Opinion by AAABTonto:
“It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man who knows what the law is today can guess what is will be tomorrow.”
– James Madison, Federalist no. 62, February 27, 1788
I received a letter from Indiana Republican Senator, Dan Coats, explaining his vote to end the government shutdown:
Avoiding Default, Ending Government Shutdown
Last night I voted for legislation to fund the federal government through January 15, 2014 and raise the debt ceiling through February 7, 2014. The bill passed the Senate 81 to 18, passed the House of Representatives late last night and has been signed into law by President Obama.
While I deplored supporting yet another short-term Band-Aid, the only thing worse would have been a continued government shutdown, the United States defaulting on its debt obligations and the elimination of the spending reductions enacted by Congress in 2011. To my great disappointment, once again Congress is kicking the can down the road and ignoring what needs to be done.
I have voted more than two dozen times to repeal and replace Obamacare with common-sense health care reforms. Unfortunately, the strategy of the past few weeks failed to sway the President or Senate Democrats on repealing this law. However, as we’ve seen from Obamacare’s disastrous rollout, this law’s failures are more than mere glitches, and the fight to repeal it must and will continue.
I returned to public service to make the difficult choices necessary to tackle our debt, restore our country’s fiscal footing, and repeal the President’s devastating health care law. I am deeply disappointed with this short-term result, but my commitment to reducing our debt, growing the economy and stopping Obamacare will not waver. I will be an integral part of the ongoing efforts to address these serious challenges.
I can understand your position, Senator Coats, but I still think you made the wrong decision. And now, those who voted as you did, are patting themselves on the back and claiming to have made an “adult decision by avoiding disaster with calm cool heads and compromise.” You had an opportunity to finally tell Obama “no” and once again you feared the result. Economic calamity would not have been a result thereof.
First off and above all else, this whole damn situation started with Republican House demands for a one year delay in the roll out of ObamaCare for individuals; the same delay businesses were granted—which, the President had NO authority to grant to begin with. He has granted over 1400 such exemptions and thus violated the law he is supposed to uphold the same number of times. Then, as the debt ceiling deadline approached, these two issues became wound up together and thus it was concluded that the evil, Neanderthal Tea Party was “holding America hostage” because the President is black.
Never mind the rule of law or the Constitution or parliamentary procedure or facts, according to the Left the Tea Party just wants “anarchy” and to spread hate and ill will throughout the land while they torture little babies and kill old people … is this that “new tone” Liberals promised us? … how ’bout a cozy to hell?!
I am (and conservatives are) fed up with this ridiculous, insulting belligerence! The Left perpetually hammers fictional accusations and twisted statistics in order to heap blame upon their opposition. This recent government shutdown was no exception. Here are some of those accusations and the truth that the MSM refused to tell:
1. The shutdown was going to cause economic disaster and we dodged a bullet – This was entirely false—hell, the stock market was up just prior to the deadline. This was all about Obama’s demands to barrow more money on top of what he has already spent—$17 trillion. We have enough monthly revenue to pay our bills. We just need to stop spending money we do not have! Only 17% of the government was shut down and although those people employed by the govt. were not being paid at the time, they will all be paid including the time they were furloughed. It was, in essence, a paid vacation for them!
2. American citizens were staunchly united against the conservative wing of the GOP – The truth is that the American people never wanted ObamaCare to begin with—not a single Republican voted for it and all the House was asking for was a one year delay for individuals.
3. This was disastrous for the grassroots – The Tea Party (“anarchist, terrorists, kidnapping, legislative arsonists, obstructionists”) are constitutional activists, liberty-loving individuals who simply want the Constitution and the rule of law observed. This is the hope of the MSM—that their propaganda will stifle the opposition against Obamacare and Obama’s out of control spending. I don’t think the Tea Party is just going to roll over because the Left wants them too.
4. This issue is problematic for the Republican presidential roster in 2016 – The Republicans haven’t even decided on who their frontrunner is going to be and I suspect that GOP is going to feel heavy pressure to select a true conservative and to turn away from the influences of the Karl Rove crowd. Choosing another moderate presidential candidate is going to spell extinction for the GOP.
5. The shutdown has destroyed GOP chances for the Senate in 2014 – The ObamaCare roll out has been a disaster and people are discovering that it is causing their premiums to skyrocket. The ACA website is a joke and there are rumors that the code they used to write it may have been pirated. The 2014 election is still more than a year away and Obamacare will have had time to be seen as the disaster the Tea Party warned everyone it would be. Those who opposed ObamaCare will be seen to have been on the right side of this issue plus the debt ceiling and will be rewarded for doing so.
6. Ted Cruz will be relegated to the dustbin of history – I don’t think so. Ted has thrust himself to the front of the class because he has done what the GOP has refused to do since Reagan left office—stand for principle. The Left is, in fact, terrified of Ted Cruz.
7. The effort to de-fund ObamaCare was futile – The efforts of Cruz and Lee brought a new awareness to those who don’t usually pay attention to politics and despite all derision directed at them for having the audacity to question Obama’s monarchical genius, they have become heroes in the eyes of conservatives. They have forced the GOP to recognize their plight—whether or not they’ll alter their suicidal course remains to be seen.
8. The American people were furious about the government shutdown – Really? When those Americans who are lucky enough to have a job get furloughed they do not receive any salary. They are forced to forfeit that income and I submit to you that the American people are resentful of the govt. workers privileged status in this regard. Furthermore they resented being shut out of the national parks, memorials and monuments their tax dollars have already paid for. In the case of the WW2 Memorial, which was paid for by private donations, the persecution of those veterans outraged the public!
MRC Study: How the Broadcast Networks Spun the Shutdown Obama’s Way
The problem is that the GOP is ignoring reality and its base—but not only ignoring their base they excoriate them, blaming them for things they have not done and don’t have the power to do—yet. The GOP is so afraid of the mainstream media that it dares not utter any criticism of the President, who is not only in need of criticism, but in need of being served an entire stack of subpoenas! The GOP has no other strategy than “moderation” which has failed repeatedly; the GOP needs to dump the advice of the Karl Rove crowd and pursue a path of principle and restore the Constitution.
Limbaugh: GOP Has Made A Decision Not To Exist
The GOP needs to find a new embrace of conservatism and begin confronting the President. Chris Cristie and Jeb Bush are NOT going to be a solution to the GOP’s fecklessness!
Why We’ll Keep Fighting Obamacare – Jim DeMint
Former Obama Official Warns Americans Opposed To Obamacare: “Back Off”…
Liberals become more shrill when they feel threatened—so let’s make them as insecure as we possibly can. Their hatred of America is all the ammunition we need. We just need to turn it back on them and hound them mercilessly with it.
Keep Your Chins Up, Conservatives
How dare the people oppose the POTUS?! Obama just won this battle over the shutdown and he is still unhappy. Then, straightaway, he came out and scolded the Republicans for allowing Cruz to defy him. He told us (paraphrased): “if we didn’t like a policy or the direction the country was going, then we needed to go out and win an election.” Well excuse me, Mr. President, your arrogance precedes you. Someone might remind you that that is exactly what Ted Cruz and Mike Lee did. They won elections and they are doing what they promised they would do for those who elected them.
Obama is supposed to be the most superior leader on the planet, yet he cannot articulate his position—he has to impose it. He does not know how to compromise because he has gotten his spoiled-ass way his entire life! He employs the MSM to go out and commit character assassinations and to pummel the public with propagandized disinformation. The “petulant ONE” knows the Tea Party isn’t going to go away and the GOP knows they aren’t going to go away as well. The Tea Party is a significant threat to the status quo inside the DC beltway and I draw sustenance from that fact.
Following the conclusion of the debt ceiling vote Obama immediately immediately began harping on immigration reform. He is already distracting us from all that happened and all the other things that the media should be focused on. The media must be confronted in the same manner that Obama should be confronted—by not accepting their flawed premises and forcing them off of their agenda.
The Tea Party needs to continue to occupy Obama’s head—rent free!
