Contributors

Tuesday, October 01, 2013

Tea Party Republicans Hate Democracy

Last night the federal government shut down because Tea Party Republicans hate democracy. A small but vocal minority of Republicans has demanded that John Boehner prevent the Senate bill to temporarily fund the government (the "continuing resolution," or CR) from coming to the House floor for a vote.

After George Bush won reelection in 2004, Republicans crowed about it. People like John Bolton said that Bush had the right to do what he promised and complete what he had set into motion in his first term because he owed that to the people that voted for him. The people had spoken, Republicans say. That's how democracy works.

For all his faults, John McCain has admitted this. He said:
I’d remind my colleagues that, in the 2012 election, Obamacare, as it’s called — and I’ll be more polite, the ACA — was a subject that was a major issue in the campaign. I campaigned all over America for two months, everywhere I could. And in every single campaign rally I said “we had to repeal and replace Obamacare.” Well, the people spoke. They spoke, much to my dismay, but they spoke and they re-elected the President of the United States. No that doesn’t mean that we give up our efforts to try to replace and repair Obamacare. But it does mean elections have consequences and those elections were clear, in a significant majority, that the majority of the American people supported the President of the US and renewed his stewardship of this country. I don’t like it, it’s not something that I wanted the outcome to be. But I think all of us should respect the outcome of elections, which reflects the will of the people.
In 2012 Democrats won the election fair and square, winning the presidency and the Senate outright. Democrats also received a majority of the popular vote in House elections, but due to the vagaries of gerrymandering, integer arithmetic and varying state sizes, Republicans won a sizable majority of seats. As McCain implies, the 2012 election was the closest thing to a referendum on Obamacare we've had, and Obama won.

But the Tea Party now rejects the same argument Republicans made in favor of moving Bush's agenda forward. For six weeks worth of government funding they produced a gigantic laundry list of demands in exchange for passing the CR. Then they demanded that Obama give up the Affordable Care Act. Now they're demanding Obamacare be delayed a year. Maybe they'll settle for a pony and a BB gun.

Now the government has shut down. Why? Because Tea Party Republicans hate democracy. They can't stand it when they don't get what they want, even when they're in the minority, and they'll hurt innocent people to get it, even when they know they can't win in the end. They're just hoping to rile up the troops for 2014 and 2016.

John Boehner could put the Senate's continuing resolution for an up-or-down vote this afternoon, and it could very well pass: it would only take 17 Republican votes (there are 233 Republicans and 200 Democrats in the House). But Boehner won't because Republicans -- not just the Tea Party -- don't believe in democracy.

Republicans even have a term for their hatred of democracy: the Hastert Rule, which says only bills that have the support of the majority of the majority will be brought to the floor. That means that it takes only 117 votes to prevent a bill from reaching the House floor. A minority -- 27% -- of the House dictates all the government's business.

Republicans like to pretend Obama is the one guy who's causing the shutdown to save his evil plan to reduce the number of Americans who die and go bankrupt because they have no health care.

But the one man responsible for the shutdown is John Boehner. He refuses to put the CR up for a vote because he's pretty sure it could pass. And that would anger Tea Party Republicans, who have threatened to ruin Boehner by primarying him out of his safe Ohio seat if he crosses them.

John Boehner is not just a coward for kowtowing to the doctrinaire and dictatorial Tea Party. He's also foolish: by letting these hooligans run roughshod over the political process he's given them the power to destroy him. A speaker with any brains would use this crisis to crush them and their petty blackmailing tactics. In the worst case he would find a way to enlist House Democrats to help him keep his position and get this country out of this endless bickering over the CR, next year's budget and the debt ceiling. After all, the speaker of the House is elected by a majority of the House, not each party.

But Boehner seems more concerned about his tan than stable financial markets and a government that efficiently provides needed services.

3 comments:

Mark Ward said...

They can't stand it when they don't get what they want because they are fucking children having a fit.

Great post, Nikto. My only complaint now is how the "liberal" media is still buying into cult of both sides BS.

Larry said...

That's right! There's only one possible viewpoint. No other opinions should be allowed on air except to be publicly mocked and vilified as the wreckers and saboteurs of the People's Future. That includes Markaderpia's support for nuclear power. That's not only wrong, but simply not fit for polite company. I can't imagine what could possibly go wrong with only allowing the approved viewpoint on air.

Juris Imprudent said...

All spending bills originate in the House. If you fucking whiney Dems want to control that - win more House seats.

Oh, that's right - you did in 2006. And talked so bravely about your enduring majority.