Post by anointedteacher on Nov 4, 2010 22:03:52 GMT -5
Congressman-Elect Tim Walberg Calls For Government Shutdown If Obama Doesn’t Follow His Mandate
thinkprogress.org/2010/11/04/walberg-shut-down/
Tim Walberg (R-MI), a proud birther who has threatened to impeach President Obama, won his election over Rep. Mark Shauer (D-MI) earlier this week. Shortly after his victory speech, Walberg spoke with the Jackson Citizen Patriot to outline his agenda. “(Voters) are repudiating what is going on by politicians in general, and more specifically, this administration,” he said. If President Obama does not follow the Republican “mandate,” Walberg made clear that he will force a government shut down:
He said Republicans can work together to get things done with the Obama administration, but that will be up to the president. If Obama, like then-President Bill Clinton did after the 1994 midterms, responds to the mandate from voters and understands he can’t disregard it, then he thinks Obama will do well. “If he doesn’t, he will shut government down,” Walberg said.
While Walberg’s threat is extreme, he is not the only Republican politician proposing a government shutdown. Newt Gingrich, architect of the government shutdown in the ’90s, has pledged that the new Republican Congress will close the government as a political tactic to force through their right-wing policies. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) told a Republican audience recently that a government shut down — including a closure of the Veterans Administration — would be one of the goals of the new GOP caucus. As Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and other leading Republicans have made clear, they will force a “show down” with Obama by holding general government funding bills hostage until health reform is repealed. (HT: Michigan Messenger)
