This is Congressman [mc_name name=’Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’M001182′ ] from South Carolina:

“In the House—I can only speak for the House—the amount of control we have is the power of the purse. If we’re not willing to talk about a lapse in appropriations over selling dead baby parts I doubt seriously we’ll have a discussion about a lapse in appropriations over a nuclear-powered Iran. We’re afraid to shut the government down. We gave up the power of the purse about four and a half years ago. If you’re not willing to go to the mat on defunding anything, then you are not willing to enforce the power of the purse.”

Precisely. Everything else is just theater.