are closed.  No mortgages or last minute overseas trips.  No SBA loans or background checks for gun licenses either.  The trash isn’t being picked up in Washington, DC, but lots of garbage is being reported in the media.

While President Obama and Senate Democrats are blaming House Republicans for shutting down the government, the House is taking up measures to fund the National Parks, veterans affairs and Washington, DC government operations.   Senate Democrats, budget chairwoman Barbara Mikuski and Majority Whip Dick Durbin rejected the piecemeal approach to reopening the government, according to Politico.

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Christie: Government Shut Down Is A Failure

Transcript:

Governor Christie: You know when you’re in the silly season like we’re in now – everybody running around and campaigning for different things – when we see the craziness we’re seeing down in Washington DC today where people who say that they want to be in public life to try to run the government and then their solution to doing that is to not speak to each other, not work with each other, and shut our government down, that’s a failure. That’s a failure of people in public life for everyone in this country who’s depending upon a government that will get its stuff together. And notice, since I’m only 35 days away from an election, I said stuff and not something else which I know you all figure I would be more apt to say. But we’re 35 days away from an election so I’m trying to clean up my act a little bit. You know, we need to make sure that we have a government that listens to the needs of the people who pay for it. You know it’s not the other way around. We’re not supposed to be dictating to you, we’re supposed to be listening, and I think much too much in politics these days we have folks who have forgotten that one of the most important parts of leadership is listening. Listening to people of divergent views and opinions. Listening to the folks who pay the bills. Listening to the people who are going to lead our state and our country in the future. And so, we’re going to do a lot more listening around here and a lot less talking. And I hope in Washington what they figure out is that what we pay them to do when we send them down there is to run the government, not to shut it down.

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For N.J., a federal shutdown would hit full force in two weeks

For N.J., a federal shutdown would hit full force in two weeks (via NJ.com)

Star-Ledger file photo By Salvador Rizzo and Susan K. Livio/The Star-Ledger TRENTON — State officials are bracing for a federal shutdown this week if a squabbling Congress can’t agree on a budget solution by Tuesday’s deadline, but it could take…

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