Budget Fight at the O.K. Corral

On 26^th October, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona, the most famous gunfight in the history of the Old American West took place. On one side were the Clantons, the Claibornes and the McLaurys. One the other was Marshal Wyatt Earp and his brothers and the infamous Doc Holliday. Over the past days, the happenings in Washington, D.C. have reminded me of an old western shoot out as Bills to fix a federal budget went to and fro between the Senate and the House of Representatives. Last night, the federal government was shut down. However, what is not clear is whether the Republicans are the cowboys or the law!

The two chambers of Congress are fighting over how to authorise funding for the federal government beyond September. What used to be routine has become an annual struggle as House Republicans see the Budget as a route to block the Affordable Healthcare Act, better known as Obamacare, the administration’s initiative to extend affordable healthcare insurance to some 40 million Americans. There is, of course, no relationship between AHA and the budget. However, members of Congress may attach a rider to any Bill, hence the actions of the House Republicans.

Are there justifiable reasons for the Republicans shutting the federal government down? It is not unusual. This is the seventeenth time it has happened, the last being in 1995-6 when Clinton refused to succumb to unreasonable Republican demands. Clinton won the 1996 election. End of argument as to who won the Congressional fight!

The Republicans present two reasons for the shutdown. Under the Constitution, they say they have a democratic responsibility to oppose spending which the country cannot afford. Perhaps they have a point if they were targeting the Budget. They want to defeat AHA, legislation which has passed through Congress and approved by the Supreme Court. Surely, the Republicans should mount their challenge to AHA in the 2014 mid-terms, not paralyse the government now.

They also say that the Obama administration has failed to control the massive government overspend. I’m sure they can point to much unnecessary expenditure in government departments but these will be comparatively small sums. They should ask themselves who created the federal government overspend in the first place? It started in earnest with Reagan but under Bush junior, the deficit grew to enormous proportions as the Republicans spent much treasure on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as phenomenal amounts on social security and healthcare. During Bush’s eight years, did the House or Senate Republicans seek to control expenditure? Presumably, they had an epiphany sometime around 2009.

What I see is a battle for the Republican Party and the possibility of a party split. Moderate Republicans must be worried about the 2014 mid-terms as a weak Speaker, John Boehner, struggles with the Tea Party radicals in the House. Boehner seems to have no real support from Eric Cantor, the majority leader, who probably wants Boehner’s job. Republican whip, Kevin McCarthy, is also in the running. Other Republican heavyweights like Paul Ryan and Rand Paul seem content to let the Tea Party have its way because they each need Tea Party votes if they run for the White House in 2016.

At the same time, Senate majority leader Harry Reid has not helped. He has advised the President not to talk to Republicans, characterising them as terrorists. Obama himself spoke to the nation last night, stating his case about the shutdown. I was staggered by his presentation. Where was the fire and brimstone, where was the anger? And is he privately telling Congressional Republicans how he will block any pork barrels or earmarks for their states and districts? I doubt LBJ would have been so controlled.

Sadly, I get the feeling that race has something to do with the shutdown. Tea Party Republicans cannot stand the fact that an African American occupies the White House, a place of government which they feel belongs to them exclusively. Do they believe this is sufficient justification for the actions they have taken?

If the shutdown lasts only a few days, little economic harm will be done but I suspect it will last into November. I also suspect the Republican hardliners will be beaten into submission by their colleagues as public opprobrium is heaped on them. I don’t see Obama or Senate Democrats yielding any ground. Time will tell.