Michael Gaynor
Government (partial) shutdown blame
By Michael Gaynor
House Republicans cannot make President Obama negotiate with them, but they can stand on principle and as long as they believe capitulating would be worse than standing firm, they should.
The liberal media establishment that elected and reelected President Obama blames the government shutdown on Republicans.
Naturally.
It primarily blames Republicans who are backed by the Tea Party for refusing to pass a "clean" continuing resolution to fund government.
It also blames other Republicans in the House of Representatives for not joining with Democrats to pass a "clean" continuing resolution.
Does the Constitution require passage of a "clean" continuing resolution?
No.
The Constitution provides for checks and balances and does not expect either the Senate or the House of Representatives to be a rubberstamp for the President.
President Obama and his Democrat supporters refused to negotiate and House Republicans refused to pass a "clean" continuing resolution, because Republicans believe that the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) is a disaster for America.
Whether a (partial) government shutdown is worse than proceeding with Obamacare with its arbitrary exemptions is a matter of opinion.
Likewise, whether a (partial) government shutdown is worse than an unconditional raising of the national debt limit (another subject on which President Obama is refusing to negotiate) is a matter of opinion.
Like President Obama, all members of the Senate and the House of Representatives were elected.
The President of the United States is the Chief Executive, not a dictator.
The partial government shutdown is the result of the President's failure to lead. He's a divider, not a uniter, and he doesn't have the votes to have it all his way.
House Republicans cannot make President Obama negotiate with them, but they can stand on principle and as long as they believe capitulating would be worse than standing firm, they should.
It is President Obama who is unwilling to negotiate, and the House Republicans who have offered compromises.
That said, there is another person who deserves a large share of the blame for the shutdown – Chief Justice John Roberts. Obamacare was finally passed, without a single Republican vote, upon the representation that it was NOT a tax and then Chief Justice Roberts joined with the 'liberal" Supreme Court Justices to uphold it as constitutional under the taxing power.
But for that astonishing legal error nonsense and egregious affront to fundamental fairness, Obamacare would not be law and President Obama might not be President.
© Michael Gaynor
October 3, 2013
House Republicans cannot make President Obama negotiate with them, but they can stand on principle and as long as they believe capitulating would be worse than standing firm, they should.
The liberal media establishment that elected and reelected President Obama blames the government shutdown on Republicans.
Naturally.
It primarily blames Republicans who are backed by the Tea Party for refusing to pass a "clean" continuing resolution to fund government.
It also blames other Republicans in the House of Representatives for not joining with Democrats to pass a "clean" continuing resolution.
Does the Constitution require passage of a "clean" continuing resolution?
No.
The Constitution provides for checks and balances and does not expect either the Senate or the House of Representatives to be a rubberstamp for the President.
President Obama and his Democrat supporters refused to negotiate and House Republicans refused to pass a "clean" continuing resolution, because Republicans believe that the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) is a disaster for America.
Whether a (partial) government shutdown is worse than proceeding with Obamacare with its arbitrary exemptions is a matter of opinion.
Likewise, whether a (partial) government shutdown is worse than an unconditional raising of the national debt limit (another subject on which President Obama is refusing to negotiate) is a matter of opinion.
Like President Obama, all members of the Senate and the House of Representatives were elected.
The President of the United States is the Chief Executive, not a dictator.
The partial government shutdown is the result of the President's failure to lead. He's a divider, not a uniter, and he doesn't have the votes to have it all his way.
House Republicans cannot make President Obama negotiate with them, but they can stand on principle and as long as they believe capitulating would be worse than standing firm, they should.
It is President Obama who is unwilling to negotiate, and the House Republicans who have offered compromises.
That said, there is another person who deserves a large share of the blame for the shutdown – Chief Justice John Roberts. Obamacare was finally passed, without a single Republican vote, upon the representation that it was NOT a tax and then Chief Justice Roberts joined with the 'liberal" Supreme Court Justices to uphold it as constitutional under the taxing power.
But for that astonishing legal error nonsense and egregious affront to fundamental fairness, Obamacare would not be law and President Obama might not be President.
© Michael Gaynor
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
