I know it seems like ancient history to remind Americans about the 16-day government shutdown back in October, but how about this statistic: According to an initial analysis from Standard & Poor's, that shutdown took a $24 billion chunk out of the U.S. economy. That's something that House Speaker John Boehner and others in House Republican leadership certainly haven't forgotten. Nor have they forgotten the horrific public polling that blamed them for what is now generally considered a debacle that should never have occurred.
It seems like that was such a long time ago because the political fortunes of the Democrats and Republicans have flipped upside down over the past two months, due to the disastrous rollout of HealthCare.gov. But October's mess was obviously the last straw for Boehner, which is he was fully committed to what Paul Ryan negotiated with Patty Ryan in getting a budget deal earlier this week. Boehner is finally telling Tea Party acolytes like Cato, Heritage Action and the Club for Growth to essentially shove it with their complaints about that legislation, passed by the House yesterday that was designed to avoid another such shutdown next month.
And the Tea Party doesn't like it. Jenny Martin, co-founder of Tea Party Patriots, tells the Wall Street Journal today that "the trust is so deeply shattered right now between the establishment within the House Republican conference and the people who stand for the values of tea party movement that it makes it very difficult to believe anything they say."
Somehow I get the feeling that Boehner isn't really that concerned with Martin's complaints this morning.
Meanwhile, while Rick Scott ignores the problems with the state's unemployment website, he kept up his mantra that Florida is the greatest state in the nation for jobs yesterday in Tampa. That's when he officially announced his plan to cut vehicle registration fees by an average of $25 for every Floridian next year, though the final numbers might be smaller after the Legislature votes on it next spring.
A coalition of progressive groups went to Senator Bill Nelson's Tampa office yesterday to thank him for not compromising too much in the most recent budget negotiations on their pet issues (like Social Security and Medicare. But they also wanted to gently press him to consider supporting more liberal legislation when it comes to taxing the rich and closing corporate loopholes.
St. Petersburg Mayor-Elect Rick Kriseman named two new hires yesterday...
And if you haven't had a chance yet, please check out piece in this week's CL on the GOP race for the Congressional District 13 race that takes place next month in Pinellas County.