Indicative of how America can only focus on itself, the first topic (Obamacare) on today's "Meet The Press," in the grand scale of things, was less important than the second (NSA wiretapping and U.S. foreign policy). In an age where information is the true power, the United States' ambition of remaining the sole superpower in the world is fully intact. The newest round of revelations provided by Edward Snowden show that the NSA is monitoring and collecting information on French and German citizens along with 35 world leaders including the apparent tapping of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone for over the past decade.
We should all just suffice to say that the NSA is collecting digital data across the globe, on everyone; it would be foolish to think otherwise. However, ultimately this could leave the U.S. more isolated as it alienates long-time allies who will now be less prone to assist the United States in gathering information about real terror networks. Trying to achieve peace and safety through distrust really isn't permanent proposition.
Congressman Peter King (R-NY) said that the president should stop apologizing for the NSA activities as he explained that many lives have been saved because of their activities. But what does that have to do with tapping a world leader's phone, especially Ms. Merkel's who has been one of the strongest allies of the United States over her tenure as German Chancellor? Mr. King used a WWII analogy to explain why the United States should continue its eavesdropping spy activities; something that this column stays away from doing and here's why. Mr. King explained that if the United States were able to monitor communications in Germany in the 1940's, think of all the lives that could have been saved from slaughter. Maybe that could have been the case, however what we also know about the Nazis is that they cataloged millions of people. Some would protest that the NSA is committing a twenty-first century version of that. See the slippery slope an analogy like that presents.
The point is that the Obama Administration set out to regain the trust of our allies around the world after the Bush Administration committed to a series of decisions that left the judgement of the United States in question. But the Obama Administration has not succeeded in its goal and has in actuality has presided over a period that has seen international trust erode even more.
In addition to the NSA revelations, this week the Saudis declined their temporary seat of the United Nations' Security Council, a protest over the United States' handling of the Syrian civil war and its outreach to Iran.
The Obama Administration talked tough on Syria and then they backed away. As Mr. Gregory pointed out, people will be inclined to think that if Syria is 'defanged' of its chemical weapons, then the Administration can call its strategy a success. That's a big 'if.' With regard to dealings with Iran, the Administration must take a tactic more like that of say Vladimir Putin where it is willing to listen to conciliatory statements but only with the clear understanding that trust has not been established. At this same time, the United States would be making transparent overtures to Israel and other allies in the region for deepening ties so much so that Iran gets the message.
The Obama Administration has been very good at capturing and killing Al Qaeda leaders, there is no doubt. However, on the wider scale, the administration hasn't been successful in rebuilding trust and this will most certainly come back to bite the U.S. if it can not course correct, despite what Congressman King would tell you.
Where we have some sympathy for the president is in the fact that he's getting no help from the Republican party members, because of petty politics. In a wired world, everyone can see the infighting of the United States Congress so people understand that the U.S. is having trouble speaking with one voice, and hence it renders the United States distrusted and unreliable.
In addition to not getting help on foreign policy, the administration and its disastrous opening of Obamacare isn't gaining any friends at home. We cut the administration some slack when it comes to the roll-out of the Affordable Healthcare Act because the aim of the law is to provide healthcare to as many people as possible while at the same time lowering costs overall, and that makes the law worth trying. The other reason is that we just can not get on board with Republican criticisms because conservatives have offered no alternative, none at all.
And even though today's panel was basically a frivolous waste of time as each member simply tried to talk over one another filling the air with empty ideological rhetoric, we do agree with Republican strategist Alex Castellanos when he said that if the Republican party continues to be lead by the 'oppose everything' philosophy of Ted Cruz - being the party of 'no' - then they will go nowhere. Mr. Cruz has yet to present an alternative idea to the country's healthcare troubles, and going to back to how it was with costs continually rising is not the answer.
However, Mr. Castellanos was definitely not the point of reason on the panel, but the object example of why we should take what all of them had to say with a grain of salt. Mr. Castellanos explained the Obamacare is the result of old-Washington philosophy that the government can create a top-down program and it will work. He went on to say that programs work with they come from the bottom up. It sounds real nice, but it's completely disingenuous when you realize that this is an individual who has been instrumental and a continuing advocate for trickle down economics, an economic philosophy that is based a top-down direction.
Fixable web site glitches aside, here's what you have to keep your eye on with regard to Obamacare: In the states where they have decided to embrace the law and accept the federal money, is the program working? The answer is that yes it is working right now like in Governor Beshear's state of Kentucky. The other question that Mr. Gregory kept bringing up that no one could answer is what happens if not enough young and healthy individuals enroll - a key to the program's success? That's an unknown that needs to be considered.
We should take Governor Beshear's advice and just chill out over Obamacare. America is all about trying, tinkering, and fixing new things, an attitude that shouldn't be sacrificed because of the fear of a few politically motivated individuals.
The computer program problems that Americans should be most worried about are not the ones caused by Kathleen Sebelius and the Department of Health & Human Services but the ones emanating from the National Security Agency.
Roundtable: 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum; former Michigan
Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm; President of the Center for
American Progress Neera Tanden; and Republican strategist Alex
Castellanos.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Sunday, October 20, 2013
10.20.13: Republicans and Iranians
Today's "Meet The Press" didn't really tell you anything you already didn't know if you've been paying attention. That's not to say it was bad per se, on the contrary as it served as a sufficient 'status update' on where we are on this road of political fiscal foolishness we're driving down.
We know that the economy will take a hit and when Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo agree (two individuals with distinctly different philosophies on the economy) that the fiscal uncertainty created by Washington is causing corporations to continue to sit on cash and not hire, you need little more evidence.
We also know that the Republican party took a huge hit as well in its approval ratings for the shutdown because in the end their run-for-the-exits strategy didn't save any face, as it were. Divided they fell. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) didn't mince words when he explained that Republicans didn't do anything but make a big mess, and then pointed the finger of blame at outside interest groups [read: Heritage Action] and individuals who took advantage of it as well [read: Ted Cruz].
Though this column finds some of Mr. Coburn's positions too far to the right, if the Republican party had more people that stuck to their conservative principles but constantly looked for common ground, don't you think Americans would have higher esteem for government as a whole. But Tea Party Republicans have little interest for common ground. Because of the shutdown, Republicans are in the midst of an internal fight for the future of their party - all on open display.
Everyone at the roundtable had the same hope that this government shutdown would result in an reemergence of moderate Republicans and bipartisan solutions. They all agreed that this episode has been a reckoning not only for Republicans, but the Tea Party in particular. So much so, that Washington Post Columnist E.J. Dionne seems to think that the Tea Party movement was effectively over. That is just being unrealistic. As long as Ted Cruz and the rest can fund raise off of false hope, the Tea Party will have a presence.
And as for the moderate Republicans stepping up, we have to first see them walk the walk. Until a majority of Republicans in Congress can show that they can work in a bi-partisan manner on a regular basis, then license will continue to be given to Democrats to lump all Republicans in with the Tea Party types. Now, it's all about their actions going forward.
Speaking of hard right conservatives and action, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has it correct in what he said today about Iran. There shouldn't be easing of sanctions until the Iranians walk the walk and take genuine action in dismantling their nuclear weapons program, there shouldn't be easing of the sanctions. We disagree with Mr. Netanyahu and his view that military action is necessary, and his general Cheney-like hawkishness toward the rest of the region. However, on this point, he is correct. The appropriate reciprocity for doing nothing is giving nothing in return. At the very least, the moderates in Iran are beginning to speak up.
The obvious point here is that taking the extreme position gets you nowhere in the end, which isn't something you didn't already know.
NY Times Columnist David Brooks; Washington Post Columnist E.J. Dionne; host of CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” Maria Bartiromo; and NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell.
We know that the economy will take a hit and when Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo agree (two individuals with distinctly different philosophies on the economy) that the fiscal uncertainty created by Washington is causing corporations to continue to sit on cash and not hire, you need little more evidence.
We also know that the Republican party took a huge hit as well in its approval ratings for the shutdown because in the end their run-for-the-exits strategy didn't save any face, as it were. Divided they fell. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) didn't mince words when he explained that Republicans didn't do anything but make a big mess, and then pointed the finger of blame at outside interest groups [read: Heritage Action] and individuals who took advantage of it as well [read: Ted Cruz].
Though this column finds some of Mr. Coburn's positions too far to the right, if the Republican party had more people that stuck to their conservative principles but constantly looked for common ground, don't you think Americans would have higher esteem for government as a whole. But Tea Party Republicans have little interest for common ground. Because of the shutdown, Republicans are in the midst of an internal fight for the future of their party - all on open display.
Everyone at the roundtable had the same hope that this government shutdown would result in an reemergence of moderate Republicans and bipartisan solutions. They all agreed that this episode has been a reckoning not only for Republicans, but the Tea Party in particular. So much so, that Washington Post Columnist E.J. Dionne seems to think that the Tea Party movement was effectively over. That is just being unrealistic. As long as Ted Cruz and the rest can fund raise off of false hope, the Tea Party will have a presence.
And as for the moderate Republicans stepping up, we have to first see them walk the walk. Until a majority of Republicans in Congress can show that they can work in a bi-partisan manner on a regular basis, then license will continue to be given to Democrats to lump all Republicans in with the Tea Party types. Now, it's all about their actions going forward.
Speaking of hard right conservatives and action, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has it correct in what he said today about Iran. There shouldn't be easing of sanctions until the Iranians walk the walk and take genuine action in dismantling their nuclear weapons program, there shouldn't be easing of the sanctions. We disagree with Mr. Netanyahu and his view that military action is necessary, and his general Cheney-like hawkishness toward the rest of the region. However, on this point, he is correct. The appropriate reciprocity for doing nothing is giving nothing in return. At the very least, the moderates in Iran are beginning to speak up.
The obvious point here is that taking the extreme position gets you nowhere in the end, which isn't something you didn't already know.
NY Times Columnist David Brooks; Washington Post Columnist E.J. Dionne; host of CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” Maria Bartiromo; and NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
10.13.13: Holding Back the American People
On this Sunday, the 13th day of the shutdown, Congress is in session, which has enabled Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Rob Portman (R-OH) to appear on 'Meet The Press' today, but given what we heard they are definitely not earning their respective $174,000 a year salaries, which by the way are unaffected by the shutdown. If any group of government employees should be furloughed but also forced to return to work and do their jobs, it's members of Congress.
By the way, he shutdown costs America $160 million per day, as reported by CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin, so there is no need to continue paying nonessential governmental personnel, as many would deem Congress.
In their joint interview, both Senators admitted that the two side talking was a breakthrough, and it seems as though neither side really understands how utterly ridiculous that sounds to the American people. As former Defense Secretary and White House Chief of Staff under President Bill Clinton Leo Panetta said, this is weakening America - at home and abroad. Because of the shutdown, 56,000 kids are kicked out of the Headstart educational program, cancellations of clinical trials, cancellation of military training, 800,000 federal employees furloughed, fleets not being deployed and Medicare payments delayed; and those are just the ones mentioned on today's program. And we have to mention the program's best anecdote of the day, provided by Judy Woodruff, that 4 out of 5 U.S. scientists who have won the Nobel Prize this year have been furloughed, only in the United States.
The Tea Party caucus in the Republican party initiated this shutdown with it's demand that Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, be defunded completely in order to have a budget agreement. The entire Republican party altered that position a bit with a one-year delay, and then argued that the president and Senate Democrats were not compromising. But today, Senator Portman did not cite Obamacare as the reason for the impasse, but instead shifted the argument to spending in general. He did go on record saying that Obamacare should be repealed and replaced, and this column would be for that notion as long as they can meet this one basic criteria first: the presentation of an alternative plan, which Republicans have yet to do in any degree. Harold Ford, once again hollowly trying to play the voice of reason, said the president should negotiate on Obamacare, but there is no point to that if there is no alternative.
And if the real cause of the shutdown is, in fact, spending then why can't this discussion happen with the government open and without the threat of default on U.S. loans? Even if you don't believe Senator Durbin when he says that a default will have a "dramatic negative impact" on the economy, according to the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, that's what the rest of the world's top economic leaders think. Economic growth, what all parties want, isn't only based on the amount of dollars on hand, but confidence and trust as well, which is established in knowing that Congress on behalf of the American people will honor the country's financial obligations.
Ms. Lagarde, in New York for an economic world summit who called the United States' economy the 'safe haven in all circumstances,' (there's your American exceptionalism if you were wondering) explained that one thing is certain - the degree of disruption and lack of trust would affect the world economy bringing on incredible risk and uncertainty - all of which is not good. Is the United States aiming to have its currency devalued and negated as the world reserve? Congress doesn't seem to see or understand the world outside its own echoing hallways, never mind outside U.S. borders. Even if you find Ms. Lagarde herself not credible, she is reiterating the sentiments of the rest of the industrialized world.
That's why sixty percent of Americans say that every member of Congress should be thrown out of office, and someone should be elected in his or her place. As unrealistic as that notion is, Congress should take the message to heart.
As Mr. Panetta outlined, everyone in Washington knows that the shutdown is hurting ordinary Americans and has to end, the debt ceiling has to be raised, and then there has to be a negotiation on spending... However, when he said everyone he wasn't referring to the Tea Party, the group most responsible for this overall failure to govern. Frankly, the Republican party has to figure this out - their internal fighting (50% leans Tea Party and 50% moderate) is bringing down the entire country. Chuck Todd said that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Speaker Boehner can't even bring a compromise idea to their caucuses because the Tea Party 'won't go it.'
Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker said that President Obama and poor Speaker John Boehner were being driven by other parties - in the case of the president, Harry Reid and the Tea Party for Mr. Boehner, but we would disagree with that. The fact that Speaker Boehner can put a clean budget resolution, with the sequester in place, on the table, and it will pass with Democratic and moderate Republican's support, but not Tea Party support means that the outside influence is disproportionately negative in the direction of the Republicans.
Every guest on today's program said they he or she thought there would be a deal this week on the debt ceiling, whether long or short term: the logic being that cooler heads will prevail, but you would have to question where those are exactly. To be blunt, a short term deal just sucks. What that would mean is that we would wake up from the nightmare with the full fact that we will have it again. Some could say that it will give time for Congress to work things out, but this Congress has killed any confidence in that prospect.
However, everyone also thought that if Congress could get past their stupidity, that the American economy is ready to take off; the American people are ready to go if Congress would just stop holding them back. This column advocates arguing, it's what keeps us all honest so when Democrats and Republicans keep arguing it's all part of the process, but not at the expense of the citizens you're there to represent. President Obama is on record as saying that he would negotiate with Republicans on spending, but not under the threat of national debt default, and chances are that if the government reopens and the debt limit is raised, he'll concede to many Republican spending demands (outside of Obamacare), more than Democrats will be comfortable with, but that is a topic for another today.
In the meantime, Congress needs to do what they get paid to do - keep the government/ country open and paying its bills.
Roundtable: Co-anchor and managing editor of the PBS Newshour, Judy Woodruff; Washington Post Columnist Kathleen Parker; former Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN); and NBC News Chief White House Correspondent and Political Director Chuck Todd.
By the way, he shutdown costs America $160 million per day, as reported by CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin, so there is no need to continue paying nonessential governmental personnel, as many would deem Congress.
In their joint interview, both Senators admitted that the two side talking was a breakthrough, and it seems as though neither side really understands how utterly ridiculous that sounds to the American people. As former Defense Secretary and White House Chief of Staff under President Bill Clinton Leo Panetta said, this is weakening America - at home and abroad. Because of the shutdown, 56,000 kids are kicked out of the Headstart educational program, cancellations of clinical trials, cancellation of military training, 800,000 federal employees furloughed, fleets not being deployed and Medicare payments delayed; and those are just the ones mentioned on today's program. And we have to mention the program's best anecdote of the day, provided by Judy Woodruff, that 4 out of 5 U.S. scientists who have won the Nobel Prize this year have been furloughed, only in the United States.
The Tea Party caucus in the Republican party initiated this shutdown with it's demand that Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, be defunded completely in order to have a budget agreement. The entire Republican party altered that position a bit with a one-year delay, and then argued that the president and Senate Democrats were not compromising. But today, Senator Portman did not cite Obamacare as the reason for the impasse, but instead shifted the argument to spending in general. He did go on record saying that Obamacare should be repealed and replaced, and this column would be for that notion as long as they can meet this one basic criteria first: the presentation of an alternative plan, which Republicans have yet to do in any degree. Harold Ford, once again hollowly trying to play the voice of reason, said the president should negotiate on Obamacare, but there is no point to that if there is no alternative.
And if the real cause of the shutdown is, in fact, spending then why can't this discussion happen with the government open and without the threat of default on U.S. loans? Even if you don't believe Senator Durbin when he says that a default will have a "dramatic negative impact" on the economy, according to the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, that's what the rest of the world's top economic leaders think. Economic growth, what all parties want, isn't only based on the amount of dollars on hand, but confidence and trust as well, which is established in knowing that Congress on behalf of the American people will honor the country's financial obligations.
Ms. Lagarde, in New York for an economic world summit who called the United States' economy the 'safe haven in all circumstances,' (there's your American exceptionalism if you were wondering) explained that one thing is certain - the degree of disruption and lack of trust would affect the world economy bringing on incredible risk and uncertainty - all of which is not good. Is the United States aiming to have its currency devalued and negated as the world reserve? Congress doesn't seem to see or understand the world outside its own echoing hallways, never mind outside U.S. borders. Even if you find Ms. Lagarde herself not credible, she is reiterating the sentiments of the rest of the industrialized world.
That's why sixty percent of Americans say that every member of Congress should be thrown out of office, and someone should be elected in his or her place. As unrealistic as that notion is, Congress should take the message to heart.
As Mr. Panetta outlined, everyone in Washington knows that the shutdown is hurting ordinary Americans and has to end, the debt ceiling has to be raised, and then there has to be a negotiation on spending... However, when he said everyone he wasn't referring to the Tea Party, the group most responsible for this overall failure to govern. Frankly, the Republican party has to figure this out - their internal fighting (50% leans Tea Party and 50% moderate) is bringing down the entire country. Chuck Todd said that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Speaker Boehner can't even bring a compromise idea to their caucuses because the Tea Party 'won't go it.'
Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker said that President Obama and poor Speaker John Boehner were being driven by other parties - in the case of the president, Harry Reid and the Tea Party for Mr. Boehner, but we would disagree with that. The fact that Speaker Boehner can put a clean budget resolution, with the sequester in place, on the table, and it will pass with Democratic and moderate Republican's support, but not Tea Party support means that the outside influence is disproportionately negative in the direction of the Republicans.
Every guest on today's program said they he or she thought there would be a deal this week on the debt ceiling, whether long or short term: the logic being that cooler heads will prevail, but you would have to question where those are exactly. To be blunt, a short term deal just sucks. What that would mean is that we would wake up from the nightmare with the full fact that we will have it again. Some could say that it will give time for Congress to work things out, but this Congress has killed any confidence in that prospect.
However, everyone also thought that if Congress could get past their stupidity, that the American economy is ready to take off; the American people are ready to go if Congress would just stop holding them back. This column advocates arguing, it's what keeps us all honest so when Democrats and Republicans keep arguing it's all part of the process, but not at the expense of the citizens you're there to represent. President Obama is on record as saying that he would negotiate with Republicans on spending, but not under the threat of national debt default, and chances are that if the government reopens and the debt limit is raised, he'll concede to many Republican spending demands (outside of Obamacare), more than Democrats will be comfortable with, but that is a topic for another today.
In the meantime, Congress needs to do what they get paid to do - keep the government/ country open and paying its bills.
Roundtable: Co-anchor and managing editor of the PBS Newshour, Judy Woodruff; Washington Post Columnist Kathleen Parker; former Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN); and NBC News Chief White House Correspondent and Political Director Chuck Todd.
Sunday, October 06, 2013
10.6.13: An Irresponsible Congress & the Economic Nuclear Bomb
Today on "Meet The Press," America's top accountant, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, clarified that the United States had actually reached its debt limit in May and has been employing 'extraordinary measures' to keep the country solvent for the past four months.
Savannah Guthrie, sitting in for David Gregory, threw hard questions like wrenches at Mr. Lew on the fact that the president will not negotiate with House Speaker John Boehner and Republicans at all on all on a budget that defunds or delays the Affordable Care Act. This has shutdown the government, now in its sixth day, and now this irresponsibility is quickly bleeding into the issue of raise the debt ceiling, which frankly shouldn't be an issue at all.
Mr. Lew didn't have an adequate answer for the question, except to say that Congress needs to do its job. He is correct on that, but it is not sufficient for many Americans who are opponents of Obamacare. To those people we'll provide this analogy: If instead the Republican House Members sent a spending bill to the Democratic-controlled Senate that stated the government would shutdown and we'd default on our debt if you did not defund Social Security, most everyone especially seniors would be outraged, yelling expletives at legislators. But Social Security isn't perfect, one could say and therefore has to be eliminated. To that, people would say 'just fix it then.' It's the same with the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which has now been enacted (more on this in a minute).
What was equally disappointing is that Mr. Lew had no answer when it came to how crappy the roll out of the program has been with healthcare.gov being down for most all of this first week. Totally unacceptable. This is President Obama's legacy piece of legislation, we all know what date it starts, yet when it's time to hit the gas, the engine stalls out... wah wah.... How can a country with a computer spying agency like the NSA possibly not have the capability of creating the web site expecting a huge amount of traffic on a daily basis? Not good, and it certainly helps add fuel to the fire of Mr. Obama's opponents. At least during the roundtable, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (D-OH) didn't spin the fact that it has been disappointing, to say the very least.
However...
As we've said before, the president should not negotiate on the Affordable Care Act. The genie is out of the bottle, the program is operational, no matter how bad a start, so at this point the Affordable Care Act is equal to Social Security. If Republicans want to cut spending that's fine, but they'll have to find other places from which to rid dollars, which Democrats have agreed to in the form of the sequester totaling $150 billion over ten years.
Republicans do know this, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) knows this, who also had difficulty answering Ms. Guthrie's direct questions. Mr. Paul is clever, especially when he explained that the budget is a series of appropriation bills and that Republicans are voting to pass all of them except for one. When phrased like that, it sounds reasonable, but that's not how it works, something the Senator also knows. Yes, the budget consists of a series of appropriation bills, but all of these bills have to be resolved in both Houses of Congress, hence they are passed all together as one. Cliche and true, you can not cherry pick which parts of the government you can fund based on one's personal taste, despite what The National Review's Rich Lowry would tell you.
Mr. Paul also said that the United States' credit was downgraded by Standard & Poor's because the country carries too much debt, which is not completely accurate. It had been assessed that yes, in fact, the U.S. does carry too much debt, but the reason for the downgrade was because of the unpredictability of the current Congress to responsibly continue to pay the bills.
Half way through the interview, Senator Paul stopped answering questions and just continually threw blame at President Obama and Senator Reid. There's plenty of blame to go around for this mess, but two things with that; 1, the American people have it right to put more of it on Republicans and 2, how disingenuous is it when you keep repeating the same answer on the program ("President Obama won't compromise.") immediately after your shown a video of yourself telling someone else to just keep repeating yourself? This appallingly illustrates your attitude toward to the intelligence quotient of the American people, who also have it right in not using a shutdown as a negotiating tactic, as Republican strategist Mike Murphy later pointed out.
Something like this prompts Ms. Guthrie to ask, "Do you have any idea how disgusted the American people are at these antics?"
Senator Ted Cruz obviously has no idea and/or simply doesn't care, whereas Senator Paul does but simply chooses to compartmentalize it. And as for Speaker John Boehner, he knows but is in denial. Mr. Boehner could bring a clean spending bill to the floor of the House without taking the Affordable Heathcare Act hostage and it would pass because of the silent majority of moderate Republicans, but he won't. And the reason is that Mr. Boehner knows if he sides with the moderates, he'll be run out of Washington like Newt Gingrich was in 1996, with the Tea Party leading the charge.
Then you read an article like this in today's New York Times that explains how this shutdown has been months in the planning by Conservative groups simply due to their hatred of the Affordable Care Act and are troubled:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/us/a-federal-budget-crisis-months-in-the-planning.html?hp&_r=0
As NPR's Steve Inskeep explained, Mr. Boehner and Republicans misjudged the Democrats, who are actually cting like Republicans in their show of unity, thinking that they would fold. Ultimately, Tea Party Republicans back by their donors (see above article link) who represent three percent of all Americans are going cause the country to go into seriously dangerous uncharted territory by potentially defaulting on our national debt.
Mr. Lew quoted Ronald Reagan in how bad it would be to default on our debt - 'impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate.' Clumsy as he did it, Mr. Lew clearly illustrated that it's been the consensus amongst politicians and business leaders for the last 30 years - that the United States should never even be this close to default. Is the United States really going to drop a potential economic nuclear bomb on itself? If John Boehner continues to let the Tea Party control the button, it could certainly happen.
Roundtable: Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH); Republican strategist Mike Murphy; Host of NPR’s Morning Edition, Steve Inskeep; and editor of the National Review, Rich Lowry.
Note: We just want to acknowledge, as reported at the top of the program, that the United States, after a 15-year man hunt caught the mastermind of the the U.S. embassy bombing in Africa in 1998, - Anas Al-Liby in broad daylight in Tripoli, Libya - He was one of the Al Qaeda originals, with Bin Laden at the very beginning in the Sudan. The reports also illustrated how the United States' military presence in the continent of Africa is only going to increase.
Savannah Guthrie, sitting in for David Gregory, threw hard questions like wrenches at Mr. Lew on the fact that the president will not negotiate with House Speaker John Boehner and Republicans at all on all on a budget that defunds or delays the Affordable Care Act. This has shutdown the government, now in its sixth day, and now this irresponsibility is quickly bleeding into the issue of raise the debt ceiling, which frankly shouldn't be an issue at all.
Mr. Lew didn't have an adequate answer for the question, except to say that Congress needs to do its job. He is correct on that, but it is not sufficient for many Americans who are opponents of Obamacare. To those people we'll provide this analogy: If instead the Republican House Members sent a spending bill to the Democratic-controlled Senate that stated the government would shutdown and we'd default on our debt if you did not defund Social Security, most everyone especially seniors would be outraged, yelling expletives at legislators. But Social Security isn't perfect, one could say and therefore has to be eliminated. To that, people would say 'just fix it then.' It's the same with the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which has now been enacted (more on this in a minute).
What was equally disappointing is that Mr. Lew had no answer when it came to how crappy the roll out of the program has been with healthcare.gov being down for most all of this first week. Totally unacceptable. This is President Obama's legacy piece of legislation, we all know what date it starts, yet when it's time to hit the gas, the engine stalls out... wah wah.... How can a country with a computer spying agency like the NSA possibly not have the capability of creating the web site expecting a huge amount of traffic on a daily basis? Not good, and it certainly helps add fuel to the fire of Mr. Obama's opponents. At least during the roundtable, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (D-OH) didn't spin the fact that it has been disappointing, to say the very least.
However...
As we've said before, the president should not negotiate on the Affordable Care Act. The genie is out of the bottle, the program is operational, no matter how bad a start, so at this point the Affordable Care Act is equal to Social Security. If Republicans want to cut spending that's fine, but they'll have to find other places from which to rid dollars, which Democrats have agreed to in the form of the sequester totaling $150 billion over ten years.
Republicans do know this, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) knows this, who also had difficulty answering Ms. Guthrie's direct questions. Mr. Paul is clever, especially when he explained that the budget is a series of appropriation bills and that Republicans are voting to pass all of them except for one. When phrased like that, it sounds reasonable, but that's not how it works, something the Senator also knows. Yes, the budget consists of a series of appropriation bills, but all of these bills have to be resolved in both Houses of Congress, hence they are passed all together as one. Cliche and true, you can not cherry pick which parts of the government you can fund based on one's personal taste, despite what The National Review's Rich Lowry would tell you.
Mr. Paul also said that the United States' credit was downgraded by Standard & Poor's because the country carries too much debt, which is not completely accurate. It had been assessed that yes, in fact, the U.S. does carry too much debt, but the reason for the downgrade was because of the unpredictability of the current Congress to responsibly continue to pay the bills.
Half way through the interview, Senator Paul stopped answering questions and just continually threw blame at President Obama and Senator Reid. There's plenty of blame to go around for this mess, but two things with that; 1, the American people have it right to put more of it on Republicans and 2, how disingenuous is it when you keep repeating the same answer on the program ("President Obama won't compromise.") immediately after your shown a video of yourself telling someone else to just keep repeating yourself? This appallingly illustrates your attitude toward to the intelligence quotient of the American people, who also have it right in not using a shutdown as a negotiating tactic, as Republican strategist Mike Murphy later pointed out.
Something like this prompts Ms. Guthrie to ask, "Do you have any idea how disgusted the American people are at these antics?"
Senator Ted Cruz obviously has no idea and/or simply doesn't care, whereas Senator Paul does but simply chooses to compartmentalize it. And as for Speaker John Boehner, he knows but is in denial. Mr. Boehner could bring a clean spending bill to the floor of the House without taking the Affordable Heathcare Act hostage and it would pass because of the silent majority of moderate Republicans, but he won't. And the reason is that Mr. Boehner knows if he sides with the moderates, he'll be run out of Washington like Newt Gingrich was in 1996, with the Tea Party leading the charge.
Then you read an article like this in today's New York Times that explains how this shutdown has been months in the planning by Conservative groups simply due to their hatred of the Affordable Care Act and are troubled:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/us/a-federal-budget-crisis-months-in-the-planning.html?hp&_r=0
As NPR's Steve Inskeep explained, Mr. Boehner and Republicans misjudged the Democrats, who are actually cting like Republicans in their show of unity, thinking that they would fold. Ultimately, Tea Party Republicans back by their donors (see above article link) who represent three percent of all Americans are going cause the country to go into seriously dangerous uncharted territory by potentially defaulting on our national debt.
Mr. Lew quoted Ronald Reagan in how bad it would be to default on our debt - 'impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate.' Clumsy as he did it, Mr. Lew clearly illustrated that it's been the consensus amongst politicians and business leaders for the last 30 years - that the United States should never even be this close to default. Is the United States really going to drop a potential economic nuclear bomb on itself? If John Boehner continues to let the Tea Party control the button, it could certainly happen.
Roundtable: Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH); Republican strategist Mike Murphy; Host of NPR’s Morning Edition, Steve Inskeep; and editor of the National Review, Rich Lowry.
Note: We just want to acknowledge, as reported at the top of the program, that the United States, after a 15-year man hunt caught the mastermind of the the U.S. embassy bombing in Africa in 1998, - Anas Al-Liby in broad daylight in Tripoli, Libya - He was one of the Al Qaeda originals, with Bin Laden at the very beginning in the Sudan. The reports also illustrated how the United States' military presence in the continent of Africa is only going to increase.
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