Tea Party members are carrying out the wishes of voters in their districts by taking Congress to the brink, says Steve Bittle of George Washington University.
"Many of the more rebellious members, these Tea Party members, come from districts that have very solid Republican majorities," he said. "They are really not worried about a challenge from the Democrats. They are worried about a challenge from the right-wing of their party."
At a luncheon for conservatives, Republican Raul Labrador blamed the threat of a shutdown on Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama.
"And if Harry Reid and the President want to shut down the government because all we are asking for is a simple delay of Obamacare, then I hope you write the story that way, and not in the way that we are the ones who are at fault," he said.
Republican Representative Mark Meadows says Americans shouldn't worry.
"We have had 17, 17 government shutdowns, in our history. And all of those were partial shutdowns," he said. "The longest one was 21 days. No one ever didn't get paid ..."
Asked if other democracies could have showdowns on routine funding bills, analysts say it's hard to imagine.
"In parliamentary systems, a situation like this probably would have ended up in a call for new elections, maybe a vote of no confidence in the prime minister," Stan Collender said.
"The next act in the drama will be in the Senate, where all eyes are focused on Majority Leader Harry Reid to see what he does with the House bill. He has already said the Senate will not pass a bill that defunds the health care law.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25