"The country is smarter than John Boehner -- and I include the country's rocks as well as its people."

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COMMENTS:
*  Hey, if Republicans were willing to shrug off our security for political reasons in the summer of 2001, why shouldn't they do it now??? Besides, that seems to work for them...
*  Let's see. They don't have control of both houses so it's the Dems fault that nothing get's done. They have control of both houses and it's STILL the Dems fault that nothing gets done.  Am I missing something here?
*  you didn't miss anything it's just how republican politicians work! you forgot to mention when taking credit they will jump in front to claim any credit even they have nothing to do with it! they are the worst weasels of all human beings.
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The Political Genius Of John Boehner: An Expedition Into The Unknown

The Speaker of the House and his fellow Republicans are refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security unless the president agrees to reverse himself on immigration. Clever strategy, isn't it?

By Charles Pierce, February 17, 2015

Over the weekend, John Boehner, the nominal Speaker of The House of Representatives, rolled out his clever strategy regarding the current (stupid) impasse over funding the Department of Homeland Security. As you may have heard, the Republicans under Boehner's alleged control are refusing to fund the department unless the president agrees to reverse himself on immigration. For his part, the president has replied, "I shall not hand my adminstrations over to Steve King and Louie Gohmert," and there we stand at the moment. But Boehner made quite clear that he plans to blame Democratic legislators and the Democratic president because his majority has now passed beyond either his own control, or that available through serious drugs.

Boehner was sticking to his guns. "The House has acted to de-fund the department and to stop the president's overreach when it comes to immigration and his executive orders," he said. "And the Congress just can't sit by and let the president defy the constitution and defy his own his oath of office."

Once again, he evinces the political acumen of an andiron.

Republicans in Congress would shoulder the blame for a shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security if they are unable to enact a new spending bill to keep the agency running, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. The survey finds 53% of Americans would blame the Republicans in Congress if the department must shut down, while 30% would blame President Barack Obama. Another 13% say both deserve the blame.

I have never been a fan of the DHS. It always seemed to me to be an unwieldy beast conjured out of our fears after 9/11 and, from the start, it was highly politicized. (Remember that noxious ad that Saxby Chambliss dropped on Max Cleland, in which Cleland was compared to Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein? The actual political issue behind that ad was Cleland's support for allowing DHS employees to unionize, which seemed to be a rather minor cause compared to The Existential Threat that the DHS allegedly was designed to combat. Always room for a little union-bashing, even with the country under threat.) If it disappeared tomorrow, and its functions dispersed to the various agencies that existed before it came into being, it wouldn't bother me in the least. But it's there now, and the Republicans are using it as the same kind of cheap hobby-horse on their pet issues the way that Chambliss did back in the day. Always room for a little immigrant-bashing, even with people being beheaded in the desert. Once we all calm down again, if that ever happens, we can look seriously at whether DHS is worth it. But, as long as it is, and as long as the country feels it's necessary -- and the country will feel that way as long as politicians gin up the fear the way they do -- then it should be funded without these kind of shenanigans. The country is smarter than John Boehner -- and I include the country's rocks as well as its people.
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