This New York Times Op-ed piece puts the blame for the government shutdown squarely on the ineffectual shoulders of John Boehner (R-Ohio)--and rightfully so.
As always, my comments are indented and in italics."By Tuesday morning, the leadership failure of Speaker John Boehner was complete. In encouraging the impossible quest of House Republicans to dismantle health care reform, he pushed the country into a government shutdown that will now begin to take a grievous economic toll.
At any point, Mr. Boehner could have stopped it. Had he put on the floor a simple temporary spending resolution to keep the government open, without the outrageous demands to delay or defund the health reform law, it could easily have passed the House with a strong majority--including with sizable support from Republican members, many of whom are aware of how badly this collapse will damage their party.
But Mr. Boehner refused. He stood in the well of the House and repeated the tired falsehood that the Affordable Care Act was killing jobs. He came up with a series of increasingly ridiculous demands: defund the health law, delay it for a year, stop its requirement that employers pay for contraception...strip Congressional employees of their health subsidies..."
That last one really came out of nowhere. Members of Congress and their staffs are required--by law--to purchase their health insurance through their home state insurance exchanges. The cost of that purchase will be paid for by the federal government, (their employer) as part of their employee benefit package.
What would taking employer paid health care away from low paid congressional staff members accomplish other than to punish the people who do all of Congress' grunt work? It was like Boehner was going under for the third time and in his panic had started speaking in tongues!
And notice, there was no mention of stripping actual members of Congress of THEIR health care subsidies."All (the demands) were instantly rejected by the Senate. 'They've lost their minds,' Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, said of the House Republicans. 'They keep trying to do the same thing over and over again.'
Finally, at the last minute, when there was still time to end the charade with a straightforward spending bill, Mr. Boehner made the most absurd demand of all: an immediate conference committee with the Senate. Suddenly, with less than an hour left, he wanted to set up formal negotiations?
For six months, the Senate has been demanding a conference with the House on the 2014 budget...but the House leadership has adamantly refused...For Mr. Boehner to call for a conference near midnight was the height of hypocrisy...
...Having let down the public, Republicans will now, inevitably, scramble to save their reputation. They are desperate to make it appear as if President Obama and the Democrats are the ones being intransigent, hoping voters will think that everyone is at fault and simply blame 'Washington.'
This tactic was on full display Tuesday morning when, instead of actually working on the budget crisis in any positive way, House Republicans staged a piece of theater for the press. They set up a long table, sat eight serious looking Republicans on one side facing eight empty chairs, then invited the media to take photos. This was supposed to demonstrate how they're ready to work if only the Democrats in the Senate would show up.
Eric Cantor, House Majority Leader offered this self-serving tidibt: "The way to resolve our differences is to sit down and talk. And as you can see, there's no one here at the other side of the table." The whole display was pathetic."Mr. Boehner even mocked the president...for refusing to negotiate over health reform, as if he actually expected Mr. Obama to join in wrecking a law that will provide health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans under threat of blackmail...
...Earlier in his presidency, Mr. Obama made the catastrophic mistake--in the face of just this sort of extortion--to believe in Mr. Boehner's willingness to be reasonable. This time, however, the cynical games of the Republicans are not going to work.
The Republicans' reckless obsession with destroying health reform and with wounding the president has been on full display. And, as the public's anger grows over this entirely unnecessary crisis, it should be aimed at a party and a speaker that are incapable of governing."
No comments:
Post a Comment