As the
government shutdown closes out its 13th day, the question every American should
be asking these days is, “Who is running the Republican Party?” Does anyoe
really know?
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House Speaker John Boehner R-OH AP
|
Last Sunday,
while speaking on ABC’s “This Week,”
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) blatantly refused to bring up any debt
ceiling vote. He clearly stated, “We are
not going to pass a clean debt limit increase.”
Is the
Speaker of the House, the voice of the GOP on Capitol Hill?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha2YYbBdA_QUt9GJuQnU7WvfInfhjGwkMj1qdbM3_uFYLBMBzMo-ouL9IWtghjPGFjvD2W3GIB_LZEEQMw5hVREcoe2vtK9UQqMjzx2_4xYWUAx6AQWoa-n5H-tGrkdG1kIOKIj5YVTvcU/s200/Ted+Cruz.jpg) |
Sen. Ted Cruz R-TX
AP |
Per the ranting of Ted Cruz (R-TX), the government shutdown was
tied to the attempted repeal of the “Affordable
Care Act.” This however has not been
boding very well for the Republican Party.
It would appear, shutting down the government is not the pivotal
backbreaker the Tea Party expected it would be.
In the meantime, Senator Cruz is being shunned
by many, including members of the Republican Party. However on Friday, while speaking at the “Values Voter Summit” in a Washington,
D.C. hotel, the junior senator was met by heroic cheers only to be heckled moments
later on immigration issues.
Does Senator Cruz speak for the
right wing and is he helping or hurting the Grand Old Party?
Only two
things are certain about this shutdown, first it is self-inflicted and second, America
is outraged about it. Maybe it was the World
War II vets that visited the monuments on the Mall in the opening days of the
shutdown, only to be denied access to the WWII Memorial. Or maybe after congress partially funded the
government, sadly they did not realize that funding the defense department did
not automatically fund death benefits for our fallen military. Maybe it’s the
loss of services for no apparent reason to all Americans dependent upon their government.
Americans are speaking out, from private citizen
making donations to temporarily fund various federal operations to the CEO of Starbucks
gathering signatures on a petition, demanding the end of the shutdown and addressing the debt
ceiling issue. Whatever the case, the expressed
displeasure and shame of the people is being demonstrated in various
forms. It is also reflected in various polls. And the polls say, the
Republicans are taking it in the shorts.
By
Wednesday, at the urging of Koch Industries and the Heritage Foundation, the
GOP seemed to be altering their stance. Stating the failure to approve a debt
ceiling increase would be a disaster, Koch Industries suggested House
Republicans should present a clean six-week debt
ceiling extension that does not include
a plan to fund the government.
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David Koch AP |
At a press conference Thursday morning, House GOP leadership did
just that, announcing their “new strategy.” This is one day after Heritage
Action CEO Michael Needham admitted the group will “give the speaker some flex on
a short-term debt limit increase,” in order to extend the shutdown over Obama
care. On Wednesday, Koch officials increased the pressure with a letter
for inquiring members who “have asked what
our position is on this issue” that claims the conservative billionaires never supported withholding federal
government funds over Obama
care. Both groups, who are the driving force during this
debt ceiling and shutdown fiasco, are responsible for putting Tea Party members
in Congress.
So are
the Heritage Foundation and Koch Industries actually running the Republican
Party? Should corporations be
determining public policy? Is that what
the founding fathers intended; to allow financiers to shape the future of this
country? Is that a Democracy?
Thursday afternoon
President Obama extended an invitation to all of the republican members of the
House. The leadership responded, only
select members would be in attendance. It
is alleged this
small group came prepared to address the debt ceiling with a
temporary measure. In the “new strategy,”
the GOP proposed funding a 6 weeks temporary partial fix. This would theoretically postpone this debt
ceiling issue until approximately Thanksgiving and the Holiday shopping
season.
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House GOP members visit the White
House for discussions. AP |
Unfortunately,
this did not address the government shutdown.
President Obama has remained absolutely willing to discuss and negotiate
any issues, but not while under threat.
In other words, he will not discuss anything before the government is
funded and returned to work. After the meeting, it remained uncertain whether
any headway had been made. However the
fact that members did not exit the meeting and promptly find themselves in
front of news cameras spoke volumes.
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Paul Ryan the voice of
the GOP? AP |
On Friday President Obama again extended invitations to all House
Republicans. That afternoon, buses transporting the entire republican body of
the House arrived at the White House. From
a laymen’s perspective, the President wasn’t content to just speak with the
leadership. Perhaps, that’s because no
one seems able to speak for the entire party, however former
vice presidential
candidate Paul Ryan seemed to emerge as the voice of reason for the Republican
Party. Is Paul Ryan the messiah of the
GOP?
After the
West Wing meeting, while no resolution could be clearly identified, but both
parties reported progress had been made.
The very mere fact the President and House Republican were finally talking was
viewed as very favorable. The Dow Jones
Indicator (DJI) reflected an optimistic outlook as we observed a rise in stock
prices.
On
Saturday, it became evident President Obama was sticking to his guns, he was
standing firm. While he is talking, he
is not negotiating, at least not while the government is stalled. The conservatives on the other hand appear poised
to fold, as Senate Republicans are posturing to undermine House Republicans. The Grand Old Party in the House appears to
be crumbling before our very eyes. Is
this the end of the Republican Party?
Will the Republicans go the route of the Federalist, Whig and
Libertarian Parties, effectively into extinction? Perhaps, it time to revamp the political party system.
On this Sunday's morning Washingtonian talk shows, all seem to agree with 4 days remaining before
the debt ceiling deadline, a resolution to this national mess is within
sight. Polls across America indicate, if
possible all members of the house would be voted out of office and replaced. Americans are fed up in the wake of this
national embarrassment. I for one remain
optimistic.
I’m not
hatin, I’m jus sayin…