Tuesday marked the fifteenth day of the partial government shutdown that has furloughed many federal workers and closed federal parks. And former Florida Congressman Allen Boyd, a Blue Dog Democrat who was swept out of office in the Tea Party wave of 2010, was in Tallahassee calling on US House Republicans to reopen the government now.
Boyd was soundly defeated after seven terms by current Congressman Steve Southerland three years ago. He's now calling on Southerland to break ranks with the GOP and compromise with the Democrats.
"The responsibility to fix it from where it comes, comes on the elected leaders now, right down from the president, the senate leaders, and the US Congress",Boyd said. "You can’t govern this country from the goal line; you have to govern it from the 50 yard line."
Boyd was joined by military veterans and members of the NAACP and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. They called on Congress to raise the debt ceiling in the short term, and leave entitlement reform for another discussion.
They said the Tea Party has too much influence in the US House, and voters should remember that in next year's elections.
Meanwhile, the nation is moving closer to a Thursday deadline, when the federal debt ceiling must be lifted in order to continue funding the government.