The Democrats in the Senate amended those bills to fund Obamacare, and sent them back to the House for approval.
That's how it's supposed to work. Constitutionally, the House drafts appropriation legislation, then passes it to the Senate for their review. The Senate reviews the legislation, and either accepts it or makes recommendations for modification, at which point it goes back to the House for further consideration. Notice that the Senate is supposed to review it, then either accept or ask for modification? The Senate, actually Herr Reid, is refusing to do even that. He...errr...they are refusing to follow the process; their little temper tantrum is what's causing this malaise.
The Tea Party should not hold the economy hostage to force people to accept their legislative agenda. Are you really too dense to see what sort of precedent that would set? If you care about democracy at all, you should be opposed to what they're doing. It is economic terrorism, plain and simple.
I care very much for the democratic process. That's why I'm willing to recognize that what's happening is constitutionally allowed. A majority of the representatives in the House are simply doing what their constituents elected them to do. "[T]heir legislative agenda" is to fairly represent those who voted them into office. Are you really too dense to see that doing otherwise would perpetuate the catastrophic precedent of not doing what you've been employed to do? You are entitled (by an amendment to our constitution) to freely opine, and state that you believe it's a form of "economic terrorism", But don't expect others to believe that that is what it is, simply because you say so. That's a rather silly stance to take....
How would you feel if the Democrats declared that the 2nd amendment is repealed, all workers must be unionized, and income in excess of $250k will be taxed at 95%, or else they'll force the country to default and plunge the world into a depression? Would you think the Republicans should agree to that deal? Would you say "the ball's in their court"?
Well, first off, the Democrats cannot simply (& unilaterally) declare that an amendment to the Constitution is repealed. There is a formal (constitutional) process that must be followed in order to repeal sections of the bedrock documents of this country. And it does not include allowing a minority portion of one half of one third of our government to declare such a thing willy-nilly. Again, you're simply spouting silliness.
If the government wants to enact legislation declaring that every worker must be unionized, they can attempt to do so. But they would (a) be running afoul of that pesky constitution which states otherwise, (b) be running afoul of the desires of their constituents, and risk passing legislation which would quickly be invalidated, and/or (c) run the risk of being voted out of office (kind of like what happened to several Democrats in the mid-term elections, when many "tea baggers" were voted into office by those constituents who were unhappy that their will was not enforced). And the President is free to sign such legislation into law as well. But as Chief Executive, I imagine he would experience some interesting times executing that legislation against the majority will of the people (kind of like what's happening right now.)
Regarding a 95% tax rate in peoples' income: See above for an outline of the process and results. The House has the constitutional authority to draft such legislation, and the Senate can either support or reject it, and the President can either agree or veto as well. But they would then be held to account to those who voted them into office.
Ain't it a real twist in the undergarments when government starts trying to do what they're supposed to do?