The government shutdown continues as we inch closer and
closer to the unknown of a debt ceiling default with business and markets
beginning to act very nervously.
The government shutdown is costing taxpayers $300 million daily. The demands from the Republicans change
in the wind from the defunding of the Affordable Care Act to approval of the
Keystone Pipeline to the newest Boehner demand: changes in the tax code and entitlement spending. It has become clear that there are
enough votes in the House of Representatives to pass a clear continuing
resolution to reopen the government, yet Speaker Boehner refuses, under the
Hastert rule, to bring the bill up for a vote. As the GOP continues to fight amongst themselves and the
goal posts sway all over the field in the wind of their bravado, Representative
Stutzman put the crisis in real terms:
“We’re not going to be disrespected. We have to get something out of this. I don’t know what that even is!”
If the GOP true purpose is to reign in runaway government
spending, then it is clear that they have WON this battle hands down! That’s right – I say the Republicans
have won! The budget that
Democrats are now willing to pass has been whittled down to 986 billion dollars
(just 19 billion more than the severely austere Ryan budget of 967 billion)! The deficit has been cut in half and
continues on a downward trend. So,
why do we continue to maneuver toward the edge of a very dangerous cliff? Why is the government shutdown? Why are we constantly governed crisis
to crisis? To all of you saying
BOTH sides are at fault, I say BALDERDASH! The reason we are in this mess is because ONE party – the
Republican Party – is in the midst of a CIVIL WAR and the wellbeing of the
country could very well be its costliest casualty. Consider the following timeline:
1.
In November of 2012, President Barack Obama was
reelected to the shock and dismay of the Republican Party. He won decisively with 332 electoral
votes. The Democrats gained seats
in the Senate and the House even though the GOP kept control of the House
assured by gerrymandered districts.
It was apparent the country had made a resounding decision on the major
issues of the election: Obamacare –
immigration reform – social issues – entitlements and the role of government to
mention a few. But, despite a
brief play to the cameras calling for a rebranding of the GOP to encourage
inclusion and cooperation, behind the scenes, the party was developing a very
real strategy of total obstruction defying the legitimate voice of the American
people. Leading the way was Tea
Party guru, Jim Demint, in his new position as head of the Heritage Foundation,
Tea Party Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and the Tea Party caucus in
the House of Representatives.
2.
Riding confidence from the election, President
Obama made significant overtures to Speaker John Boehner to again negotiate for
a grand spending bargain knowing that the sequester and bigger budget issues
were looming on the horizon in 2013.
However, under significant pressure from this fiery minority in his
caucus by a very real threat to depose him as Speaker, Boehner refused. Consequently, the sequester took effect
as the new year began. A trapped Boehner,
in an attempt to explain away his “no negotiation” stance, seized on a
political ploy making it clear there would be “no negotiations until the Senate
passed a budget” – something that august body had not done in more than three
years.
3.
Just weeks later, the Senate called Boehner’s
bluff and passed a budget resolution in March. With the country and the economy beginning to feel the
severe effects of the sequester, Obama praised the move and looked forward to
Congressional negotiations to iron out differences between the Senate budget
and that of the House designed by Paul Ryan. Rational minds hoped a compromise could be achieved that
would curtail spending but not with the draconian effects of the sequester continuing
to reek havoc on the economy. The
President began to stomp the nation – election style - trying to focus on job
creation and economic recovery.
4.
Meanwhile, freshman Senator, Ted Cruz, was
attempting to solidify his national Tea Party credentials for a presidential
run in 2016 by developing a plan to defund the Affordable Care Act. Months of fiery rhetoric and a national
campaign financed by the Koch Brothers and the ultra-wealthy wing of the party
- unhappy with the new taxes to fund ACA - led to several parliamentary stunts
by Cruz only to be soundly defeated in the Democratically-controlled Senate. Frustrated by his inability within the
Senate, Cruz, in a bold and politically irresponsible plan, moved his act to
the House by convincing enough members of the fanatic Tea Party caucus to join
his cause.
5.
Under Cruz influence, the Tea Party caucus shockingly
blocked House rules of regular order that appoint conferees to meet with the
Senate to compromise and create a finalized Congressional budget. Thus, as the Congress went on extended
summer break, there was no budget – no compromise to ease the sequester - and the
battle lines had been drawn. The
House Tea Party caucus had effectively tied the defunding of Obamacare to the
budget fight and moderate GOP members were forced to go along or face being
primaried from the right in 2014. There
would be a perfect bargaining chip when Congress reconvened in the Fall as the
country would face two very crucial budgetary deadlines – the continuing
resolution to fund the government and the need to raise the debt ceiling. Plus, the full Affordable Care Act was
set to premier in October and take effect in 2014. As the summer sizzled, the entire GOP – now under control of
the Tea Party minority - had no choice but to launch an all-out last-ditch
effort to convince the country that the Affordable Care Act was a path to
destruction.
6.
Now, the country doesn’t pay much attention to
politics during the summer. And,
even though many were confused about the ACA (still are today for that matter),
several very popular parts of the law had already taken effect: children being able to remain on their
parent’s plan until age 26 and guaranteed insurance despite pre-existing
conditions. The GOP campaign to
kill it did not create the avalanche of support predicted by Cruz. Unfazed, Cruz was full speed ahead throughout
the summer threatening he would shut down the government to achieve the law’s
demise – though he knew full well during a shutdown, the ACA would proceed
anyway. Now, political success is
usually gained by sound strategy.
Seeing a dangerous and dead end strategy, many members of the Republican
establishment were becoming very nervous about Cruz and his strategy that
seemed to be more about him than sound policy. As the summer drew to a close, the question remained: Certainly, the establishment of the GOP
would not allow the TPers to default on the good faith and credit of the United
States, right? But, how far were
they willing to go to prevent primary backlash? And, more importantly, what would be their exit strategy if
they backed into a shutdown corner?
September loomed on the horizon.
7.
While Cruz was determined with Tea Party
strength to pursue his tactics, the country as a whole was not impressed. In fact, 72% of the nation is not in
favor of connecting the ACA to funding the government. The ACA is law – enacted by Congress,
signed by the President and upheld by a very conservative Supreme Court. President Obama made his position very
consistent and very clear. There
would be absolutely no negotiations when it came to connecting the law to the
upcoming clerical duties and responsibilities of Congress – the continuing
resolution and debt ceiling. These
duties had nothing to do with the ACA – or future spending. As had been his position since being
elected (remember his overtures to Boehner right after the election?), he would
be happy to sit down and talk about a wider range of issues – just not with a
gun to his head. Plus, what was
constantly being lost in the rhetoric was the fact that just about every single
spending demand by the GOP was already reflected in the Democratic budget! It was more austere than anyone could
have predicted right after the election.
Democrats not willing to compromise? In fact, they had given away the entire store! But, the President, buoyed by a unified
Democratic front, drew the line in the sand with the unrealistic and
incredulous demands to defund the Affordable Care Act.
8.
September began, sure enough, with the House of
Representatives approving legislation to keep the government open but deny all
money for the ACA. Despite knowing
the Democratic-controlled Senate would not approve the bill, Cruz took to the
floor for more than 21 consecutive hours ranting against Obamacare in an
attempt to intensify his perceived fervor for using the shutdown to block
funding for the law. Not only did
the Senate say “no” to Cruz but most Senate Republicans opposed the Tea Party
as well. GOP unity began to
unravel and many from the establishment went public with their disdain for
Cruz. Meanwhile, the Senate sent
the bill back to the House to keep the government operating without
conditions. As the October 1st
deadline approached, the House began to solicit support from the American
public for their cause by offering a flurry of demands that are red meat issues
for their base: force Congress to
pay the full expense for their healthcare; approval of the Keystone pipeline;
eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, Medicare privatization; repealing
taxes; and, of course, still maintaining their demand to kill Obamacare by
delaying implementation by one year.
True to the President’s resolve, the Senate rejected these demands and
the shutdown began at 12:01 AM on October 1st.
So, there it is.
The government shutdown is now in its seventh day. The House has embarked on a desperate
strategy of voting to restart popular programs in an attempt to win the public
to their side. But, the Democrats
continue to stand on principle and vote “no” to most saying the entire government
must reopen. To make matters more
dangerous, the GOP House leadership has increasingly tied the shutdown to the
debt ceiling deadline of October 17th. In recent days, rhetoric about the health care law has
disappeared changing conditions for passage to deficit reduction. However, polls show the American people
are not buying it as 70% now blame the House GOP for the shutdown. Why?
1.
The timeline shows the GOP Civil War is at fault
for the impass. The wild crazies
in the Tea Party know they are impervious – their districts at home are safe
and the rest of the GOP is paralyzed by their threat to primary them. They truly don’t care – and the failure
of the federal government is their professed goal. I repeat: the
failure of the federal government and this President is their goal. The American people are catching on.
2.
If there was a vote TONIGHT in the House on a
clean continuing resolution, it would pass! Yet, Speaker Boehner refuses to allow an up or down vote.
3.
Also, the American people are catching on to the
fraudulent argument about spending.
If the “real” issue was about runaway spending, then why are we still
having this fight? The Democrats
have already agreed with the austere spending limits professed by the GOP
golden number boy – Paul Ryan!
America is becoming the laughing stock of the world with
political silliness where a government shutdown and credit default threat that
will affect the entire globe is the result of a minority group of extortionists
in the Republican party attempting to impose their agenda on the nation. And what is their agenda? It is a world where science, fact,
education, and simple arithmetic are useless. A world where if you repeat the same lie often enough, it
will somehow be true.
