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They are deliberately ambiguous on that point. The attitude on the right seems to be that if Obama doesn't agree to gut Obamacare, then he is being unreasonable. That is a ludicrous position for them to take, one that is at odds with where they American people are on the issue. The majority of Americans oppose the shutdown to defund Obamacare, even if they themselves are against it. And with regard to the percentage of Americans who oppose the law, that's only about 51%. Rightiespeak is really fascinating. Obama won the election with 51% of the vote, yet that is not considered by the right to be a mandate. Fair enough. If 51% in a presidential election cannot be considered a mandate then neither can 51% being against a law be described as overwhelming opposition. But that hasn't prevented Boehner and Cruz from from claiming that the American people are demanding that the law be eliminated. They know that what they are saying is BS. They have access to the same information I do. Yet they are using that misinformation as justification for taking an intractable position, no funding that includes Obamacare, that led to the shutdown, and then having the audacity to blame it all on Obama and Reid.

And speaking of the constitutionality of the law Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia AG and one of the first AG's to file a lawsuit against the ACA, said on Friday that Obamacare is the law of the land and a CR should be passed which included it. The people who still insist that the law is unconstitutional don't understand the significance of a Supreme Court decision.

Yes, when Republicans talk about "compromise", when it pertains to the government shutdown, they want Democrats to bend on repeal or defunding of ObamaCare. I think that's a waste of time. Its not going to happen. That's Obama's signature accomplishment, and the law is too far along now to get defunded. The most you could get is a delay.

For myself, I think compromise is more about passing bills with bipartisan support. For instance, ObamaCare was passed entirely along party lines, Republicans were shut out of the process, Democrats held closed-door meetings in the middle of the night, and they passed ObamaCare with a 50%+1 vote. As a result, we've been fighting over this thing for three years. True compromise would be getting together with Republicans and Democrats, talking, incorporating ideas both sides could agree to, and passing a bill with support from both sides.

Also, concerning compromise, don't put bills up for a vote that are designed to fail. Gun control legislation for example. In a bill to expand background checks, which 90% of people support, they include an assault weapons ban, KNOWING that'll make Republicans vote no on the bill, so Democrats could say, "See! Republicans are against BACKGROUND CHECKS, which 90% of people support." Its designed to fail, the only purpose of the bill is to send a political message. Similarly, Republicans passed Obama's jobs bill, but they included the Keystone Pipeline. What happened? Democrats opposed the bill. And Republicans said, "See! Democrats opposed Obama's own jobs bill!"

That's why we have a do nothing government. Republicans and Democrats are chiefly concerned with sending a "political message" and pleasing the special interest groups that back them. Their main concern is their next election, not the good of the country. That's why I think we have a massive failure of leadership in this country, and blame for that rests primarily with the President. If Obama began with a Republican House and Senate that were against him, I'd understand more that he inherited an unfriendly Congress, but he began with a Democratic supermajority, and he chose to demagogue and blame and ostracize Republicans. So when they took over the House, he reaped what he sowed. Procrustes was made to fit his own bed. I think that is the main failure of his Presidency, dividing people rather than bringing them together.

The GOP wants to strike a deal. Obama wants more debt period while not being flexible enough to make a deal. He has put himself in a tough spot again, and reject compromise to save face. The republicans are arguing from a strong position, the Dems were banking on that the nation would blame them for a shutdown but they turned out to be wrong. Now we have a president who refuses to compromise to save face. The GOP needs to offer and a spending control plan and think of offering it to the president in a way in which he can save face, they have to think of this or the White House will never do it. Everyone wants fiscal responsability the deficit is looming ever large as something that threatens to destabilize the country. The GOP should offer a spending control plan and Obama should have the cleverness to be flexible.

They started off by defunding Obamacare, then they wanted a one year delay in Obamacare, then they wanted a one year delay in the individual mandate. They should have known they wouldn't get any of those. Instead they should have demanded that all exceptions, exemptions and waivers on Obamacare be removed effective January 1, 2014.

Obama and Reid are demanding it is either their way or the highway, and anyone with any brains knows it is very hard to get the other side to agree to that

The Tea Party will not accept any compromise. They want to be in control. They are playing a game and President Obama is not fooled by these crazy fanatics. If President Obama gave an inch, they would be saying he's weak. Remember what they did when he went to Congress with the Syrian business? Before he did that, they were calling him a dictator for suggesting he would not go to Congress.

The most high Obama said no compromise. I think it is time for you libs to stop blaming and step up to the plate act act like adults.

Uh, the supreme court ruled it a tax. You really need a lesson in facts.

And yet Republicans still look better. At least they aren't openly saying they'd rather shut down government than talk to the other side.

Also, do keep in mind that Democrats fully support delaying the effects of the scam on their core political supporters. So don't act like applying those same benefits to everybody is some extreme position. If it's good enough for some people it's good enough for everybody, even if they didn't vote for Obama.

Boehner wants Obama to bow down to him and cancel welfare, obamacare, and middle class tax cuts.

I don't blame the republicans for the shutdown. I blame A republican. It's all Boehner. Senate sent a clean bill to the house, but Boehner won't let the house vote because he knows it would pass. The republicans are wrong, theyre not all crazy. But sadly, the crazy ones run the party.

#Hillary2016

#LetTheHouseVote

"We’re not going to be disrespected. We have to get something out of this, and I don’t know what that even is." -unknown Republican.

Joking aside, they want another attempt to dismantle or change up the ACA dramatically.

They are simply making impossible demands so that they can prolong their grandstanding and showboating.

The Teabaggers want to be a "power".