By Star Parker
Monday, October 07, 2013
Let's get clear about the political realities behind the
budget impasse in Washington and the government shutdown.
Nothing captures the distortions being perpetrated more
than the headline of a Washington Post column by Anne Applebaum that reads:
"The GOP Undermines Democracy."
And, according to President Barack Obama, a
"faction" of Republicans (read "tea party") is holding the
nation hostage to its "ideological demands."
After all, isn't it true that the health care law is the
law of the land? Isn't it also true that it passed constitutional muster before
the U.S. Supreme Court? And isn't it also true that we have a president, who
champions this health care law, who has been elected twice?
All true.
But it is also true that the brilliant architects of the
U.S. Constitution provided many checks and balances and a multitude of channels
through which the will of the people may, at all times, be expressed.
The move by the Republican-controlled House to pass a
bill to authorize spending for the federal government, but to withhold spending
authorization for the health care law, is totally legitimate, appropriate and
constitutional.
The Constitution vests the power of the purse in
Congress. Here is what James Madison, who drafted the U.S. Constitution, had to
say:
"The power of the purse may, in fact, be regarded as
the most complete and effective weapon with which any constitution can arm the
immediate representatives of the people, for obtaining redress of every
grievance, and for carrying into effect every just and salutary measure."
The fantastic news is the system is working.
Ironically, those like Post columnist Applebaum tell us
that Republicans, who are boldly exercising their responsibilities and
authority under our Constitution, are undermining democracy.
And, ironically, our president refuses to sit down and
negotiate with Republicans who are constitutionally representing popular
sentiment. Then he says they are the "ideologues."
As of Friday, the RealClearPolitics.com average of polls
showed 51 percent oppose the health care law and 43 percent support it. Little
has changed since Obama approved it in March 2010. Polling then showed 49.3
percent were opposed and 40.1 percent were in favor of it.
Against prevailing public sentiment, Congress passed the
2010 law without a single Republican vote, using parliamentary gymnastics that
few can even explain today. And yet Republicans are being accused of hijacking
the system.
Among U.S. households, an increasing percentage receives
more in government transfer payments than they pay in taxes. The figure rose
from 20 percent in 1979 to 60 percent in 2009, according to University of
Dallas economist Michael Cosgrove.
With all the crocodile tears about inconvenience that
this shutdown may cause some nonessential government workers, real tears should
be shed for the massive loss of jobs due to a barely recovering economy, larded
down with government, debt and a welfare-state culture.
Stanford economist Edward Lazear has reported in The Wall
Street Journal that only 58 percent of our working-age population is employed
today, compared to more than 63 percent before the recession.
Last June, Lazear wrote, "At the present slow rate
of job growth, it will take more than a decade to get back to full employment
defined by pre-recession standards."
A new Gallup poll shows 60 percent of Americans say the
federal government has too much power, the highest percentage ever recorded by
Gallup.
Obama is intentionally playing to the cracks in the
Republican Party. He knows Republican leadership is weak-kneed. But if
Republican leaders cave in, the country is lost. We need principled and
courageous leadership now.
The tea party is the solution, not the problem.
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