The federal government is going to shut down this weekend, barring some miracle. And Democrats really need to make sure Americans know exactly who insisted on this avoidable crisis. It’s the House GOP, as I explained at New York.
If you are bewildered by the inability of Congress to head off a government shutdown beginning this weekend, don’t feel poorly informed: Some of the Capitol’s top wizards are throwing up their hands as well, as the Washington Post reports:
“’We are truly heading for the first-ever shutdown about nothing,’ said Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank. Strain has started referring to the current GOP House-led impasse as “the ‘Seinfeld’ shutdown,” a reference to the popular sitcom widely known as ‘a show about nothing.’ ‘The weirdest thing about it is that the Republicans don’t have any demands. What do they want? What is it that they’re going to shut the government down for? We simply don’t know.’”
That’s a bit of an exaggeration. Many House Republicans, led by a band of right-wing hard-liners, want to impose their fiscal and policy views on the nation despite the GOP’s narrow majority in the House. Their chief asset, beyond fanaticism, is that the federal government can’t remain open past the end of the fiscal year without the concurrence of the House, and they don’t really mind an extended government shutdown, if only to preen and posture. They are being encouraged in this wildly irresponsible position by their leader and likely 2024 presidential nominee Donald Trump.
But the hard-liners’ real motive, it seems, is to use the dysfunction they’ve caused in the House to get rid of Speaker Kevin McCarthy for being dysfunctional. The not-so-hidden plan hatched by Florida congressman Matt Gaetz is to thwart every effort by McCarthy to move forward with spending plans for the next fiscal year and then defenestrate him via a motion to vacate the chair, which just five Republicans can pass any time they wish (with the complicity of Democrats). Indeed, the Post reports the rebels are casting about for a replacement Speaker right now:
“A contingent of far-right House Republicans is plotting an attempt to remove Kevin McCarthy as House speaker as early as next week, a move that would throw the chamber into further disarray in the middle of a potential government shutdown, according to four people familiar with the effort who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private talks.”
McCarthy’s tormenters would like to have a successor lined up who will presumably be even less inclined to compromise with Democrats than the current Speaker. And that’s saying a lot, since McCarthy has already bowed to the Gaetz demand that House Republicans reject even the idea of a continuing resolution — the stopgap spending measures used to forestall or end government shutdowns in the past — and instead plod through individual appropriations bills loaded with provisions no Democrat would ever accept (e.g., deep domestic spending cuts, draconian border policies, anti-Ukraine measures, and abortion restrictions). It’s a recipe for a long shutdown, but it’s clear if McCarthy moves a muscle toward negotiating with Democrats (who have already passed a CR in the Senate), then kaboom! Here comes the motion to vacate.
Some observers think getting rid of McCarthy is an end in itself for the hard-liners — particularly Gaetz, who has a long-standing grudge against the Californian and opposed his original selection as Speaker to the bitter end — no matter what he does or doesn’t do. In theory, House Democrats could save McCarthy by lending a few “no” votes to him if the motion to vacate hits the floor, but they’ve made it clear the price for saving him would be high, including abandonment of the GOP’s Biden impeachment inquiry.
So strictly speaking, the impending shutdown isn’t “about nothing”; it’s about internal far-right factional politics that very few of the people about to be affected by the shutdown care about at all. Understandably, most Democrats from President Biden on down are focusing their efforts on making sure the public knows this isn’t about “big government” or “politicians” or “partisan polarization,” but about one party’s extremism and cannibalistic infighting. For now, there’s little anyone outside the GOP fever swamps can do about it other than watch the carnage.
Oh! people, Kerry did not lose CO by 5% points. The vote was stolen! It is alled Voter Fraud and American needs to undestand that it happened in Colorado too!
I would not be surprised to see Ken Salazar of Colorado in the VP slot in 2008. A former Attorney General of CO and newly elected senator, Salazar is just what the party needs. He would, of course, help excite the Latino community-particularly the Mexican and Central and South American communities-but his appeal goes far beyond that: A farmer who appeals to the populist leanings of the west, Salazar is far removed from the “liberal” and “elitist” northeastern political environment. He has a gentle ruggedness that appeals to people and he exudes sincerity. He is considered, for the most part, a moderate BUT HAS taken some pretty strong stands on the environment and farmers’ rights. He is pro-choice but strongly opposes PBAs and strongly favors parental notification of minors who wish to terminate a pregnancy. He has stated that though he believes marriage is between a man and a woman, he will vehemently oppose any effort to amend the constitution in this matter. The voters of CO knew all this when they selected him on Nov 2nd.
Whereas Kerry lost CO by 5 points, Salazar beat Coors and won his senate seat by 6 points! Both Kerry and Salazar did very well in the large cities like Boulder and Denver but Salazar did far better than Kerry in the smaller towns. He bested Kerry by an average of 10 points in many of these towns. He still didn’t beat Coors in these small towns but he did better than any Democrat there in recent history. Ken’s brother won his house seat as well. In fact, in a bright spot for Democrats in this election, CO Dems took control of both state legislatures for the first time in 44 years!
Something is happening in Colorado and I think the Coloradan Democrats can teach the Democratic party a thing or two on how to win elections. I think the national party should take a close look at how the Democrats in CO have turned things around and see what can be applied nationally.
I really like the quote in the article:
Colorado Democrats say their success carries a lesson for the national party. “We campaigned on pragmatism,” state Democratic Chairman Christopher Gates said. “We set ourselves up as the problem solvers, while the Republicans were hung up on a bunch of fringe social issues like gay marriage and the Pledge of Allegiance.
“The notion that moral issues won the 2004 election was disproven in Colorado,” Gates continued. “We offered solutions, not ideology, and won almost everything.”
Liberals used to be known as the pragmatists of American politics, the problem solvers. Being known as a liberal bacame a liability in national politics (as both Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry clearly believed in the debates) when liberalism became an ideology rather than a way of thinking about problems.