Shutdown Countdown, Con't.

Republicans are already trying to blame the President in order to cover their asses on the near-guaranteed government shutdown they're going to cause, which is a major, major sign that one is on the way.

The prospect of a second government shutdown in two years is growing as House conservatives pledge to oppose any funding measure that includes money for Planned Parenthood.

GOP leaders face a familiar problem. A measure that blocks funding for Planned Parenthood would almost certainly lack the votes to pass the Senate, and would be vetoed by President Obama.

But Republicans in the House don't have enough GOP votes to approve a funding measure that continues funding for Planned Parenthood, and don't want to negotiate with Democrats.

Conservatives headed to their districts on Friday expressing certainty that they would force GOP leaders to include a hold on Planned Parenthood funding.

And as in past funding fights, they insisted it would be the Democrats and President Obama who would be blamed for a shutdown.

“Will the president shut down and defund the troops in order to fund Planned Parenthood?” said Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.). “I don't think he's that politically stupid, but we shall see.”

Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), another conservative, sounded a similar theme.

“I’ve seen too many times up here that a threat of a shutdown is why you compromise your principles, and I am sick and tired of compromising my principles,” he said.

The remarks from the lawmakers reflect the strong feelings among House conservatives.

The conservative House Freedom Caucus, with more than 40 members, on Thursday vowed to oppose any spending bill that includes Planned Parenthood funds.

We know what the script will be, Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats will come up with a clean continuing resolution to save John Boehner's ass and she'll get everything she wants.  So will Harry Reid.  Enough Republicans will go along too, the only issue is the timing, whether it comes after another 2-3 week shutdown or before, and how long the resolution will cover spending for.

The wild card is the Senate and how many of the four GOP senators running will see shutting down the government as necessary to save face.  Cruz is already at that point, I expect Paul, Rubio, and Graham all will go along because they are all in the low single digits and getting killed by Trump/Carson, and need trophy heads to mount on their walls if they want to stay in this thing.

We'll see.