Since the beginning of the government shutdown, some news outlets have reported on the issue as a conflict in which Democrats and Republicans share equal blame in an attempt to appear unbiased. Ironically, this type of reporting, which characterizes the situation as one in which both parties are equally at fault, couldn’t be farther from the truth. Let me be clear: This is the GOP’s shutdown, resulting from failed leadership and a deeply divided, self-destructive Republican party.
While Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, has spent his time attempting to shift the blame from his party, he has been very reluctant to mention a budget resolution agreement that he arranged with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in July. The agreement, which included no amendments to the federal health care reform law, was accepted by Senate Democrats despite being $70 billion short of what Democrats had originally requested. But after arranging this deal, Boehner caved to the demands of the extreme right-wingers in his party, rejecting the budget he had proposed and pushing the country into shutdown. Now Boehner has the audacity to blame President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats for the shutdown. Thus, it seems that the self-acclaimed party of “personal responsibility” has, in fact, taken no responsibility for its instrumental role in shutting down the government.
Yet after purposefully shutting down the government in an attempt to defund the implementation of the federal health care reform law, some Republicans have complained about the loss of services resulting from the shutdown — for example, the closure of the National Parks. But the effects go much deeper. For instance, the shutdown has stopped a vital supplemental nutrition program for low-income women and children, halted research programs at the National Institute of Health and Centers for Disease Control. It now threatens to strip benefits from disabled veterans. Even more alarming, however, is the ever-approaching debt ceiling, which if not increased would cause the U.S. to default on its loans. This, in turn, could cause catastrophic economic hardship in the form of widespread unemployment and depression, a sharp increase in prices and severe losses for investors. Yet some Republicans do not understand the severity of this issue, including Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla, who has said that not raising the debt ceiling would “bring stability to world markets” because they would see the U.S. is attempting to curb its debt problem.
Moving forward, Republicans must agree to reopen the entire government. This does not mean re-opening a few Republican-supported programs, while ignoring other vital programs. Funding for disabled veterans, national parks and other programs all must be reinstated by reopening the entire government. Second, Republicans must agree to raise the debt ceiling at least past the 2014 elections. If Republicans care about not driving the U.S. into an economic catastrophe, then they cannot continue to use the U.S. economy as a negotiating tool. This does not mean raising the debt ceiling for a mere 6 weeks as Republicans have already proposed, however. This is because it merely kicks the can down the road by not providing a long-term solution to our debt problem. Therefore, before the shutdown is ended and the debt ceiling is raised, no negotiations over fiscal policy can take place.
As I previously mentioned, Boehner had already proposed a budget without amendments to the federal health care reform law which forced Reid to concede $70 billion of cuts. Thus, Democrats have already compromised. Now it is Boehner’s turn: Stop changing positions and agree to your original budget for the sake of the U.S. economy and the well-being of the American people.
