John Avlon is a CNN contributor and senior political columnist for Newsweek and The Daily Beast. He is the co-author of the new book " Deadline Artists : America's Greatest Newspaper Columns." (CNN) -- They just don't get it.
Politics as ideological blood sport - CNN
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Two months after playing partisan chicken with the debt-ceiling limit and leading directly to a U.S. downgrade, our dysfunctional divided Congress was at it again -- carelessly bringing the country to the brink of a government shutdown. This time the debate was over disaster-relief spending. Republicans wanted to ensure that any extra money needed for FEMA in the wake of Hurricane Irene would be matched by cuts in spending elsewhere. The Democrat-controlled Senate rejected the House bill as a form of extortion and so the stalemate continued through the weekend, bringing FEMA within days of being insolvent. Ultimately, the two parties came to an agreement that funded FEMA but simply kicked the prospect of a government shutdown to right before Thanksgiving.Politics as ideological blood sport - CNN
