Congressional GOP is pursuing 'dangerous game that puts people’s lives at risk'

There are only five legislative days until Congressional Republicans shut down the government, and newspaper editorials continue calling on the GOP to end their obstruction, distraction and dysfunction:

• Tampa Bay Times Editorial (Florida) – Republicans should not force government shutdown

We have seen this bad movie before.  Once again, the nation is days away from a federal government shutdown because some congressional Republicans would rather wage ideological warfare than act responsibly.  And once again, it is a foolish power play that most Americans do not support, fuels further frustration with Washington's dysfunction and is doomed to fail.

The last thing this nation needs is another government shutdown that roils the economy and increases voter frustration with Washington that already is sky-high.

• The Oracle Editorial (Florida) – Government shutdown not the answer to budget debate

…hundreds of thousands of government employees wait with bated breath as we are once again days away from a federal government shutdown.

…Americans have made it abundantly clear they don't want another shutdown.

Yet here we are…

• CentralMaine.com Editorial Editorial – Planned Parenthood ‘crisis' latest example of governing-by-shutdown

This is a dangerous game that puts people's lives at risk.

The fact that threats of government shutdown and near-default have become an annual event since the rise of the tea party Congress in 2010 does not make this kind of politics acceptable.

• The Charlotte Observer Editorial (North Carolina) – Another September, another federal government shutdown?

A shutdown over Planned Parenthood would be foolish…

Most importantly, a shutdown would be a drag on the economy and would rattle global markets at a delicate time.  It would kill jobs, furlough hundreds of thousands of federal workers and put a dent in your 401(k).

• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania) – Hostage crisis: Congress must not shut down the government

It is incredible that Congress would consider shutting down the government in a scrap over Planned Parenthood.

Enough is enough.  Congress must pass and the president must sign a budget bill that will keep the government functioning past Sept. 30.

• Spokesman Review Editorial (Washington) – Government shutdown supporters out of touch

Most people will blame Republicans for the harm to government services and the economy that would come from another shutdown.

According to a CNN poll, 71 percent of Americans want to avoid it.

Americans want their government to stop tripping over itself…Get serious about governing or get out of the way.

• Wisconsin Gazette Editorial – Evangelical Republicans intent on shutting down the government over Planned Parenthood funding

The obstructionist Republicans hope a showy stunt of shutting down the federal government over Planned Parenthood funding will energize their…base…

The reckless, pointless effort to shut down the government dramatizes how useless Congress has become in general, and Republican members in particular.  They routinely distract the public with empty gestures like this one to pander to their base while neglecting real issues.

There's a reason why Congress is less popular than herpes and head lice.  How people like Cruz continue to get reelected, much less stage a credible run for the presidency, is something that people of the future will laugh about, if any sense of humor survives.

This is no way to govern.  With mere days left until the budget deadline, House Republicans must listen to the American people – who don't want, and don't deserve, another devastating #GOPShutdown.