The Louisiana Legislative delegation was split down party
lines on the Harry Reid-brokered bill to end the government shutdown and
kick-the-can down the road on the debt ceiling, with one notable exception:
Congressman Charles Boustany (R-Lafayette).
Boustany, who earlier in the day blasted his fellow Republicans, was one of 87 House Republicans who, along with 198 Democrats,
voted to end the shutdown, impose new deadlines a few months from now on the
debt ceiling, and not delay the implementation of ObamaCare. 144 Republicans in
the House voted no.
The Senate approved the bill by an 81-18 vote.
The Senate approved the bill by an 81-18 vote.
On Fox News last night, Congressman Steve Scalise
(R-Metairie) discussed his “No” vote.
“The bill tonight really didn’t address the problems. The
President has said all along that he wasn’t going to negotiate. He wanted to get
a full debt ceiling increase. He wanted
to get a continuation of government funding without addressing the underlying
problems that got us here in the first place. The biggest problem is this sets
up yet another crisis showdown in 3 months.”
When questioned about the tactics used by Republicans during
the shutdown, Scalise said while they weren’t perfect, the President wouldn’t
budge regardless of the tactics.
“Obviously there were a lot of different proposals put on
the table. I voted for 4 different proposals to fund government. He refused to
negotiate at all.”
“The President got everything he wanted and we didn’t solve
one problem.”