> BTW, just because you're "not a Republican", it certainly
> doesn't mean that you're non-partisan. Either way, you seem
> awfully defensive for a non-Republican.

Mostly, I'm just sick of seeing both sides make the same talking points over and over again to see which one's soundbites happen to stick better. As much as you discredit Boehner for disallowing an up or down vote, Reid is doing the exactly the same thing with the memorial funding, FEMA funding, etc., etc., but the pot still calls the kettle black, and only because they're ahead in the polls.

If they weren't polling ahead, they'd have already begun the process of concession and started actually funding the government, or at least the vast majority of it, and could take the Obamacare fight separately, which is one that the House is sure to lose anyway.

Most of the people that I've seen getting upset at the Republicans about this are upset because they're proponents of Obamacare, and most of the people I've seen getting upset at the Democrats are just doing so on party lines. The House is almost perfectly divided on party lines over this, but have seen minor bi-partisan support on the individual funding bills, which the Senate refuses to entertain, only because they're winning the popularity contest.

Regardless, onlookers have generally claimed their stake in the war based on the politics they already had, with both sides buying into the bullshit talking points that their elected representatives have manufactured.

Yes, Boehner could probably end this with a single up / down vote on a "clean" CR, but he's certainly not obligated to.

Yes, Reid could probably end this with a few procedural votes, but he's also not obligated to.

Obama could also end this by offering a little bit of non-confrontational advice to either side, but he's not obligated to.

Of those, I really only criticize the Executive Branch, because I do feel that a large portion of his job is to be one of unification, for which he has failed at in his second term, and having witnessed his negotiation style with Boehner post-election, it was not one of concession.

The idea that the Senate should get a "clean" CR just because they want it is equally as farcical as the idea that the House should get a concession bill passed in which Obamacare is delayed.

The middle ground happens to be the area in which I think the House somewhat inadvertently stumbled into, which is the piecemeal legislation, but looking through history, that is the regular order on how these things tend to be organized where both wings are far apart on the '100%' solution... and the Senate refuses to entertain that.

If I seem nonplussed by the affair, it's not because of any kinship with the Republicans, but because I'd personally like to see our government be less efficient, as I suspect very heavily that is what our founders would prefer. A slow moving government is in the best interests of liberty, and I'd much rather see bills take far longer to hash out than to have trillions of dollars in spending or taxes approved with an uncontested procedural vote.

Edit: And I had to add this, but thinking I'm a member of the opposition party because I'm not in 100% agreement with your party does nothing but affirm my pessimism about thoughtful politics in the US. Not that you should care, per se, but there are people out there who try to reason their way into the intelligent side of any issue, without bothering to check and see which way they're "supposed" to feel based on party lines. That isn't an accusation to you, or anybody here, so much as a signal that both sides are wrong about as much as they're right, and we shouldn't feel "loyalty" to politicians that we like enough that we should support them when they're wrong, and vice versa.