By MARSHA MERCER
President Barack Obama says there were no political winners
in the crisis over the federal government shutdown and debt limit. Most
Americans, regardless of their political persuasion, probably agree.
In Washington, though, every moment has a winner and a
loser. Once the latest financial calamity was averted, most political analysts thought
the president was a winner because he showed some spine, gave up nothing and
kept his signature health care legislation intact.
Conservative Republicans, on the other hand, were losers because
they totally misread the political landscape. Their ill-conceived attempt to
defund Obamacare shut down the government, idled 800,000 workers for 16 days and
hurt the economy – but it yielded only a minor tweak in the health care law. People
who seek subsidies to buy insurance on the exchanges will have to provide
income verification.
Some tea party Republicans cling to the fig leaf notion that
their failed fight over the shutdown actually awakened the nation to the evils
of the Affordable Care Act and support will blossom. Really?
Meanwhile, every Democrat, Republican and independent coast
to coast will pay the cost of the federal shutdown in dollars -- and also in
the incalculable currency of trust.
The pricetag of the latest shutdown hasn’t been released,
but two shutdowns lasting a total of 26 days in 1995-96 cost more than $1.4
billion, the Congressional Research Service reported. That’s $2.1 billion in
current dollars. Most of the money went for back pay for furloughed federal
workers.
The dollar waste is unnecessary and maddening. Trust in our
institutions and government is in short supply.
To squander the people’s trust hurts our political system and is heartbreaking.
“The American people are completely fed up with Washington,”
Obama said Thursday. He’s right, of
course, but it would be nice if he or anyone else could say that Washington has
learned from its misadventure and will work to rebuild the trust it has squandered.
There are only glimmers that some in Congress have learned lessons.
In reaching the deal, members of Congress did what they
should have done months ago. They did their jobs.
The bipartisan agreement reopened
the government and raised the debt limit, allowing the United States to pay the
bills it racked up with two unfunded wars and an unfunded Medicare drug benefit.
It’s merely a reprieve that postpones the fight. In two months or so, we may
face another fiscal crisis.
The plan Obama signed Thursday funds the government through
Jan. 15 and raises the debt ceiling through Feb. 7. On the way there, a
bipartisan, bicameral budget conference is supposed to come up with a long-term
plan on tax and spending policies by Dec. 13. The two Republicans on the
conference committee voted against the bill ending the crisis, and the two Democrats
voted for it. That’s hardly a promising sign.
A glimmer of hope is the 14 centrist senators led by Sen.
Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, who worked together on an agreement that
served as a point of departure for the final deal. The centrists were
disappointed their plan didn’t prevail, but they pledge to keep working
together.
The next round of negotiations could take place in an even more acidic political atmosphere because of
the calendar.
Obama chided Republicans on Thursday, saying, “You don’t
like a particular policy or a particular president, then argue for your
position. Go out there and win an election. Push to change it. But don’t
break…what our predecessors spent over two centuries building.”
Some analysts say the looming 2014 congressional elections
could have a sobering effect on conservatives in the House. In most
congressional districts, though, a Republican incumbent fears a challenger from
his right more than a Democratic one. For most House members, compromise in
Washington can be a terrible career move.
Traditionally, people hate
Congress but like their own member of Congress. That may be changing. About
three in four people said they want to see most members of Congress defeated
next year. And about four in 10 said they’d like to retire their own member of
Congress, a new Pew Research Center survey found.
It’s very possible that we’ll lurch once again from one financial crisis to
the next. That not only would be a shame but would be a drain on what’s left of
trust in government.
© 2013 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.
30
No comments:
Post a Comment