But I thought the GOP was behaving like this on behalf of America? "By a 22-point margin (53 percent to 31 percent), the public blames the Republican Party more for the shutdown than President Barack Obama—a wider margin of blame for the GOP than the party received during the poll during the last shutdown in 1995-96."
Rich People Want Customer Service on Defective Congress They Bought

Remember how Congressional Republicans went to the shut-down World War II Memorial to protest the fact that the Republican majority in the House of Representatives had just shut down the government? In a spectacular meta-expansion of that story line, today's New York Times checks in with the right-wing organizations…
Brief Debt-Limit Hike Means the GOP Will Ruin Your Thanksgiving
House Republicans suggested interest in a short-term debt limit increase today in a move that would temporarily prevent the United States from defaulting. Hooray! Of course this means nothing for the government shutdown, and now you can look forward to more pathetic debt-limit brinkmanship taking place right around…
What's Up With the Government Shutdown? The State of Play in Week Two
We're now in week two of a government shutdown. What's happening?
GOP Rep. Phil Gingrey puts the shutdown into context by comparing Republican stubbornness to a Mel Gibson movie: "I mean, they seem to think that we will miss this opportunity for a 'Braveheart' moment to do the right thing for the American people, and that we'll back down for fear of losing the House..."
House Speaker John Boehner has responded to President Obama's speech earlier today by characterizing it as a demand for "unconditional surrender" by Republicans. Meanwhile, one global market-research firm says the shutdown is costing the American economy $160 million per workday.
Obama: "We Can't Make Extortion Routine as Part of Our Democracy"
In a shutdown statement followed by a press conference this afternoon, President Obama said much of the same things about America's government standstill that he's been saying since last week: This is a situation caused by a handful of recalcitrant GOP jackasses who are unwilling to talk reasonably about how to end…
Anderson Cooper Slams GOP Congressman: "You're Not on Fox News"
Having had his fill of Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) trying to mislead his Monday night viewers with bogus claims about Obamacare and the cooked-up reasons for why Republicans refuse to bring a clean continuing resolution up for a vote, Anderson Cooper to make good on his promise to "keep them honest."
Senate Chaplain to Congress: End the Madness You Selfish Hypocrites
While this government shutdown has seen its fair share of euphemisms, one man spent every day last week telling lawmakers exactly how he felt — and right to their faces, no less.
GOP Rep Compares Shutdown to Gettysburg, Republicans to Confederacy
A top Republican member of the House gathered a group of sympathetic reporters last Thursday to tell his party's side of the shutdown story, which involved an anecdote comparing the GOP to Confederate troops at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Congressman Reads Internet Famous Anti-Shutdown Tweet on House Floor
The most widely circulated anti-shutdown tweet to date got a "dramatic reading" on the House floor late last week, courtesy of Congressman Mike Doyle (D-PA).
National Weather Service Office Has a Secret Message for Congress
Someone at the National Weather Service's Anchorage, Alaska, outpost had an acrostic for the federal government hidden in one of its updates today: "Please pay us."
Prison Guards Watching Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Are Unpaid Right Now Too
Thanks to this unbelievably asinine government shutdown, thousands and thousands of furloughed employees are getting royally screwed. But a gentle reminder that even excepted employees have been shafted too, employees like the corrections officers who're tasked with the Very Important Patriotic Work of guarding…
The government shutdown has already caused thousands of federal workers to be furloughed. Now, a tipster tells us, a rumor is going around among Washington, DC city workers that they could be furloughed as early as Monday. If you know more, leave it in the discussion section below. (Update: The DC mayor's office …
Stephen Colbert Marries Couple Whose Wedding Was Ruined by the Shutdown
Mike and his fiancée MaiLien were all set to get married this Saturday on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial when the government shutdown abruptly shut down their dreams.
GOP Rep Defends Keeping Salary During Shutdown: "I Need My Paycheck"
Though dozens of her colleagues have decided to either forego receiving a paycheck or else donate their salary to charity while the government is shut down and hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been furloughed, Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) is adamant about making sure her $174k/year plus benefits remain…