Talking Points: Who's To Blame In Gov't Shutdown?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The federal government shutdown is headed into its second week with no end in sight, but Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she is hopeful that a compromise backed by 22 moderate House Republicans to fund the government for six weeks so a deal can be reached could lead to a breakthrough.
In an interview with WCCO from Washington, Klobuchar said: "I truly believe something is going to break through. It just has to. People are sick and tired of this, sick and tired of lurching from one crisis to another. And the advantage of this 6 weeks' time period is that it is just enough time to get a major deal, but it's not too long so there would be no sense of urgency."
Conservative Republicans say that is not acceptable. They are insisting on at minimum a one-year delay in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
Fueling the tension is escalating partisan rhetoric, which even included a raunchy skit last night on "Saturday Night Live," with Miley Cyrus portraying Rep. Michele Bachmann.
The skit shows Cyrus as Bachmann partying with a cast member playing Speaker of the House John Boehner.
The writers play on the lyrics of Cyrus's song "We Can't Stop," changing the title to "We Did Stop (The Government)."
"Like any satire, it's outrageous in bringing forward images of irresponsibility and decadence on the part of Republicans," observed political analyst Dr. Larry Jacobs, who appeared on WCCO's Sunday morning show with Esme Murphy. "When you look at the reality of this, President Obama and the Democrats have also gotten hurt by this shutdown. You see their negatives starting to rise. (But) Republicans are getting hit much harder and this kind of satire hits them exactly where the leadership worried most when they went on this journey."
The latest polls from CBS News show most Americans are blaming Republicans over President Obama, by 44 to 35 percent. But that is not a huge margin, suggesting the blame and the political fallout could shift as the crisis unfolds.
Bachmann has so far not issued any comment on the "Saturday Night Live" skit.
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