TEA PARTY WINS BIG BY GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

I see a significant parallel between the sequestration and the government shutdown. Remember the sequestration was a series of cuts to the government spending. The Republicans wanted to cut social programs and Democrats wanted to cut military spending. There was a dead lock and both sides agreed that they would put together a program (the Sequestration) that was so extreme neither would agree. The conventional or middle of the road Republicans would never agree to cut Pentagon spending but a small faction of conservatives wanted to cut spending no matter where it was while all Democrats agreed that they would never cut social spending but wanted to cut pentagon spending. The government-hating group, the #Tea Party, was the only one who wanted to cut both. When it came time to reject the sequestration program, it was not rejected. The sequestration made cuts in what had been untouchable programs. The Tea Party members erupted in cheers when that happened because it was exactly what they wanted, which was to hurt the government.

Last night, the congress of the United States congress failed to come to an agreement on payment of debts they incurred, and the government came to a halt. Conventional Republicans did not want to shut down the government. Democrats did not want to shut down the government at the expense of Obamacare. The Tea Party, on the other hand, knew exactly what they wanted to happen. They knew that “Stop Obamacare” was a rouse, just an excuse to gain their true objective, which was to shut down the government. Thus, they were successful in creating the perfect storm. They hate the government and will do what ever it takes to destroy it and create chaos in the country. There is a proverb in Spanish that says only fishermen gain in troubled waters—the Tea Party are fishermen.

Late last nigh the President was suckered into the storm when he signed a bill to pay military salaries—he should not have done that! Many other essential government employees had been previously exempted by legislation an executive decree and he added the military to that list; the individual sailors and soldiers are the ones who vote. Think about what the shutdown  is doing; what is being cut; the only people being hurt are 880,000 non-essential government employees. The Tea Party sees what they have done as saving taxpayer dollars because now we do not have to pay all those salaries. This is exactly what the Tea Party members mean when they say they want to cut big government. That is exactly what Grover Norquist wants. The Democrats, the champions of the working class, lost big time because they were counting on the voters being upset when they lost all the essential services but as I just explained, the government did not cut essential services. Public outrage has been muted.

The Republicans knew they had lost the “Affordable Health Care battle”; it is the law of the land; however, what they did was manipulate the issues to give themselves a major victory against the government. Even if a Continuing Resolution is passed, it is still a victory. They flexed their muscles and it paid off. Just as happened after the sequestration, Tea Party members are standing around and cheering wildly. Ted Cruz wins a slot on the 2016 presidential ticket and the American people lose. 

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