Who is to blame if Congress does not pass a continuing resolution this week and the government "shuts down"? If you read the mainstream media, there is only one answer to that question: the Republicans, especially those who are part of the Tea Party. But why is that correct? We have a situation where two houses of Congress have to agree and the president has to sign the bill for a law to be passed. Right now, the Senate and the House do not agree. Why is that only the fault of the House? For centuries, when the Senate and the House do not agree, they negotiate to find a middle ground. The problem now is that the Senate Democrats and president Obama have announced that they will not negotiate. For the Democrats, the only acceptable resolution is for their position to be adopted. But guess what? The Democrats do not control the House, and the House has to agree for there to be any resolution of the standoff. That means that the Democrats have to be reasonable and negotiate a middle ground. The refusal of the Democrats to do that means that it is they who will be responsible for any shutdown.
My point is not that the Democrats are responsible for any shutdown. Rather, it is that the chorus blaming the Republicans for any shutdown that may happen are wrong. The mainstream media goes on and on about how it is the Republicans doing this. The funny thing, however, is that the public seems to be wising up to the reality of the situation. The polling used to show that Republicans would be blamed by a margin of almost two to one for any shutdown. Now, the margin of those blaming Republicans is just 3% in the latest polls. It is really hard for Obama and the Obamacrats to keep saying that they will not negotiate at all and then blame the GOP for being obstinate. People may not pay close attention, but they do understand reality.
My point is not that the Democrats are responsible for any shutdown. Rather, it is that the chorus blaming the Republicans for any shutdown that may happen are wrong. The mainstream media goes on and on about how it is the Republicans doing this. The funny thing, however, is that the public seems to be wising up to the reality of the situation. The polling used to show that Republicans would be blamed by a margin of almost two to one for any shutdown. Now, the margin of those blaming Republicans is just 3% in the latest polls. It is really hard for Obama and the Obamacrats to keep saying that they will not negotiate at all and then blame the GOP for being obstinate. People may not pay close attention, but they do understand reality.
No comments:
Post a Comment