I know many disagree with my view that the Republicans by trying to defund Obamcare fell into Obama’s trap. For months Ted Cruz was telegraphing that he was going to rally Republicans for a showdown over Obamacare. This was the type of fight the Obama Regime and their Media cohorts wanted. The NSA spying scandal and his attempts to start a war in Syria, was doing him political damage. Now thanks to Government Shutdown Obama has the Republican Party as the perfect strawman to beat up on.
The fight the GOP should have had was the debt ceiling. The American public by a 2-1 margin were against raising the debt ceiling, without cuts. That is an issue the Republicans could have won on. Instead led by emotionalism, the Republican Party went right into the trap the Obama Regime and their media allies laid.
The mainstream media have been fairly unanimous in blaming the government shutdown on the GOP. Accordingly, House Republicans presented three bills to restore funding to national parks, veterans and the District of Columbia government. Democrats voted down all three. (For procedural reasons, the measures required a two-thirds majority.)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid won’t even consider these refunding measures. And the White House has promised a presidential veto.
The reason is obvious: to prolong the pain and thus add to the political advantage gained from a shutdown blamed on the GOP. They are confident the media will do a “GOP makes little Johnny weep at the closed gates of Yellowstone, film at 11” despite Republicans having just offered legislation to open them.
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I don’t agree with current Republican tactics. I thought the defunding demand impossible and, therefore, foolish. I thought that if, nonetheless, the GOP insisted on making a stand, it should not be on shutting down the government, which voters oppose 5-to-1, but on the debt ceiling, which Americans favor 2-to-1 as a vehicle for restraining government.
The Republicans picked a fight on Obamacare funding the Obama Regime wanted over the debt ceiling, a fight they could have won. To make matters worse, John Boehner is now prepared to cave on the debt ceiling.
WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner has privately told Republican lawmakers anxious about fallout from the government shutdown that he would not allow a potentially more crippling federal default as the atmosphere on Capitol Hill turned increasingly tense on Thursday.
Mr. Boehner’s comments, recounted by multiple lawmakers, that he would use a combination of Republican and Democratic votes to increase the federal debt limit if necessary appeared aimed at reassuring his colleagues — and nervous financial markets — that he did not intend to let the economic crisis spiral further out of control.
Once again, Republican voters have been played. John Boehner goes along with a losing fight, over a fight they could have won. If this is not evidence the GOP is the stupid party that has no strategic thinking I don’t know what is. I know people will view me as the bad guy or RINO for disagreeing with the Conservative conventional wisdom, that Republicans are winning on the showdown and this was brilliant of Republicans. But it is my responsibility to tell the readers of this blog the truth of the political situation.
Now that the milk has been spilled, crying over it will change nothing. The Republican Party needs to hold firm. If it means keeping the governmnet shutdown for months so be it. They should not cave on the debt ceiling either. John Boehner needs to be read the riot act on this. The Republicans need to damage Obama as much as possible, so it becomes a draw, that is the only way out of this trap
Tags: 2013 Government Shutdown, Charles Krauthammer, Debt Ceiling, Obamacare, Ted Cruz
