US Government Held Hostage

Government Shutdown – 15 Days and Counting

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on October 16, 2013

Posted in: Government Shutdown, Politics, US Government Held Hostage. Tagged: Republicans, Right Wing Extremist, Tea Party. Leave a comment

The Republican Right Wing Extremist Tea Party continues to hold the US Government hostage. No one knows what is going to happen next (my prediction). I don’t know about you but I’ve lost my sense of humor at this point so I’m not going to bore you with another stupid cartoon. Tonight it’s just the facts…..thanks to Huffington Post for the following article with the latest details from Congress……

Senate Leaders Reopen Budget Negotiations

To Avert Default After House Failure

WASHINGTON — Moments after House Republicans failed to advance a plan to end the government shutdown and avert default, Senate leaders took matters back into their own hands.

Aides to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) confirmed the two had reopened talks that were put on hold earlier to allow the House to act first.

A Senate Democratic aide told The Huffington Post on Tuesday evening that a deal between the two was “imminent.”

The aide said the deal would hew closely to those earlier talks between Reid and McConnell. It would fund the government through Jan. 15, raise the debt ceiling through Feb. 7, and mandate both chambers appoint budget conferees to produce a broader framework for deficit reduction by Dec. 13. (The aide noted that having a deadline on Friday the 13th didn’t bode well for the framework’s chances.) A second Democratic aide, who confirmed the substance of the deal, added that because of parliamentary quirks, the budget conference language may be considered as an addendum, and not part of the deal itself.

The Senate deal also would allow the Treasury Department to use extraordinary measures to avoid defaulting should the next debt limit deadline be breached. The bill would require income-verification for those receiving subsidies under Obamacare, though that is a small change that the administration is comfortable with. There will be no delay in the re-insurance provision, which was contemplated in earlier talks and is a favored policy of both businesses and unions.

The Senate had neared completion of such a deal on Monday night, only to hit the pause button Tuesday morning when House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced the lower chamber would produce a bill to resolve the budget crisis on its own terms. Some Senate Republicans expressed frustration at the idea of waiting for their colleagues in the House, who have failed to coalesce around any strategy to end the shutdown as the nation moves dangerously close to default.

It took several hours for those fears to come true, after House conservatives declared unacceptable the plan laid out by their leaders. An entire day wasted was especially problematic for the Senate, where procedural hurdles abound if all 60 members don’t agree to unanimous consent.

It was for that reason McConnell had hoped Boehner could rally his GOP House conference to send a “message” bill to the Senate, that would be harder to block and thus get a vote much more quickly.

Aides said they still hoped Boehner would send a message to the Senate on Wednesday morning to expedite the legislative process. But they also were preparing to use normal procedures, which would allow a single member to delay consideration for 30 hours if he or she wanted.

The aide suggested that an announcement of a formal deal could come as early as Tuesday night.

Countdown To US Default – 1 Day and Counting (Worse Than I Thought)

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on October 15, 2013

Posted in: Completely Wrong, Government Shutdown, Politics, US Default, US Government Held Hostage. Tagged: Republican, Right Wing Extremist, Tea Party. Leave a comment

No it’s not your imagination……my countdown timer has moved up a day. The internet is now reporting we run out of money at midnight tomorrow night, not midnight Thursday night. Things are looking desperate indeed. The Senate appears to have given up and the House…….well the House is still the House……dysfunctional as ever. It is hard to see how this is going to workout.

There is only one song that could express how I am feeling as I prepare this post and here it is…….

Ozzy – Crazy Train

Hang on…..this is going to be one hell of a ride!

Countdown To US Default – 3 Days and Counting (My Pessimistic Prediction)

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on October 15, 2013

Posted in: Completely Wrong, Government Shutdown, Politics, Power To The People, US Default, US Government Held Hostage. Tagged: Bruce Springsteen, Mo Brooks, Patti Smith, Republicans, Right Wing Extremist, Tea Party. Leave a comment

So…..today it seems like the Senate might be on the verge of a deal to temporarily end the Government Shutdown and temporarily raise the Debt Ceiling. Not the long term solution that we need but one that is being touted by the media as a big break through. I don’t want to bring anyone down but I suggest that we not count our chickens before they hatch! Here’s what I predict is going to happen……

The Senate is going to reach a deal on a bipartisan bill, pass it, and send it to the House relatively close to the debt default deadline. The House will get the bill, load it up with ransom demands, and send the modified bill back to the Senate where it will not pass. Game Over……..US defaults on debt!

I hope I’m wrong but time will tell……part of my rationale for this prediction has to do with a recent statement by Mo Brooks (as reported on AL.com). Here is what he had to say……

Mo Brooks says he’s not bluffing

on debt ceiling

Congressman Mo Brooks says he is not bluffing.

If Congress does not slash welfare programs, or take steps to adopt a balanced budget, he will vote against raising the debt ceiling.

“We address the cause of the problem or else I vote against it,” said Brooks, R-Huntsville, during a phone interview with AL.com this afternoon. He said public benefits program would also include Obamacare.

Brooks, who campaigned on the issue of a balanced budget in 2010, said the nation’s greatest threat is bankruptcy.

He said he would rather face the consequences of an unprecedented federal default — which could happen if Congress fails to raise the borrowing limit within the next 10 days — than allow the nation to continue piling up long-term debt and face “total devastation” of insolvency.

“We’re down to bad choices,” said Brooks, ”due to decades of financial irresponsibility and we’re having to choose a path that does the least amount of damage to our country.”

Brooks compared the current government shutdown to a 3 or 4 on the Richter scale. A few folks felt tremors and there was some localized damage. He said failure to raise the debt ceiling could be a greater earthquake of 5 or 6, with greater economic damage. But he said insolvency would be a devastating 10.

Earlier today, Brooks told the House: “As bad as government shutdown and debt ceiling risks may be, they are relatively inconsequential compared to the economic devastation resulting from an American bankruptcy.”

During his remarks in Congress, Brooks compared the trajectory of the United States to Greece and to Detroit, arguing pensions would be lost, assets seized or left valueless in the face of a federal bankruptcy.

“No question, not raising the debt ceiling poses economic risks. No one knows for sure how much risk because America has never crossed this threshold before,” he said on the House floor. “Whatever it is, it can be overcome.”

And he did not adhere strictly to partisan lines. Brooks said he was combating financially irresponsible members of both parties. On the phone, when asked, he said it was irresponsible not to budget for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Specifically, Brooks said he would urge Congress to reduce spending in two areas, public benefits and foreign aid.

He said he would limit public housing and food stamps and other welfare programs to the physically disabled. “The welfare programs, we don’t have the money for them,” he said, adding later: “It will force more people to work.”

He mentioned Obamacare only when asked, but added: “That is a big one.”

As for foreign aid, Brooks said he would maintain aid to Pakistan and Israel, as well as Afghanistan while U.S. troops are still present. “Outside of that, the rest of it has to go,” he said, adding: “I’m at a loss why we would borrow money to give it away.”

The only alternative to steep cuts, said Brooks, would be a long-term deal to break with the federal practice of deficit spending. The nation is approaching $17 trillion in debt and estimates show roughly $750 billion more in deficit spending this year.

He said a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution would require that federal spending cannot exceed tax revenues except during extraordinary circumstances approved by a supermajority in both houses of Congress.

When asked why now was a moment to draw a line in the sand, Brooks said it’s not. He noted that in August of 2011 he also broke with fellow Republican and voted against raising the debt limit.

Brooks had earlier shared concerns that Republicans would be blamed for the shutdown, but today he said the White House “overreach” was changing perceptions, as federal agents blocked off access to national monuments. “They are open air. You actually have to spend money to shut them down,” he said.

Thanks a lot Mo for pledging to destroy the US economy. Unless I’m mistaken that’s not what North Alabama was hoping for when they decided to vote you into the House of Representatives! So guess what…..you gotta go……

Although things look grim at this point we (all reasonable non-Tea Party Americans) all need to remember two things: 1) we have the power to change things and 2) this land is our land.

People Have The Power – Patti Smith

This Land is Your Land – Bruce Springsteen

Republicans Say The Darndest Things – Larry Klayman (Freedom Watch)

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on October 14, 2013

Posted in: Completely Wrong, Government Shutdown, Politics, US Government Held Hostage. Tagged: Republicans, Right Wing Extremist, Tea Party. Leave a comment

You aren’t going to believe what this idiot said yesterday at a rally with Sarah Palin, Ted Cruze, Mike Lee and others on the National Mall. Here’s an article about his statements, a video of some of his comments, and a summary of other incendiary comments he has made recently.

At a veteran-led rally that hit the World War II Memorial, the National Mall and the White House on Sunday, one tea party rallier had choice words for President Barack Obama, blaming him for the government shutdown and calling on him to step down.

Larry Klayman of Freedom Watch, a conservative political advocacy group, said the country is “ruled by a president who bows down to Allah,” and “is not a president of ‘we the people.'”

“I call upon all of you to wage a second American nonviolent revolution, to use civil disobedience, and to demand that this president leave town, to get up, to put the Quran down, to get up off his knees, and to figuratively come up with his hands out,” he said.

Klayman was joined by a group of veterans protesting the memorial closures that followed the government shutdown earlier this month. The demonstrators, who were met by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and former Alaska Gov Sarah Palin, pushed through the barriers at war memorials and carried the barricades back to the White House, Confederate flags in tow.

“Our vets have proven that they have not been timid,” Palin said at the rally, “so we will not be timid in calling out any who would use our military, our vets, as pawns in a political game.”

Here’s the video so you can hear this nutcase for yourself…….

This isn’t the first time for Larry’s insane rants. Read the following report from the Crooks and Liars blog for earlier rants from him…..

In July, he called for the military to overthrow him [President Obama].

In September, he vowed to force the “evil tyrant Obama” from office by November 16th. Then he slid the date to November 19th.

Just last week, he sadly announced that he believed violent revolution was imminent.

He used the very same language today that he used in mid-September, except then he added some rhetorical flourishes:

“[Obama] will finally know that his time has come to leave his perverted, Islamic concept of Mecca, our nation’s hallowed capital,” Klayman concludes. “I do not advocate violence, but it is time we show Obama that we mean business. He would be well advised to ride off into his Islamic sunset, link up with 72 virgins and party on at his expense – not ours!”

These people are crazy and scary. This is the kind of people we are dealing with in the Government Shutdown/Debt Ceiling Crises…..it’t time to squash! You can’t reason with people that are insane!

Countdown To US Default – 4 Days and Counting (Power To The People)

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on October 13, 2013

Posted in: Power To The People, US Default, US Government Held Hostage. Tagged: Jefferson Airplane, Pati Smith, Vote The Extremist Out. Leave a comment

Shutting down the US Government is not enough for the Right Wing Extremist Tea Party. They’re now intent on causing the US to default by preventing the US Congress from raising the debt limit. These people are insane and this latest gambit has the potential to plunge the US, and the rest of the world, into another Recession (or even worse) a Depression.

As I sat in my house a day ago feeling helpless I listened to the following song and felt re-energized. Like Patti says in the song, “People have the power”. I believe that in the end the American people will come together vote the Right Wing Extremist that are responsible for our problems out of their positions of power. Today I am adding a new song, Revolution, by Jefferson Airplane…..trying to add in a little 1960’s activism to the mix.

I hope you like these songs…..I plan to listen to them each day until our Shutdown/Default crises are resolved. I will post them each day so you can listen with me.

People Have The Power

Revolution

Government Shutdown – 12 Days and Counting (Mo Must Go)

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on October 13, 2013

Posted in: Completely Wrong, Government Shutdown, Politics, Republican Austerity Cult, US Government Held Hostage. Tagged: Republicans, Right Wing Extremism, Tea Party. Leave a comment

Mo Brooks, our Congressional Representative here in North Alabama, is one of those fanatics. Hopefully that will not be the case after next year.

Countdown To US Default – 5 Days and Counting (Power To The People)

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on October 13, 2013

Posted in: Power To The People, US Default, US Government Held Hostage. Tagged: Vote The Extremist Out. 1 Comment

As I sat in my house tonight feeling helpless I listened to the following song and felt re-energized. Like Patti says in the song, “People have the power”. I believe that in the end the American people will come together vote the Right Wing Extremist that are responsible for our problems out of their positions of power.

I hope you like this song…..I plan to listen to it each day until our Shutdown/Default crises are resolved. Of course I wouldn’t leave you out so I plan to post each day as well so you can listen with me.

Government Shutdown – 11 Days and Counting (Mo Must Go)

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on October 12, 2013

Posted in: Completely Wrong, Government Shutdown, Politics, US Government Held Hostage. Tagged: Republicans, Right Wing Extremist, Tea Party. Leave a comment

First up today a little humor.

Next is a recent article from The Atlantic that identifies Mo Brooks as one of the 32 Republicans who caused the Government Shutdown. The North Alabama area that Mo “represents” is tightly coupled with Army and NASA work all of which is based on government funding so Mo’s work to shutdown the government significantly impacts the people he “represents”. Enjoy your infamy while you can Mo…….you are going down…….

32 Republicans Who

Caused the Government Shutdown

By Svati Kirsten Narula, Ryan Jacobs, and Judith Ohikuare

Friday was the fourth day of the government shutdown, and there’s still no sign of an exit. What’s surprising about the ongoing fight is how a small group of members of Congress have managed to bring Washington to a halt. Just months ago, Speaker John Boehner was warning that forcing the government to shut down over Obamacare or anything else was politically hazardous. Yet Boehner remains stuck, his strategy dictated by a small rump of members in the Republican caucus who refuse to budge. On Monday night, as government funding ran out, a group of around 40 hardline conservatives refused to support any resolution to fund the government that didn’t defund Obamacare. Since Monday night, their goals may have become less clear, but their resolve has not weakened. While it’s widely believed that a “clean” resolution would pass the House handily, it would also likely lead to a right-wing rebellion in the caucus that would spell the end of Boehner’s speakership.

So who are those hardliners? To compile this list, we started with a roster that the Senate Conservatives Fund, a group aligned with Ted Cruz, created of representatives who were allied with them. We cross-checked it with the list of members who signed an August letter by Rep. Mark Meadows demanding that Boehner use a shutdown as a threat to defund Obamacare, and against other public statements this week. It’s not a comprehensive roll — there’s no official “wacko bird” caucus that keeps a register — but it’s a window into the small but powerful group of men and women in the House of Representatives who brought the federal government to a standstill.

**********

Representative: Justin Amash

Home District: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Quoted: “President Obama and Senator Reid refuse to negotiate over giving regular Americans the same breaks they give themselves, government workers, and big business.”

**********

Representative: Michele Bachmann

Home District: Stillwater, Minnesota

Quoted: “This is about the happiest I’ve seen members in a long time because we’ve seen we’re starting to win this dialogue on a national level.”

**********

Representative: Marsha Blackburn

Home District: Brentwood, Tennessee

Quoted: “There is some good news out of the shutdown, the EPA can’t issue new regulations.”

**********

Representative: Mo Brooks

Home District: Huntsville, Alabama

Quoted: “America survived the last 17 government shutdowns.”

**********

Representative: Paul Broun

Home District: Athens, Georgia

Quoted: “[The Democrats] need to look in the mirror, because they’re the ones to blame. They’re the ones that shut the government down.”

**********

Representative: John Carter

Home District: Round Rock, Texas

Quoted: “We must postpone this overreaching and damaging law that I believe will bankrupt the hard-working every day American.”

**********

Representative: John Culberson

Home District: Houston, Texas

Quoted: “The whole room [said]: ‘Let’s vote!’ I said, like 9/11, ‘Let’s roll!”

**********

Representative: Ron DeSantis

Home District: Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Quoted: “It is a simple issue of fairness: Members of Congress, their staff, and the political elite should not be given special relief from the harmful effects of Obamacare while the rest of America is left holding the bag.”

**********

Representative: Scott DesJarlais

Home District: Jasper, Tennessee

Quoted: “I remain committed in refusing to vote for any proposal that funds the president’s health-care law, and I call upon my colleagues to join me. A temporary government shutdown pales in comparison to the long-term negative consequences that Obamacare will impose on our economy and our healthcare system.”

**********

Representative: Jeff Duncan

Home District: Laurens, South Carolina

Quoted: “I believe Obamacare has shut down America, so I’d rather shut down the government than continue doing what we’re doing, which is penalizing businesses and families in this country.”

**********

Representative: John Fleming

Home District: Minden, Louisiana

Quoted: “This is what my constituents send me here for. This does underscore just how serious we are and how serious our constituents are about putting an end to Obamacare.”

**********

Representative: Scott Garrett

Home District: Wantange Township, New Jersey

Quoted: “I am deeply disappointed that President Obama and the Senate refused to come to the negotiation table and failed to fund the federal government.”

**********

Representative: Phil Gingrey

Home District: Marietta, Georgia

Quoted: “A majority of Americans think Obamacare will make health care in our country worse, and they’re right. House Republicans are listening to the American people, and I urge Harry Reid and Senate Democrats to do the same.”

**********

Representative: Louie Gohmert

Home District: Tyler, Texas

Quoted: “There are just so many broken promises that we need to slow this train wreck, this nightmare. It’s time to put the skids on this thing and slow it down before more people get hurt.”

**********

Representative: Tom Graves

Home District: Ranger, Georgia

Quoted: “House GOP is united around a very reasonable policy: POTUS should give families the same Obamacare delay he gave to businesses.”

**********

Representative: Vicky Hartzler

Home District: Harrisonville, Missouri

Quoted: “The American people have spoken already on this: They do not want Obamacare …. It is hurting people.”

**********

Representative: Tim Huelskamp

Home District: Fowler, Kansas

Quoted: “Most Americans realize the government shutdown has no impact on their daily life. They got their mail today; they’re going to get their Social Security check.”

**********

Representative: Jim Jordan

Home District: Urbana, Ohio

Quoted: “We have to get something on Obamacare, because that — if you want to get this country on a fiscal path to balance, you cannot let an entitlement of this size that will truly bankrupt the country and, more importantly, one that’s not going to help Americans with their health care, you can’t let this happen. ”

**********

Representative: Steve King

Home District: Kiron, Iowa

Quoted: “The American people have rejected Obamacare. The president is willing to put all of that on the line to save his namesake legislation, which I think would go down in history as the largest political tantrum ever.”

**********

Representative: Raul Labrador

Home District: Eagle, Idaho

Quoted: To Chris Matthews of MSNBC: “You know, your boss, Tip O’Neill, shut down the government 12 different times. And you didn’t call him a terrorist.”

**********

Representative: Tom Massie

Home District: Garrison, Kentucky

Quoted: “It’s just not that big of a deal.”

**********

Representative: Tom McClintock

Home District: Elk Grove, California

Quoted: In response to Harry Reid calling Tea Partiers “anarchists”: “When the other guy starts calling you names, you know that you’re winning the debate, and you know that he knows you’re winning the debate.”

**********

Representative: Mark Meadows

Home District: Cashier, North Carolina

Quoted: “James Madison wrote in Federalist No. 58 that ‘the power over the purse may, in fact, be regarded as the most complete and effectual weapon . . . for obtaining redress of every grievance.’”

**********

Representative: Randy Neugebauer

Home District: Lubbock, Texas

Quoted: “We get tons of mail and E-mails and phone calls. And overwhelmingly, those phone calls say, ‘Congressman, do everything you can to get rid of this very onerous piece of legislation. We don’t want the government running our health care.’ And so, from my perspective, we’re doing the people’s work here.”

**********

Representative: Matt Salmon

Home District: Mesa, Arizona

Quoted: “I was here during the government shutdown in 1995. It was a divided government. we had a Democrat president of the United States. We had a Republican Congress. And I believe that that government shutdown actually gave us the impetus, as we went forward, to push toward some real serious compromise.”

**********

Representative: Mark Sanford

Home District: Charleston, South Carolina

Quoted: “Our society has been held together for over 200 years in no small part due to the belief that our system was fair or equitable, yet the implementation of the Affordable Care Act has been anything but that.”

**********

Representative: Steve Scalise

Home District: Jefferson, Louisiana

Quoted: “Either Obamacare is good enough that it should apply to all or it is so bad that it should apply to none. It is time for the sweetheart deals and backroom exemptions to end.”

**********

Representative: Dave Schweikert

Home District: Fountain Hills, Arizona

Quoted: “I know it’s not comfortable for a lot of people here, but this is how it’s supposed to work. It’s supposed to be cantankerous. It’s supposed to be this constant grinding.” *

**********

Representative: Steve Stockman

Home District: Clear Lake, Texas

Quoted: “Americans want Congress to do two things, work together on our national fiscal crisis and stop Obamacare. It’s time Congress started listening to them.”

**********

Representative: Marlin Stutzman

Home District: Howe, Indiana

Quoted: “We aren’t going to be disrespected. We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”

**********

Representative: Randy Weber

Home District: Pearland, Texas

Quoted: “When the Democrats passed [Obamacare] over 60 percent of America’s wishes three years ago, they began this government shutdown.”

**********

Representative: Ted Yoho

Home District: Gainesville, Florida

Quoted: “It only takes one with passion — look at Rosa Parks, Lech Walesa, Martin Luther King.”

Countdown To US Default – 6 Days and Counting

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on October 11, 2013

Posted in: Completely Wrong, Politics, Republican Austerity Cult, US Government Held Hostage. Tagged: Republicans, Right Wing Extremism, Tea Party. Leave a comment

Government Shutdown – 10 Days and Counting (Mo Must Go)

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on October 11, 2013

Posted in: Completely Wrong, Government Shutdown, Politics, US Government Held Hostage. Tagged: Mo Brooks. Leave a comment

The Republican Right Wing Extremist Tea Party continues to hold the US Government hostage. Looking like this could go on a while with the House crazies looking to link raising the Debt Ceiling to Obamacare. First up today a little humor. Following that is another great article from Huffington Post. This article prominently features Mo Brooks, North Alabama’s Representative, who has chosen to support the Tea Party loonies in the Government shutdown which significantly impacts the people of North Alabama. Mo is now trying to change his tune but I’ve got news for him……..it’s too damn late.

The Tea Party Republicans’ Biggest Mistake:

Confusing Government With

Our System of Government

By: Robert Reich

Representative Mo Brooks, Republican of Alabama and a fierce critic of the Affordable Care Act, has just changed his tune. He now says: “My primary focus is on minimizing risk of insolvency and bankruptcy. There are many paths you can take to get there. Socialized medicine is just one of the component parts of our debt and deficits that put us at financial risk.”

Translated: House Republicans are under intense pressure. A new Gallup poll shows the Republican Party now viewed favorably by only 28 percent of Americans, down from 38 percent in September. That’s the lowest favorable rating measured for either party since Gallup began asking this question in 1992. The Democratic Party is viewed favorably by 43 percent, down four percentage points from last month.

So Republicans are desperately looking for a way of getting out of the hold they’ve dug for themselves — and the president has given them one. He told them that if they agree to temporarily fund the government and raise the debt ceiling without holding as ransom the Affordable Care Act or anything else, negotiations can begin on reducing the overall budget deficit.

What’s the lesson here? The radicals who tried to hijack America didn’t understand one very basic thing. While most Americans don’t like big government, Americans revere our system of government. That’s why even though a majority disapprove of the Affordable Care Act, a majority also disapprove of Republican tactics for repealing or delaying it.

Government itself has never been popular in America except during palpable crises such as war or deep depression. The nation was founded in a revolution against an abusive government — that was what the original Tea Party was all about — and that distrust is in our genes. The Constitution reflects it. That’s why it’s hard for government to do anything very easily. I’ve never been as frustrated as when I was secretary of labor — continuously running into the realities of separation of power, checks and balances, and the endless complications of federal, state, and local levels of authority. But frustration goes with the job.

No one likes big government. If you’re on the left, you worry about the military-industrial-congressional complex that’s spending zillions of dollars creating new weapons of mass destruction, spying on Americans, and killing innocents abroad. And you don’t like government interfering in your sex life, telling you how and when you can have an abortion, whom you can marry. If you’re on the right, you worry about taxes and regulations stifling innovation, out-of-control bureaucrats infringing on your freedom, and government deficits as far as the eye can see.

So when Tea Party Republicans, bankrolled by a handful of billionaires, began calling the Affordable Care Act a “wholesale takeover of American health care,” many Americans were inclined to believe them. Health care is such a huge and complicated system, affecting us and our families so intimately, that our inherent distrust of government makes us instinctively wary. It’s no accident we’re still the only advanced nation not to have universal health care. FDR decided against adding it to his plan for Social Security because he didn’t want to jeopardize the rest of the program; subsequent presidents never got close, at least until Obama.

The best argument for the Affordable Care Act is that our current health care system is so dysfunctional — the most expensive in the world with the least healthy outcomes (highest infant mortality, shortest life spans, worst rates of chronic disease) of any advanced nation — that we had no choice but to try to fix it. Even so, it’s a typical American fix: We’re still basing it on private health providers and private insurers. All government does is subsidize the poor, require insurers to take in people with pre-existing health problems, and pay for it by requiring everyone to be insured.

The Tea Party Republicans’ mistake was to assume that Americans’ distrust of big government, and, by extension, the Affordable Care Act, would allow them to ride roughshod over the process we have for making laws.

Their double-barreled threats to shut down the government and cause the United States to default on its obligations if the Affordable Care Act wasn’t repealed or at least delayed was a direct assault on our system of government: If even unpopular laws can be gutted by a majority in one house of Congress holding the rest of government hostage, there’s no end to it. No law on the books would be safe. (Their retort that Congress holds the “purse strings” and can therefore decide to de-fund what it dislikes is bunk; appropriation bills have to be agreed to by both houses and signed into law by the president, like any other legislation.)

While most of us distrust government, we’re indelibly proud of our system of government. We like to think it’s just about the best system in the world. We don’t much like politicians but we canonize the Founding Fathers, the Framers of the Constitution. And we revere the fading parchment on which the Constitution is written. When we pledge allegiance to the United States we bind ourselves to that system of government. Anyone who seeks to overthrow or undermine that system is deemed a traitor.

And that’s exactly what some Tea Partiers have began sounding like — traitors to the system, radicals for whom the end they seek justifies whatever means they think necessary to achieve it. They began losing support even among Americans who had bought their view of the Affordable Care Act.

So they’ve had to back down, and soon, hopefully, we can move to the next stage — negotiating over the size of government. That’s should be stronger ground for the Tea Partiers. But the President, Democrats, and any moderate Republican who dares show his face can still gain ground by framing the question properly: The size of government is not the problem. It’s who government is for. The best way to reduce future budget deficits is to ensure it’s for all of us and not just a privileged few.

That means revenues should be raised from the wealthy, who have never been wealthier — limiting their deductions and tax credits, closing loopholes like “carried interest,” and taxing financial transactions. Spending should be cut by ending corporate welfare — terminating tax subsidies to oil and gas, ballooning payments to agribusiness, sweetheart deals for military contractors, and the “too big to fail” subsidy for Wall Street’s biggest banks. Future health-care costs should be contained by using the government’s bargaining leverage over providers (through Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act) to force a shift from fee-for-service to payments-for-healthy-outcomes. And we should spend more on high-quality education and infrastructure for everyone.

Americans distrust big government, and always will. There’s ample reason — especially given the huge sums now bankrolling politicians, from a relative handful of billionaires, big corporations, and Wall Street. But we love our system of government. That’s what must be strengthened.

By using tactics perceived to violate that system, the Tea Partiers have overplayed their hand. If they don’t stop their recklessness, they’ll be out of the game.

thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard

Just another WordPress.com site

US Government Held Hostage

Government Shutdown – 15 Days and Counting

Senate Leaders Reopen Budget Negotiations

To Avert Default After House Failure

Countdown To US Default – 1 Day and Counting (Worse Than I Thought)

Countdown To US Default – 3 Days and Counting (My Pessimistic Prediction)

Mo Brooks says he’s not bluffing

on debt ceiling

Republicans Say The Darndest Things – Larry Klayman (Freedom Watch)

Countdown To US Default – 4 Days and Counting (Power To The People)

Government Shutdown – 12 Days and Counting (Mo Must Go)

Countdown To US Default – 5 Days and Counting (Power To The People)

Government Shutdown – 11 Days and Counting (Mo Must Go)

32 Republicans Who

Caused the Government Shutdown

Countdown To US Default – 6 Days and Counting

Government Shutdown – 10 Days and Counting (Mo Must Go)

The Tea Party Republicans’ Biggest Mistake:

Confusing Government With

Our System of Government

What I’m Listening To

What I’m Reading

Websites I Like

Recent Posts

Categories

Archives