I received, from the president's emailing spambot, this unsolicited email which explains why the government is shut down. A quick read tells me exactly how poorly informed this man is.
He uses the purchase of a house as the basis of negotiation, and compares the current shutdown to a potential buyer threatening to burn down the house being negotiated. This is not only extreme, but wrong. Clearly, he's never negotiated the purchase of a home.
A better comparison is to picture the potential buyer saying "I don't like the price you're asking, because there is an oil tank buried in the back and it may start seeping and destroying the ground soon. I would prefer that you have that tank removed. In the meantime, I'm willing to buy the house at this significantly reduced price." At that point, Harry Reid (the seller) replies, "No you don't have the right to ask to remove that tank and the alternative offer you've made is not under consideration. I choose to no longer speak with you. Come back when you're realistic with a 'clean offer' on the house and just forget about getting rid of that tank. I've grown to love that tank, and you should too. I'd rather see the whole thing fall apart than speak with you."
And then he blames the potential buyer for the end of negotiations, when clearly he is the person at fault.
President Obama Explains the Shutdown
Yesterday, eight days into the Republican government shutdown, President Obama spoke from the White House about the need for Republicans in Congress to stop threatening another recession just to sabotage Obamacare, stop demanding ransom just for doing their jobs, and just vote to reopen the government. He talked about the toll this shutdown is already taking on our country and the economy, and warned against the dire consequences of a default if Congress doesn’t act to prevent an economic shutdown.
Keeping the government running and paying the nation’s bills aren’t bargaining chips or a matter of negotiation – they’re a fundamental part of Congress’s job. Here’s how the President put it yesterday:
"If you're in negotiations around buying somebody's house, you don't get to say, 'Well, let's talk about the price I'm going to pay, and if you don't give the price then I'm going to burn down your house.' That's not how negotiations work.... In the same way, members of Congress -- and the House Republicans in particular -- don't get to demand ransom in exchange for doing their jobs. And two of their very basic jobs are passing a budget and making sure that America is paying its bills."
Watch the President’s statement here, and then pass it on to your friends:
As the President has made clear -- and the press has reported -- the government could be reopened, today, with the votes of reasonable Republicans and Democrats if Tea Party Republicans would allow a simple yes-or-no vote on a Senate-passed compromise bill to fund the United States government. It’s time for Congress to just vote and end this government shutdown now.
