Republicans own this shutdown

Crackpot cons in John Boehner's House of Dysfunction (and their paid and volunteer apologists) are desperately trying to shift the blame for the govenment shutdown onto the Democrats but anyone who plays the "both sides do it" storyline on this one is either a liar or a fool. The irresponsible party here couldn't be more clear:

The federal government shut down for one reason: House Republicans did not pass a six-week funding bill.

That doesn’t mean a majority of the House opposed the bill, however. In fact, the House never got to vote on it. Speaker John Boehner refused to hold a vote on funding alone–a “clean” bill–instead only allowing votes on funding plans that undermined Obamacare. The Senate rejected those bills, and Boehner never brought a clean bill to the floor before the deadline for funding the government. If Boehner had simply held a vote on funding alone, 200 House Democrats would back him and he’d only need 17 Republicans to prevail. The votes are there, according to several Republican members who spoke out this weekend.

By standing in the way of majority rule, Boehner took an entirely avoidable shutdown and made it inevitable.

Boehner could end this in a hot minute if only he could find his balls and stand up to the Tea Party vandals in his own party. It's as simple as that. [photo via]