Howard Fineman Discusses Looming Government Shutdown On MSNBC's 'Hardball'

The Huffington Post's Senior Political Editor Howard Fineman, along with Mother Jones' David Corn, talked to Chris Matthews tonight on MSNBC's "Hardball" about the looming possibility of a government shutdown.

Fineman said that President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner are both getting prepared to blame each other if a shutdown does occur. "The President and the Speaker are sort of like the pilot and co-pilot preparing for a crash that hasn't happened yet...blaming the other person for the catastrophe that might come about," explained Fineman.

Speaking about the 1995 shutdown when Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the House, Fineman stated, "Newt Gingrich as you recall vastly overplayed his hand....it was all about Newt." Contrasting that to the current situation, Fineman explained, "the one good thing you can say about Boehner in playing this game out over the next couple weeks is that it doesn't seem to be about him. That's probably the big positive. The downside of it is, you know, he's not as good, he's not as adept in public as the President is."

Fineman also discussed the role of the Tea Party in these events. "If the government does shut down and it comes to a blame game, there are gonna be all these Republican Tea Party people cheering the fact that the government has shut down. I'm convinced that they're gonna be out there cheering, maybe on the floor of the House cheering about it."

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