The Shutdown that almost was

The near shutdown of the federal government this week has me demoralized, depressed and unhopeful.  I spent most of the day at work on Friday preparing my people for the fallout.  My shop was lucky enough to be declared essential, but I was the only one who would be on duty every day.  The rest of the staff was to rotate through on a daily basis, doing just the basic office functions required by law.  People were worried about mortgages, bills, and, to their great credit, how they would get their long term projects completed.

I have a whole lot of contempt and anger towards the people who hold vital government services to millions of Americans hostage to their pet social causes.  I am also incensed with those who have pushed the phantom menace of debt and deficits to the forefront when we're just climbing out of a terrible recession.  There is a time to worry about debt but it's when the economy is doing well.  I am angry with the President for not coming out more forcefully against this scandalous behavior.

I don't have the time or spirit enough to lay all this out right now, but E.J. Dionne Jr. wrote an article that captures a lot of what I would say.

As the shouting persisted, it became clear that the government of the most powerful country in the world was being held hostage by a band of fanatics who (1) represent a very small proportion of our population; (2) hate government so much that they relished the idea of closing its doors, no matter the cost; and (3) have neither respect nor patience for the normal democratic give-and-take between competing parties and points of view.

In no serious country do threats to shut down the government become a routine way of doing business. Yet in our repertoire of dysfunction, we are on the verge of adding shutdown abuse to abuse of the filibuster in the Senate.

Republicans, however, were rewarded for going to the brink. Because so many on House Speaker John Boehner’s side were eager for a shutdown and President Obama was so determined to avoid one — and to stay out of the spotlight until the final days — Boehner had the upper hand. 

 ***

At the heart of Obama’s “Win the Future” State of the Union address was an argument that government action is essential in making the United States more competitive and innovative, and in expanding opportunity for Americans who are being left behind. By distancing himself from this round of the budget debate, the president forfeited an opening to challenge the anti-government assumptions embedded in Republican arguments that are shaped far more by the Tea Party than the movement’s numbers in the country (or its falling poll ratings) would justify.

Of both big policy battles since the 2010 elections, Obama insisted that the most important thing was to get them behind us so we could move on to the main act. But when, exactly, will the main act begin? When will he fully engage? When will he challenge the idea that government’s central obligation is to shrink itself?

And, coming soon, we will have part three (part one was the tax cuts for the rich fiasco), when the government must address raising the debt ceiling, an utterly uncontroversial action which has been done many times without any incident whatsoever, mostly because the consequences of failure to do so are so horrific.  You can take my word for it that the Republicans will take the entire world economy hostage to pass their malevolent agenda.

Don't decent Americans have the strength to stop them?