We all know the government shutdown has had drastic effects on our federal workers, the economy and the image of the American political system. Polls show the plurality of people blame House Republicans who are determined to undermine the Affordable Care Act.
A recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center showed that 38 percent of Americans said Republicans were to blame for the government shutdown as opposed to the 30 percent who said they blamed the Obama administration.
Data from other polls are even more supportive of this trend: Polls by Fox, CBS and YouGov indicate that Americans believe Republicans are to blame for the shutdown in contrast to Democrats by margins of 42 to 32, 44 to 35 and 50 to 39 percent, respectively.
These results should not be surprising. The Republicans, or more specifically the tea party hard-liners’ attempt to hold government funds hostage in pursuit of their ideological goals is both anti-democratic and shameful.
The rhetoric Republicans often use to justify the shutdown is nearly as appalling as their willingness to take such drastic measures to circumvent the democratic process in which the ACA was passed.
For instance, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, popular for his 21-hour speech in the Senate, said on NBC’s Meet the Press, “[Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.] said, ‘I’m not willing to compromise. I’m not willing to even talk.’ His position is 100 percent of Obamacare must be funded in all instances, and, other than that he’s going to shut the government down.”
Notice the stunningly erroneous change of blame for the shutdown Cruz expressed in his condemnation of Reid’s stance defending Obamacare. What Cruz seems to misunderstand is that the ACA is no longer up for debate—it’s the law.
After passing both the House and Senate and withstanding the Supreme Court’s ruling on its constitutionality, the provisions of the ACA shouldn’t be negotiated any longer, let alone completely defunded. That isn’t how democracy works.
And in any case, shutting down the government will not allow the tea party to eliminate the ACA. The only thing that the shutdown has proven to be effective at is giving the Republican Party an uncompromising appearance.
Democrats are not the only ones who recognize the ramifications of perpetuating the government shutdown. Numerous Republican representatives oppose the polarizing tea party rhetoric.
Although Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., campaigned against the ACA in 2012, he told Bloomberg News on Sept. 30, “In democracies, unfortunately, sometimes the majority rules. That’s why [Republicans] are at a disadvantage in this fight that we’re having.
“By threatening to shut down the government, we are kind of circumventing the results of elections.”
Moreover, many Republican leaders recognize the strategic implications losing a public relations battle with the Democrats will have.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said in a speech at an Americans for Prosperity event, “This is not a disagreement on whether or not we hate the health care bill. This is a disagreement on tactics in terms of what is the best way to ensure that in the future we can repeal this law without bringing down the American economy or bringing down the Republican majority in the House.”
No matter what the motivation, it is imperative that the Republican Party come together, not necessarily to support the ACA but to pass or at least delay a budget resolution and assure that party politics do not disenfranchise our political system.
