The GOP 44 percenters who want to burn the house down
by digby
Ok, so the American public does not think it’s a good idea to shut down the government over Planned Parenthood. Not a good idea at all:
The poll finds that 71 percent of adults say it is more important for Congress to approve a spending bill to keep the government open, compared to 22 percent who say it is more important to eliminate all federal funds for Planned Parenthood.
The poll comes as Republicans grapple with how to avoid a shutdown. GOP leaders in the House are coming under heavy pressure from conservatives to block funding for Planned Parenthood. Congress must pass a funding bill by Oct. 1.
The percentage looking to avoid a shutdown is somewhat larger than it was in September 2013, ahead of a shutdown fight over ObamaCare. That year, a CNN/ORC poll found 60 percent prioritized avoiding a shutdown, while 31 percent wanted to cut off ObamaCare funds more. The government still ended up shutting down for 16 days that year.
Here’s the problem:
The poll Monday shows that Republicans slightly prioritize avoiding a shutdown over defunding Planned Parenthood, by a margin of 48 percent to 44 percent.
I’m going to guess that Ted Cruz would really like to lock up that 44 percent. And he believes he’s got the chops to make this happen. It’s unknown if he does but let’s just say that there are a whole bunch of congressional Republicans who have constituents among that 44 percent. And a whole bunch of them — including all of the Republicans in the House — are running for re-election.
This could end up being the circus of all circuses featuring gory tales of “feticide” and pictures of bloody body parts flying around the floor of the US Congress. Lovely …