[QUOTE=ewmayer;355008]There does appear to be a "hostage taking" aspect to the PR here .... spotted out there in the intertubes is this from a DC-area resident:[/QUOTE]

With all due (and deep) respect...

You sometimes claim to be the "Home of the Brave". And "The Free."

Might you also be the home of the deep thinkers?

Like you used to be?

[QUOTE=ewmayer;355008]There does appear to be a "hostage taking" aspect to the PR here[/QUOTE]

It's sad, but exactly what I expected. Their purpose is to cause as much pain as possible, not to provide for the best-possible service.

Chris, I've learnt to ignore posts from you which begin with "with all due respect", because what follows is typically obliquified into obscurity. You may be missing out on a lucrative career in UK politics, "home of the slander-law-avoiding insult", though. :)

[QUOTE=ewmayer;355018]Chris, I've learnt to ignore posts from you which begin with "with all due respect", because what follows is typically obliquified into obscurity. You may be missing out on a lucrative career in UK politics, "home of the slander-law-avoiding insult", though. :)[/QUOTE]

LOL... Our loss.

[URL="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/10/here-is-the-short-gop-quote-that-perfectly-defines-the-shutdown/280220/"]Here Is the Short GOP Quote That Perfectly Defines the Shutdown[/URL][QUOTE][QUOTE]“We’re not going to be disrespected,” conservative Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., [told the Washington Examiner]. “We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”[/QUOTE]

[I]And I don’t know what that even is.[/I]

On the one hand, you could say it's just a throwaway line. Representatives say empty, tired things every day. But quotes have a life of their own, and this one is already being hailed online as the perfect embodiment of the GOP's bargaining position: Equal parts resolution and deep confusion. Forty-eight hours into the shutdown negotiations, one Republican stalwart's official position is that he no longer has any idea what he's negotiating for.[/QUOTE][QUOTE=only_human;354559]Unfortunately some guys are getting all Blagojevich-ish i.e. “I've got this thing and it's f'n golden, and, uh, uh, I'm just not giving it up for f'n nothing. I'm not gonna do it. And, and I can always use it..."[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=only_human;355046][URL="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/10/here-is-the-short-gop-quote-that-perfectly-defines-the-shutdown/280220/"]Here Is the Short GOP Quote That Perfectly Defines the Shutdown[/URL][/QUOTE]

Poor Mr. Stutzman is apparently so resolutely confused that he forgets that he answered the "what?" question already - he gonna get some R-E-S-P-E-C-T. "Whose?" is of course a genuinely open question.

I suggest that in future our esteemed legislators be subject to a "no budget, no pay for you" rule [including suspension of other privileges, such as campaign fundraising and the franking privilege], as [url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-06-21-california-legislature-budget-pay_n.htm]has been in force in my home state since 2011[/url]. Maybe they should be forced to remain in DC, as well.

No soup for you!

[QUOTE=ewmayer;355050]I suggest that in future our esteemed legislators be subject to a "no budget, no pay for you" rule [including suspension of other privileges, such as campaign fundraising and the franking privilege], as [url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-06-21-california-legislature-budget-pay_n.htm]has been in force in my home state since 2011[/url]. Maybe they should be forced to remain in DC, as well.

No soup for you![/QUOTE]
There is such a provision, FWIW. [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Budget,_No_Pay_Act_of_2013_(Public_Law_113-3)"]No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013 (Public Law 113-3)[/URL] [noparse][wikipedia.com][/noparse]
It didn't do any good. Both the House and Senate [I]wrote and passed [/I]budgets. There was just no reconciliation to produce a bill that the president could then sign. It was unconstitutional to not pay the dweebs too; the law was limited to holding back the pay until the end of the congressional session:[QUOTE]The bill also would provide an incentive for action on a concurrent resolution on the budget. If a version of such a resolution has not been passed by a House of the Congress by April 15, 2013, the salaries of Members of that chamber would be put in an escrow account. The escrow account for a given House would remain in place until a concurrent resolution on the budget was passed for fiscal year 2014 by that chamber, or until the last day of the 113th Congress, whichever was earlier.[/QUOTE]

(follow-up on last post)
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-seventh_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution"]Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution[/URL] [noparse][wikipedia.com][/noparse][QUOTE]The Twenty-seventh Amendment (Amendment XXVII) prohibits any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of the Congress from taking effect until the start of the next set of terms of office for Representatives. It is the most recent amendment to the United States Constitution. It was submitted to the states for ratification in 1789 and was adopted, over 200 years later, in 1992.[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/30/politics/shutdown-congress-staff-paid/index.html"]Congress still gets paid -- it's in the Constitution[/URL] [noparse][cnn.com][/noparse]

[QUOTE=only_human;355051]There is such a provision, FWIW. [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Budget,_No_Pay_Act_of_2013_(Public_Law_113-3)"]No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013 (Public Law 113-3)[/URL] [noparse][wikipedia.com][/noparse]
It didn't do any good. Both the House and Senate [I]wrote and passed [/I]budgets. There was just no reconciliation to produce a bill that the president could then sign.[/QUOTE]

I meant "pass a budget" in the latter sense. Thx for the links/clarification, though.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;355129]I meant "pass a budget" in the latter sense. Thx for the links/clarification, though.[/QUOTE]

Just to put this out there for thought...

At the end of the day law is little more than logic.

If framed correctly.

Couple of breaking-news items - Sorry, for shootings and self-immolations you'll have to go to your local family-friendly MSM outlet, we only do "news for deep thinkers" here:

o [url=www.theonion.com/articles/tea-party-leaders-announce-support-for-deal-in-exc,34101/]Tea Party Leaders Announce Support For Deal In Exchange For Malia Obama[/url]

o [url=www.theonion.com/video/petty-shortsighted-americans-outraged-at-legislatu,34099/]Video: Petty, Shortsighted Americans Outraged At Legislature That Represents Them Perfectly[/url]