The government shut down is a publicity stunt.
While I think this is obvious to the casual observer, what I'm not sure is so obvious is the strategy.
Republicans are using it as a commercial to strongly state their beliefs and win people over.
But remember, it's an opportunity for both sides. The public is paying attention and both sides have the spotlight on them.
What Republicans seem to be gambling on is that they will come off as the party with the stronger beliefs.
Judging by the Democratic responses I've seen, they're right.
I hear Democrats saying thing like: Republicans are on an ideological crusade. Really? That's our rallying cry?
No wonder Republicans keep staging these stunts. The Democratic story sounds like:
Would you mind stepping away from your entrenched ideological belief system for a second to participate in our representative government for which it is your sworn Constitutional duty.
I wanted to hear something different.
I was listening to an NPR interview with Barack Obama the other day and he did a decent job of making the case.
What I wanted to hear though was a much shorter, stronger version of what he believes in and how it's better than conservative beliefs.
I wanted to hear something like this.
The 3-minute speech
I know there are some people who don't believe in government and will go to any lengths to end government, including putting our country at risk by shutting the government down.
They say they want to negotiate over healthcare. I want to remind the American people that we negotiated over healthcare. It took over a year, it was painful, and there were many compromises. It's called the Affordable Care Act. In this negotiation, we compromised on a market-based solution. Single Payer and the Public Option were set aside to reach a consensus with conservatives.
Now there are those who say they want to negotiate again. Let's be honest. They don't want to negotiate. They want to undo the negotiation.
And they're willing to use extreme tactics because their worst case scenario is that government fails.
People who don't believe in government who are elected to government have some rather perverse incentives. Call it what you like, it looks to me like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Electing people who don't believe in government guarantees that the government will fail because they work to make it fail.
Imagine if your job every day was to go to work and do your best to make sure your employer fails.
I believe there are some things government does well, and some things the private sector does well.
Consumer goods, for example. The private sector is great when it comes to consumer goods. While we come to together as a nation, as a government, for larger issues that affect us all, like making sure the economy works. Government establishes the rules that make sure the economy works and works for more than a few.
If government isn't working, let's consider private sector solutions. If the private sector fails, let's look at how the public sector can help. This was the approach we took with the Affordable Care Act.
What we shouldn't be doing is purposefully undermining our country. Remember, our government is us - 'We the people'. Our Democracy has always been our best export. Countries throughout the world modeled their government after ours to make sure power remains in the hands of the people.
There are those who say 'government is never the solution' and are willing to shut down our government to make their point.
I believe we need to find the balance between government and the private sector that works best for our country.
We can end the shut down and work towards finding a balance. Or we can continue to fight the anti-government war. I believe we need to end the war and work towards a balance.
Why?
Maybe it's just me, but I think Democrats should be relishing this moment because we have better beliefs. Beliefs that once forged a strong middle class.
Republicans are using this opportunity to try to win minds to a cause - laissez-faire economics. I think Democrats are squandering their moment to do the same.
I believe the stunts will end when we're winning over more people than conservatives are on the economy.
I give versions of this speech to people every chance I get. It can likely be improved, but when I talk about a balance, I see heads start to nod and people starting to think about the role of government. Suddenly, we're not Democrats or Republicans but simply people talking about what's going to work best.
We win people over on equality all the time because we're able to convince people.
We simply need to do the same for the economy and the role of government.