What the politicos were saying Wednesday on day two of the shutdown.
• “My view of this from the very first was that it wouldn’t work. When you have the government shut down and the president’s health care initiative launches that same day is one indication of why I thought it wouldn’t work. It should never have happened.” — Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, a Republican, on the government shutdown.
Losing a key senator like Blunt on the shutdown is a very bad omen for Republicans. With business leaders frustrated over the shutdown now playing footsie with President Obama, the GOP faces an increasingly rocky road ahead.
• “It’s the law of the land. But if the president can make changes in the law of the land, surely the...the legislative branch has that opportunity to do as well.” — Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran on Obamacare Wednesday from the floor of the Senate.
The Republican is right. The legislative branch can do exactly that. The broader question is: Should the legislative branch shut down the federal government of the United States of America to achieve this objective?
• “A prolonged shutdown will put jobs at risk and undermine confidence in our economy, so I urge folks in Washington to put an end to the gridlock and start working together to move our country forward.” — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon.
Nixon says the state can weather a short shutdown. A longer one is another question.
• “I had the ability to say the rules don’t apply to our office, but most of Missouri’s federal workers don’t have that luxury, so I made a decision to cut it to the bare bones.” — Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.
The Democrat trimmed her office staff dramatically in the wake of the shutdown in a nod to the legions of furloughed federal workers. Blunt, in contract, kept his operation at full throttle.
• “By God, I said the hell with it. We’re going to answer the phones.” — West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin who’s answering his own telephones during the shutdown to a POLITICO reporter who dialed into his main office line.
It’s good for them.
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