O's Donkey over a barrel!

President Obama is open to a proposal for a short-term increase in the debt ceiling, but still prefers a longer-term bill, the White House said Thursday.

"The president is happy that cooler heads at least seem to be prevailing in the House,  that there at least seems to be a recognition that default is not an option," press secretary Jay Carney said. But, he added, "the president believes that it would be far better for the Congress, and in this case the House, to raise the debt ceiling for an extended period of time."

Carney wouldn't rule out the prospect that Obama would nonetheless sign a short-term extension. "We have seen nothing, obviously no proposal, from House Republicans yet. There's no bill to look at," he said, and the details of a proposal that can pass the House are important. 

For more information... http://www.politico.com 

Obamus Caesar: “No Limits On the Power of the President if He Calls for a National Catastrophe"

dcclothesline.com

by Mac Slavo “President Obama is prepared to take power and begin to rule from day one.” -Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President of the United States Should Congress and the President fail to come to an agreement on America’s debt Read more of this post

Borderland Beat

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• Attacks on police chiefs were not investigated
• Zetas Threaten CDG and CT
• Seven Die in Gunbattle in Jalisco

Attacks on police chiefs were not investigated Posted: 10 Oct 2013 02:20 AM PDT ZETA (9-23-13) By Rosario Mosso Castro and Sergio Haro Cordero Translated by un vato for Borderland Beat  (I found this story interesting because the victims are high-ranking police officers. --un vato.)      Members of organized crime ordered (the attacks) and tried to kill them. They were the chiefs of police organizations that dedicated themselves to combating the criminal activities of the Arellano Felix Cartel (CAF) and the Sinaloa Cartel in Baja California between 2006 and 2011. Prosecutors who were complicit with drug traffickers decided not to investigate and allowed the failed assassins and their bosses to go unpunished. It did not mater that the criminals tried to kill authority figures nor that they attacked the government. If the Public Ministry did decide to initiate an investigation, it was against the victims, for using weapons "excessively" to defend their lives. Another factor that these victims had in common was that they never had support from their bosses, mayors and governors, nor the political clout to pressure ministerial authorities - state or federal-- to compel prosecutors to investigate, prosecute and imprison the criminals who attacked them when they were carrying out their duty to protect the public. According to the versions given by the victims interviewed by ZETA, the majority of the assassins who participated in the attacks against them are already dead or in prison, but in none of the cases did they face charges for attempting to take their lives.  Gomez was investigated On December 17, 2005, representing authorities from all levels of government, the Coordination Groups issued a bulletin assuring the public that: "These cowardly assaults will not go unpunished...". They were referring to the attack carried out the night of November 16 of that year against the commander of the State Preventive Police (PEP: Policia Estatal Preventiva), Carlos Gomez Miguel, and the murder, at 3:45 a.m. on the 17th,  of two of his assigned bodyguards stationed in front of his house; Juan Hernandez Gutierrez and Jesus Noe Rosas Zuniga. As a result of the first encounter, a criminal was killed. Gomez reacted, asked for backup, a patrol vehicle arrived, which he used to chase the failed assassins until he caught up with them. They got into a firefight and the state policeman killed the criminal.  The local Prosecutor's office reported that, because of the tattoos -- including the last name Mendoza--, everything indicated that the dead attacker had belonged to the Logan Barrio and was an "important character", given the speed with which they avenged his death. The ministerial authorities even had the man's fingerprints from other seized weapons. But after that communication, nothing. Gomez, the current Operations Director of the PEP, was asked whether anybody was arrested for he murders of his bodyguards and whether the attack against him was investigated: "(Jesus) Quinonez was in charge of Homicides at that time, and what he did was to initiate a criminal investigation against me because he felt I had fired my weapon excessively. They returned my weapons three months later, but the car took longer." Jesus Quinonez Marquez was arrested  by U.S. authorities in July of 2010, when he was the director of International Liaisons with the Baja California Attorney General. He was prosecuted and sentenced as a collaborating member of the Arellano Felix Cartel (CAF). -- And the patrol vehicle in which the bodyguards were murdered? Gomez is asked. "We didn't get it back until May of 2006, but in addition, in the inquiry, it doesn't say anywhere that one of (my) boys managed to fire his weapon". -- Did you push the investigation? "It was Samson against raw beginners", he concluded. Against Diaz Lerma for millions of dollars. Shortly after 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 25, 2006, the armored SUV in which Manuel Diaz Lerma, (at left)  then Secretary of Public Safety for Baja California, was traveling was attacked repeatedly by a group of gunmen for several city blocks in the Avenida Internacional, in the Hipico housing development in Mexicali. There, three of the bodyguards were left wounded, while the Secretary -- relying on the skill of his driver-bodyguard and the armor on the official vehicle -- escaped the shower of bullets and was not hurt. Officially, it was reported that more than 658 rounds had been fired, and it came out that the gunmen were with the Arellano Felix Cartel (CAF). Three months later, Diaz Lerma left that office. He transferred to the Mexican embassy in Switzerland as an economics advisor, where he remained for two years. He returned to Mexicali in the summer of 2008 and got back into business and political activities. "The first thing I wanted to know was what had happened, why it had happened", Manuel Diaz Lerma explains from his office. "Before that incident, I had been told: 'Look, as long as you're clean, you're doing your job, nobody's going to mess with you'. With me, that rule was broken, because I was doing my job, such as it was," says the lawyer, who heads up a corporate office and two businesses, an industrial dining room and a private security firm. "I've never stolen, I never stole and nobody ever tried to bribe me", insists Diaz Lerma.     There were several theories -- based on intelligence work -- proposed regarding the attack; some were discarded as being too crazy, but he has developed a hypothesis that he is  convinced [is the correct one]: "What happened here is that somebody on the inside took money and then said he had given it to me. Since we continued to make arrests with the PEP, and we continued to hit them, well, somebody must have complained. This person who took the money said, 'well, I already made contact, I gave it to him...' It was blamed on me". Subsequently, between friends and contacts, with information from here and there, he put together the story's puzzle. He recalls that he resigned in May, but the governor at the time, Eugenio Elorduy, asked him to remain until after the federal election (that President Felipe Calderon won). Then he traveled to Europe on July 21, 2006, but he remained in touch with the follow-up in the investigation of the attack. "The individuals that turned up and the ones that are under arrest were detained for something else, they weren't looking for the actual persons who physically carried out the attack, by no means. In their interrogations, it would come out that they were involved; there were many like that. We're talking about more than eight persons who testified the same way, who are in prison, and who are being prosecuted for other crimes." Diaz Lerma believes that the twenty gunmen who took part in the attack were working for Teodoro Garcia Simental, "El Teo", -- who later joined the Sinaloa Cartel --, who is now imprisoned in the Altiplano Maximum Security Prison, in the state of Mexico. In January, 2007, there were a series of arrests related to the attack, about eight (individuals) were involved, among these ministerial police agents assigned to Mexicali and a deputy chief of operations with the Municipal Police. But the rest of the participants -- a dozen -- are not under arrest. Even "El Teo" (captured in January 2010) is in prison for other crimes. .  "The truth is that I stopped asking about it at the Prosecutor's office, like any other victim... I left it in God's hands, let it be Him, I have closed that matter, independently, whatever happens, if they go free... The truth is that these days I am not following up on it (the investigation that remains open)'. "They gave me the information when I was in Switzerland. Several of them turned up dead, and they identified them and realized they were the ones who had carried out (the attack). It's difficult to recall how many there were, but there were several. No authority has ever called me for any action in the matter", says the former state official.   He says he decided to return based on reports he got: "'Those people already know they made a mistake, that you never got any money, they already know that, they don't have anything against you any more: you can come back with no problem'. Many people told me that I didn't even have to leave, but it was a question of my own sanity." -- And how much are we talking about?   "I never knew precisely; I know there was talk about having delivered 4 million dollars, to distribute...there was a high ranking official, and he was not from the (Public Safety) Secretariat". Finally, Diaz Lerma thought about it; he claims that for some time he though about hiring a criminal defense lawyer to follow up on the matter, but he decided to leave it alone. Although he believes that some who participated (in the attack) are still free. Capella: "Bastard, you're alive... why are you pushing it" The night of November 27, 2007, right when the sun was coming up on the 28th (of November), an armed group attempted to break into the house of Alberto Capella, who was at the time Citizen Counsellor of Public Safety, and who 72 hours later would be appointed Secretary of Public Safety in Tijuana. Men with long weapons, traveling in at least eight vehicles, tried to get inside the victim's home, which is located on one side of the building that houses the State Anti-kidnapping Unit, and to the rear of the offices of the Municipal Police. Capella,  (at left) who had received threats, heard noises. He grabbed one of the long weapons that his bodyguards would leave with him at night when they took him home, and began shooting. His neighbors called Emergency numbers for help; law enforcement forces took 35 minutes to get there. The criminals left the scene without completing their attack. At the scene, the Attorney General's office collected cartridge cases from 11 weapons, in addition to the one used by Capella to defend himself. Five (of the) weapons had been used on November 20 that same year  in the murder of Federal Highway Police officer Carlos Mario Breach Schultz, ambushed in a shower of bullets in Colonia Libertad. This evidence did not matter. The investigation was not completed; it did not even get started. In March 8, 2009, after the capture of Angel Jacome Beltran "El Kaibil", one of his alleged accomplices who was also arrested, Ministerial (police agent) Ricardo Flores, gave a statement about the attempted homicide attack against Capella: "Ministerial agents named Domingo Herrera, Ulises Meza, as well as Municipal Police Agents whose names I do not recall, were involved. The cell that carried out the referenced attack was led by a former ministerial agent known as 'El Negro'". He also claimed that Herrera was wounded in the homicide attempt and was treated afterwards in the Baja California Social Security hospital (ISSSTECALI) as having suffered a work-related accident. Unofficial versions by municipal police officers also mentioned the participation of Javier Enrique Cardenas Salgado, the acting chief of Liaisons with the Municipal (police) and close friend (compadre) of drug trafficker Jorge Briseno "El Cholo". Cardenas Salgado -- arrested in November, 2008 for alleged ties with the CAF-- was the person who ordered the police to "get out of the way" to leave the criminals free passage. "It was a very complicated time, painful, because apart from the fact that you live moments of terror and by some miracle you survive, you end up being three times a victim: the most important, when they try to kill you. The second, when you're crucified by the media for political reasons, suggesting the attack was self-inflicted (according to reports he subsequently received, this version came from the State General Secretariat of Governance) with so many people involved, somebody was bound to say something. And the third time, because there is no justice", Alberto Capella believes. "Those were such complicated times, that even a first level authority, whose name I won't mention, said these words to me: 'Bastard, since you already survived, let us concentrate on truly important things, not on things that are irrelevant, because, after all, you're alive'. And 72 hours later, I became a public official for the first time in my life. You enter a dynamic of great responsibility, a lot of stress, so many problems, that you have other priorities".   -- What were you investigated for? "I know that one time I received a summons from the PGR, at that time asking how the hell I had an AR-15 and a G3 (rifle) in my house, and why. That is, I ended up being prosecuted. I spoke with Medina Mora and explained to him -- they were his bodyguards and they would leave (the firearms) there at night -- and they dropped the matter, but that's what they wanted to know. "Two years later, these individuals who are under arrest come up with this information and substantiate with actual knowledge the participation of four State ministerial police agents and, presumably, eight corrupt Tijuana municipal police officers. That's basically as far as we got". -- Former ministerial (police agent) Francisco Manzo Moran, "El Negro" or "El Billy", arrested in July, 2009, did they charge him in your case?    "As far as I know, no; I haven't appeared before any judicial authority". -- Is there anybody under arrest because of the attempt on your life? "Nobody, at least in my case, nobody. There are two investigation files, one with the State and another one at the PGR, and both investigations must be sleeping the sleep of the just "What's my impression? That most of the ones who took part (in the attack) are either dead or are under arrest, because there was nothing more. And it has the same effect on you that it has on all victims, that is, you ask yourself what's going to happen if you push it -- the investigation --, more so when there is that attitude of, 'what for, since you're alive?' "Now, people come and bring me a piece of the puzzle that I didn't have before, but they will not agree to testify because that would place them at risk. Sadly, reality is one thing and judicial truth is another, there's a great stretch between knowing something and being able to prove it. In the end, the only link I have is this statement and the ballistics from the weapons". At the start of the investigation (on his case), Capella had a verbal confrontation, using strong language, with Jesus Nelson Rodriguez Garcia, deputy prosecutor against Organized Crime, because he was intentionally downplaying the matter. Victims of kidnappings had on several occasions accused this official of corruption and collusion with organized crime. However, he was protected by prosecutors Antonio Martinez Luna and Rommel Moreno, until April, 2008, when General Sergio Aponte Polito, then the Military Region Commander, accused him in an open letter, with details from investigations and statements, of being a corrupt official with criminal ties. However, they neither fired him nor charged him. Nelson resigned.  Montero: Alleged guilty persons set free    They delivered threats from the time he took office as Secretary of Municipal Safety in Rosarito on December 1, 2008. The messages were delivered through his bodyguards, then they attacked him with guns in the Police central offices on the 18th that same month. Since he survived, another threat came a week later via a ministerial agent, who told him he needed to negotiate with the drug traffickers and that he could come to an agreement without corrupting himself. According to the ballistics analysis, some of the weapons in his attack had been used in the murder of federal agent Carlos Mario Breach Schultz and in the attack against Capella. When Montero went to give his statement, Nelson Rodriguez Garcia met with him and informed him that he was didn't know anything about "his business" because he had a lot of work, and he was going to send it to the Office of Attorney General (PGR: Procuraduria General de la Republica) because there were not enough agents and they didn't want to run a risk. A few days after the attack, as a result of a series of interviews with Rosarito municipal police officers and with the support of the Army, General Aponte, prompted by the intentional delays in the federal and state investigations, released a list of corrupt uniformed officers who had taken part in the attempted homicide of Captain Montero. Jose Luis Lugo Baez, Cesar Beltran Saldivar and Mario Alberto Herrera Sanchez; Jose Luis Lucas Rodriguez, Junior Ernesto Escobar Knight, Manuel Miguel Diaz Ayala, Carlos Peraza Vergara, Marco Antonio Arias Hernandez, Jose Luis Ballesteros Sanchez, Mario de Jesus Lizan Najera, Eduardo Bustos Rodriguez and Karlo Omar Herrera Sanchez. The police officers publicly denied (the accusation). Some of them were arrested. In fact, Cesar Beltran Saldivar was murdered --October 3, 2008-- while he was eating in a taco joint with Angel Jacome Beltran "El Kaibil", who was arrested in March, 2009, for being a member of organized crime.    When the Army captured "El Kaibil", they allowed Eduardo Montero to interview him. "He told me he had not participated in my matter, but the person who asked for permission to do it was Cesar Beltran, through Raydel Lopez, "El Muletas", and that 'El Teo" (Eduardo Garcia Simental) had approved it". When he asked why, Jacome answered: "Because he was beginning to break up the groups that were already on the inside --of the Police-- and he was not letting them work". -- Of the list that was made public, were any of the police officers placed under arrest for the attack on you and for the murder of your bodyguard, Guillermo Castro Corona? "Specifically for the attack against me, I don't know; I became aware of their participation through General Aponte, but whether they're in the investigation, I don't know. What's more, I never saw the investigation again".    -- Did they officially question Jacome Beltran about the attack against you and your bodyguards?  "That, I don't know. What happened is that there was never uniform criteria in drafting the interrogation of the individuals arrested. The unit that was holding them  got their information -- what they were interested in--, and did not allow other entities to at least be present to see what other matters could be cleared up." -- Did they accuse Cesar Beltran of carrying out the attack?      "He was on the list, but he was never arrested because he resigned. When they publish the names, he resigns and I never see him again until his death". -- Did you testify? "I went and filed a complaint with General Aponte Polito. That's the only time they listened to me, in fact they did not want to accept my report; the person who was working as Liaison was in charge, then they caught him in the U.S.-- Jesus Quinonez--. He only took my report because there was a lot of pressure from the General". -- After the lists came out, they captured the Herrera brothers on drug charges and ... "And they are already free". -- Set free? "They're in Rosarito". -- And you, why didn't you push the investigation, Captain? "I didn't question it. Rather, I proposed that in each arrest, all the units would be invited, so that in everybody's presence they could ask about whatever they were interested in. In the Rosarito case, I was interested in knowing which police officers were involved, which authorities were involved, what was the reason they killed Pedro or Miguel, to resolve what was in my municipality, but that didn't happen". Leyzaola: Without an open criminal investigation The job of coordinating with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administratin (DEA) allowed Lieutenant  Colonel Julian Leyzaola, Secretary of Public Safety for Tijuana, to learn about the planning of two attacks against him. One in September, 2009, and the other in October 31, 2009, both were discovered on time. In the second (plot), there were arrests, but when the individuals were prosecuted, no charges were filed against them for conspiring to kill (Leyzaola). -- Regarding the first threat, on the car bombing conspiracy, was there an investigation?  "No; on that there was a denunciation [criminal complaint] filed with the PGR for attempted homicide and whatever else applies. That's where they got information from the DEA that they were going to blow up the  "La Ocho" building -- Public Safety offices that were located on 8th Street in the Central Zone-- with a vehicle with explosives. That's when I decided to transfer the (Public) Safety Secretariat to the building in the Zona Rio. But there was no arrest; there was talk about a video, but we never arrested anybody". -- Was here a truck with fingerprints? "But they didn't find explosives in it, and if there's nothing there, you cannot make a case." With respect to the failed attempt planned for November 1, 2009, and the individuals arrested-- Edgar Zuniga Nuno "El Mono" and eleven other criminals arrested--, Lt. Col. Leyzaola confirms:  "They are not being prosecuted for the attack." They were captured after a confrontation, dressed like soldiers on fake vehicles, while they were waiting for orders to go out on the street, get close to Julian Leyzaola's security detail and kill him.  "Initially, when I got the information, we learned hat they were going to "clone" the the vehicles, but they were arrested for other reasons. From their statements, we knew that they were waiting to attack my vehicle. They had Barrets mounted on their cars, but the attack was not carried out. That's why, in the end, there were no charges for attempted homicide." --But there were videos found , with a harangue that talks about their intent to murder you, and other statements; is nobody being investigated, despite all the information surrounding the criminal incident? "Really, there, I don't know how the situation was working, all we did was we played a part in the arrest on organized crime (charges), possession of weapons for the exclusive use of the Army and, I believe, for improper use of authority  and the use of armed forces uniforms. It was thought that the Public Ministry was going to charge them with attempted murder, but I don't know how the Public Ministry handled the matter of planning the attempted murder." -- There were videos and statements. Did they ever call you to testify? "We gave all of that to the PGR, everything was delivered to them so that they could formulate the charges, but I don't know how it all came out, and they never called me to testify".  Officially: not investigated Information was requested from the State Attorney General of Baja California on the progress and latest developments on all the cases described above, and the response were the following official communications: -- In the case of Montero, dated October 12, 2009, the (State) Deputy Prosecutor against Organized Crime informs the Federal Public Ministry to send each and every one of the original documents to the social representative of the Federation, since they exercised their prerogative to assume jurisdiction over the inquiry (Case Number) 4035/07/207. The Public Ministry responds on October 23 that it has done so.  -- Another handwritten document dated May 8, 2006, indicates that they submitted an official report "with details" to the Federal Public Ministry along with the file in the Diaz Lerma case, since it involved a violation of federal law.   That's it.

Zetas Threaten CDG and CT Posted: 09 Oct 2013 09:55 PM PDT Borderland Beat  Recently Reynosa saw an influx of "narco-banners" where they make threats against a CDG leader and the Knights Templar (Caballeros Templarios or CT). In the message of the banners "Z-42" reaffirms that he is the leader of Los Zetas and he will go after members of the Gulf Cartel and Templars, in which they also mention a CDG leader identified as Homero Cardenas Guillen aka "El Majadero." The name often heard of "El Majadero"  who is a member of the family of the Cádernas Guillen, former leaders of the Gulf Cartel, who is now a fugitive and has been wanted for years by authorities for organized crime offenses. These threats that are now being made against the Knights Templar might be due to a recent alliance with the CDG, when several days there were several banners placed announcing the alliance between the CDG and CT. Text of the blanket: "TO ALL THE GOLFAS (SLUTS) AND ALL THE TEMPLARS I AM HERE AND I COME FOR YOU ASSHOLES, WHERE ARE YOU HIDING GOLFAS, CONTINUE KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE, WE ARE GOING TO KILL YOU ALL ; LOOKOUTS, SICARIOS, HAWKS, STAKES, GUARDS AND CORRUPT AUTHORITIES. WE WILL SHOW YOU IN FUTURE VIDEOS HOW WE FINISH WITH GOLFAS AND TEMPLARS, HEADS WILL FLY, WE WILL CONTINUE TO CLEAN TAMAULIPAS, MICHOACÁN AND ALL THE COUNTRY. CONFRONT US ASSHOLES, GOLFAS OF SHIT, IF YOU FEEL BADASSES COME AND CONFRONT US, WE AWAIT YOU. THIS IS GOES TO HOMERO AKA "EL MAJADERO," LA TUTA AND ALL THOSE SON OF A BITCHES, WE ARE THE LETTER Z, YOU ALL BETTER JOIN ME OR I WILL FINISH YOU ALL ONE BY ONE. ATT, I OMAR AND ALL THE "Z'S" OPERATING IN ALL OF MEXICO! UP WITH ZACATECAS NUEVO LEON, TAMAULIPAS AND ALL OF MEXICO."

Seven Die in Gunbattle in Jalisco Posted: 09 Oct 2013 06:29 PM PDT Borderland Beat   Three police officers and four gunmen were killed in an armed confrontation in the western Mexican town of Tepatitlan, the Jalisco state Attorney General’s Office said Wednesday. The gunfight erupted Tuesday night when members of a criminal outfit opened fire on municipal police who spotted them “consuming drugs on the public thoroughfare,” the AG’s office said in a statement. The Tepatitlan cops requested help from state authorities after the assailants took refuge in a house from where they continued pelting the police with gunfire and grenades. Three officers were killed and four others wounded, including two who remain hospitalized in stable condition. The other two, injured by grenade fragments, were treated and released, Police found three gunmen dead inside the house, while a fourth was fatally shot outside as he tried to flee, the AG’s office said.  Source: AP

Democrats crack under pressure and Obambo's Incompetence...!

Vincent Gray confronts Reid on Capitol steps over shutdown’s impact on District - The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-mayor-gray-confronts-reid-on-capitol-steps-over-shutdowns-impact-on-city/2013/10/09/02577428-3103-11e3-89ae-16e186e117d8_story.html

DC Mayor makes Obambo Blink...

Eleanor Holmes Norton confronts Obama on D.C. budget bill | Post Politics
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/10/09/eleanor-holmes-norton-confronts-obama-on-d-c-budget-bill/?print=1

Obama Approval Down to 37% and Republicans Still Think They're Losing?

Obama Approval Down to 37% and Republicans Still Think They're Losing? - The Rush Limbaugh Show
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/10/09/obama_approval_down_to_37_and_republicans_still_think_they_re_losing

Sowell: Who Shut Down the Government?

 

By Thomas Sowell October 4, 2013 6:55 am

         

Even when it comes to something as basic, and apparently as simple and straightforward, as the question of who shut down the federal government, there are diametrically opposite answers, depending on whether you talk to Democrats or to Republicans.

 

There is really nothing complicated about the facts. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted all the money required to keep all government activities going -- except for ObamaCare.

 

This is not a matter of opinion. You can check the Congressional Record.

As for the House of Representatives' right to grant or withhold money, that is not a matter of opinion either. You can check the Constitution of the United States. All spending bills must originate in the House of Representatives, which means that Congressmen there have a right to decide whether or not they want to spend money on a particular government activity.

Whether ObamaCare is good, bad or indifferent is a matter of opinion. But it is a matter of fact that members of the House of Representatives have a right to make spending decisions based on their opinion.

 

ObamaCare is indeed "the law of the land," as its supporters keep saying, and the Supreme Court has upheld its Constitutionality.  But the whole point of having a division of powers within the federal government is that each branch can decide independently what it wants to do or not do, regardless of what the other branches do, when exercising the powers specifically granted to that branch by the Constitution.

 

The hundreds of thousands of government workers who have been laid off are not idle because the House of Representatives did not vote enough money to pay their salaries or the other expenses of their agencies -- unless they are in an agency that would administer ObamaCare.

 

Since we cannot read minds, we cannot say who -- if anybody -- "wants to shut down the government." But we do know who had the option to keep the government running and chose not to. The money voted by the House of Representatives covered everything that the government does, except for ObamaCare.

 

The Senate chose not to vote to authorize that money to be spent, because it did not include money for ObamaCare. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says that he wants a "clean" bill from the House of Representatives, and some in the media keep repeating the word "clean" like a mantra. But what is unclean about not giving Harry Reid everything he wants?

If Senator Reid and President Obama refuse to accept the money required to run the government, because it leaves out the money they want to run ObamaCare, that is their right. But that is also their responsibility.

 

You cannot blame other people for not giving you everything you want. And it is a fraud to blame them when you refuse to use the money they did vote, even when it is ample to pay for everything else in the government.

 

When Barack Obama keeps claiming that it is some new outrage for those who control the money to try to change government policy by granting or withholding money, that is simply a bald-faced lie. You can check the history of other examples of "legislation by appropriation" as it used to be called.

 

Whether legislation by appropriation is a good idea or a bad idea is a matter of opinion. But whether it is both legal and not unprecedented is a matter of fact.

 

Perhaps the biggest of the big lies is that the government will not be able to pay what it owes on the national debt, creating a danger of default. Tax money keeps coming into the Treasury during the shutdown, and it vastly exceeds the interest that has to be paid on the national debt.

 

Even if the debt ceiling is not lifted, that only means that government is not allowed to run up new debt. But that does not mean that it is unable to pay the interest on existing debt.

None of this is rocket science. But unless the Republicans get their side of the story out -- and articulation has never been their strong suit -- the lies will win. More important, the whole country will lose.

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Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. His website ishttp://www.tsowell.com/. To find out more about Thomas Sowell and read features by other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page athttp://www.creators.com/.

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