Sunday, October 06, 2013

GOP holds government hostage ... by gimleteye

The front page, above-the-fold story in the NY Times today, "A Crisis Months in Planning: Conservatives Focused on Budget as Health Law Weapon" makes clear that powerful, wealthy Republicans -- who fund the media machinery of the radical right and conservative foundations -- adopted a carefully planned strategy to shut down the federal government in order to defund health care reform.

For GOP operatives, this wasn't reckless careening. "With polls showing Americans deeply divided over the law, conservatives believe that the public is behind them." But the public is NOT behind them. This miscalculation is symptomatic of a party, dominated by extremists to such an extent that it believes only the validity of shouting and furor amplified in its own echo chamber.

What the polls fail to disclose is the pent-up demand for health care reform. The American public has been goaded and inflamed into partisan corners by the radical right.

The deliberate strategy could not be more centrally poised for failure. It is stirring up disgust, with most voters blaming the GOP. Right wing talking points, amply available in repetitive waves across Fox News broadcast platforms, have leaked into other media. But in key respects, they fail to support the extremist strategy for the simplest of reasons: the radical right is fundamentally miscalculating the will of the American people.

American voters who have been cowed into silence need to find ways to make their voices known. In 2014, voters will have a chance to deliver their verdicts. In the meantime, participate in peaceful marches on district office of Republican members of Congress. This is your time and your moment.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is clear that it was a calculated strategy. Members of Congress members know in January, that if they pass no other legislation in the WHOLE year, the budget and the debt ceiling MUST be passed. So they played around all year, did not do their main job, and now at the end of the fiscal year, put a gun to our heads, declaring it is their way, or they will destroy this country. The last shutdown happened under Clinton's watch when when the economy was booming, but these people planned this attack knowing how fragile our economy was, and our role in the global economy. Under no circumstances can we bow to their demands.

If they are going to pay all the federal employees, they all need to come back to work. We can't afford to pay them to stay home because of the action of legislative terrorists.

Chauncey said...

You have it backwards. The Republicans have done everything they can to keep the government open. Obama and the Democrats want to keep the government shut down for as long as they can, with as much pain as possible, because they think it makes them look good. Reid won’t let any of the targeted House funding bills go to a vote in the Senate. Obama is deliberately harassing vets by barricading war memorials that have never been staffed before and that normally cost no money to operate. Disgusting.

Anonymous said...

During the last shutdown, Republicans easily retained a majority in the House and gained seats in the Senate.

Anonymous said...

Republicans will pay, and they will pay big time for this. In the long run, we will move on. No small group of legislative terrorist can stop the movement of the country or the world forward. In the end they will simply be a little fringe group on the side of the road screaming and complaining. Obamacare is the law of the land, and if they want to change it there is a process they must follow. This is not it.

Anonymous said...

Ahhhh ... the tribal society. A pox on both the Republicans and the Democrats. Neither one of them are worth a damn - both work for Wall Street, not the working class. All you tribalists, engaged in a pissing contest, are doing is ensuring that we get the short end of the stick. Keep on yelling at each other while Rome burns, will you? I hope all of you burn, too!

Anonymous said...

I for one, am tired of fighting. We should be focused on making Obamacare the best in the world. So much wasted energy on nothing, so much negative, and destructive energy. One thing fore sure, we are going to provide healthcare for all Americans.

Prem said...

"What the polls fail to disclose is the pent-up demand for health care reform."

No. You got it wrong. It's demand for an actual healthcare system, not a corporate plantation of pill mills and people stuck to dialysis machines until they die.
The government would do more to help the health of americans by changing patent laws to allow the import of generic alternatives to expensive brand named pills. This costs the government nothing but support from special interests, and it would actually put tremendous amounts of money in to the pockets of average americans.