What’s Different This Time

Stan Collender:
“One of the biggest differences between the current shutdown situation
and the ones that occurred in 1995 and 1996 is that Bill Clinton could
negotiate with Newt Gingrich knowing that the deal they agreed to would
be accepted by their respective political parties. That’s absolutely not
the case today.”

“House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) clearly does not speak for the House
GOP caucus. Indeed, Boehner has been slapped down by his caucus so often
and so hard in recent days that it’s more likely almost anything he
would agree to will be rejected out of hand than it will be taken
seriously.”