From the website: Whitehouse.gov - courtesy of Harry Reid - don't forget to send thank you note!
If one were to ask the rank and file people on the street how they have been affected by the “government shutdown” – one might get the query – “What government shutdown”? – Or the statement - “They should shut it down”. The media and certain members of both major political parties have their proverbial panties in a bunch – and they are screaming from the rooftops that rascally Ted Cruz, Senator from Texas is the root of all evil and the problem that caused this “horrible government shutdown.” Obamacare – now being called the Affordable Health Care Act (its actual name) opened as scheduled, with massive inefficiency – which is the one thing the general public has come to understand is how the Federal Government operates.
The GOP (or better known as the Elephant in the Washington Room), is more concerned with how the media perceives their political strategy than the people that had voted them into office. That goes for the Democrats as well, to a lesser degree, as the media generally doesn’t mention the Democrats with the exception of platitudes so noxious; one wonders if it is a new perfume on the market.
There is this new (or recent more to the point) bandwagon on the schism in the Republican Party – oh my, those Libertarian leaning Republicans are really muddying up the water as they wish to play by the Constitution – rather than to kiss the feet of the Republican leadership, the media and the opposition party. Of course, memories are short, in the present age – if something did not occur last week, its history so deep that it is not worth noting – recall the 2008 Democrat Convention – where the Progressive wing of the Democrat Party – supermajoritied one Barack Obama to the nomination while the individual who received the majority of the popular votes – one Hillary Clinton, was kicked to the proverbial curb – thus the organization –PUMA – Party Unity My Ass – developed. The brouhaha did settle down, some of those PUMA’s did vote for the party choice, while others…not so much – they became unenrolled, or independents, or green party and yes, even Tea Party. But...there was little news, and the history of the hiccup in the perfect lives of Democrats according to the media – simply went away
Yet, now with Peter King, the Republican Congressman from New York is screaming to the Media that the “conservatives” are trying trying to hijack the GOP!!! - Ted Cruz Conservatives, grab your pitchforks!! (Seattle Post Intelligencer) He’s been complaining all along, anytime a conservative criticizes the way the rest of the GOP is operating - of course, King could do the decent thing and switch parties - which he may have to come 2014. That may also be the case with those erstwhile GOP lifers - who, nameless (McCain, etc.) in a Politico article on their ambush of Cruz and the many downright nasty statements made, including the fact that Cruz did not have a strategy –are also a little upset with the fact that they are being targeted by Conservative groups! – 19 of the 45 Republican Senators, the article notes, were on the side of Cruz – that leaves 26 open seats in the upcoming election.
If those Senators and Congressmen on both sides of the aisle believe that Cruz is the problem, they had better grab a mirror and take a long hard look at their districts and states and, especially, who they are going to face in their next primary – that person will most likely be Conservative (or on the flip side – Progressive) and will be heavily armed with cash from those who want to shake up D.C.
Perhaps they should stop listening to local news broadcasts about how angry individual are over the government shutdown, where the local anchor finds one or two people to say it’s just horrible!! – Or perhaps they should understand that in marketing terms Affordable Health Care doesn’t sound as bad as ObamaCare – so ObamaCare has been stricken from the Media Lexicon – yet –people still call it Obama Care.
Speaking of which, as the President’s numbers are tanking – (as is the nature of Presidents in their second term as the nation begins to grow weary should the economy not be going screamingly well) – those congressmen and Senators might be best served by hoping he stays away when they are home on the stump. (See Bush 2008).
One Senator whom the President should hang on to like a life preserver is Harry Reid, the real power in Washington, one might hope that there are challenges to the King of the Senate, from both the Progressive side and the Conservative side – of course, he will along with the rest of those who have, played to Washington rather than the 99% - in 2016. In the meantime, should the Congress (both branches) find themselves faced with a bunch of new senators and congressmen in 2016 that just seem a bit too much like Cruz, Lee and Paul, then the writing will be on the wall – and Reid will be left to sit and yammer with self-importance in the chamber – heck he may even filibuster a time or two.
There is an awakening in the nation – if one cannot feel it, then one is living in a bubble, those are the people, regardless of race, ethnicity, or social stature who have had enough – on both sides, and as is the case with history, there is the shift in fortunes that will take place – not overnight- but over time and at those who are fighting for the people, with sincerity rather than the usual platitudes and BS, will prevail, and those that are not - well, they may go back to whence they came.
Therefore, as the powers that be continue to make life inconvenient for the people (see shutting down the memorial so that the WWII vets could not visit - that came from the White House, as that memorial is part of discretionary spending), over the ridiculous Obama-Affordable Health Care Act – then perhaps, with common sense, they should listen to the people, fix the darn thing, and debut it when it is going to go off without more than a few glitches, not legions of glitches (especially on live television). The art of compromise, or the call for Compromise is now seen as extreme – what a sad day for the American Public – when the rulers of D.C are so power hungry-blind that they cannot grasp what is taking place outside of the beltway – so beholding to Party Power and Special Interests that they are no longer recognizable. Then there are those darn libertarian minded few, who are actually (literally) shouting form the rooftops – these few are showing the rest of the nation, what functioning senators and congressional representatives are supposed to do – whether one agrees with them or not, one must be a tad jealous that their Democrat or GOP Congressional Rep or Senator is doing – nothing but crying about somebody who is doing something.
Of course, that’ not about the shutdown that no one seems to care about – it’s about that Affordable Health Care Obama Act – or the Drones that could have been used on the American People, or the fact that the Government wants to spend even more money and go further into debt – again, instead of finding way to relieve the tax burden on those who are employed and the employers who would like to employ a whole lot more people.
This is the math – the more people that are working the more people pay taxes, and the Federal and State Governments have more money to spend. One would think that reducing tax burdens across the board, to allow more hiring, would be the smart way to go – John Kennedy thought so, Ronald Reagan thought so, George Bush thought so, yet, Jimmy Carter didn’t think so and neither did Barack Obama – who is now on track to be a great president in the ilk of James Carter. What the nation needs is a Kenney-Reagan-Bush – or heck a Libertarian - conservative – that’s the ticket.
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