What's Going On: Plenty of blame to go around for latest government shutdown

 With the government shutdown nearly a week long, you might be wondering right now who’s to blame.

After watching countless hours of C-SPAN and painstakingly analyzing all the political maneuvering, I’ve conclusively deduced which party is  entirely and soley responsible: Yours. 

Democrat folks are sticking there collective chests out right now as the Tea Party-fractured Republican Party plays the lead role in the American tragedy known as Congress in Action. 

Ted Cruz, John Boehner et al are showing what’s wrong with the GOP as they take a fanatical and counter-productive last stand in an effort to derail the Affordable Healthcare Act. 

President Barack Obama twice ran on a platform boasting a national health care plan. He won. Twice. 

In 2012, the Republicans ran a candidate promising to undo the great evil known as Obamacare. 

He lost. By a lot. 

Congress passed the bill as designed by the Constitution and the Republicans mounted a legal challenge against it in the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court. 

The Court ruled the law was legal. 

So in summary, the Republicans have done everything they possibly could to stop this law from becoming reality. They rallied against it in Congress and lost. They rallied against it in the presidential election and lost. They attacked it in the Supreme Court and lost. 

Now, they are insistent on simply closing the government unless Obama “negotiates” an agreement with them either delaying or defunding this program. 

I was watching the Green Bay football game Sunday when the Lions challenged a Packer touchdown. The referees upheld the score, but I couldn’t help but wonder if the Republicans ran the Detroit football team, they would demand the touchdown be “negotiated” until Green Bay agreed to receive only four or five points instead of the traditional six. And if Green Bay refused to “negotiate,” Detroit would have taken the ball and gone home. 

But it would be a mistake to place all the blame on the Republicans as I’m certainly not defending Democrats. 

I’m simply stating they aren’t as big a fool in this instance as their legislative counterparts. 

In the bigger scheme of things, this government shutdown is the result of neither party managing to do the simplest of things: approve a balanced budget. 

That hasn’t happened on the federal level since Bill Clinton was president and there is no reason to believe it will happen anytime soon. 

As a result of this inability to pass a balanced budget, another Congressional showdown is expected next week when Congress will have to approve raising the debt ceiling … again … as the nation closes in on topping the $17 trillion mark. 

Obama and the free-spending Democrats are on pace to set a new record for deficit spending in eight years. But alas my GOP friends, the record they will be breaking is currently held by the last guy, George W. Bush, a Republican. 

So yeah, our political process seems to be run by baffoons. 

And your party is the reason why. 

Keep that in mind next time you want to align yourself with either the Democrats or Republicans and cast blame on the other side of the political fence. Because frankly, it doesn’t matter. Both parties are to blame. Both parties are responsible for holding America financially hostage. Both parties are bringing this country to the brink of financial ruin. 

What can be done? Short-term, nothing. Long-term, I have advocated more than once a two-tier approach. First, implement federal term limits. Career politicians like Steve King, Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin need to go. Secondly, eliminate party affiliations. Maybe then politicians would actually vote their conscience based on a bill’s merits instead of what the party tells them to do.  

In the meantime, enjoy the comedy of errors and remember, this is everyone’s fault. 

Gregory Orear is the General Manager/Editor of the Red Oak Express and Glenwood Opinion-Tribune. He can be contacted at publisher@redoakexpress.com.