This is my first post here and I know it is going to be an unpopular one. But what is going on is a pet peeve of mine and I feel compelled to write about it, even at the risk of being labelled a “troll” or whatever.
Of the hundreds of things that Republicans do to which I object, one of the worst is its attitude of “It’s OK if you are a Republican.” (IOKIYAAR). Sexually assault a 14 year old girl? Hey, it’s OK if you’re a Republican, we want the assaulter in the US Senate. Run up huge budget deficits? Hey, IOKIYAAR. “Reagan taught us deficits dont matter,” said Dick Cheney. Unless a Democrat is in the White House, of course. Collude with a foreign power to win an election, IOKIYAAR.
Yet, now the Democrats are adopting the philosophy of “It’s OK if You Are a Democrat.” Ad I disagree. The Republicans are the ones in the past who have shut down the government in order to get their way. Their first shutdown came in 1995 and early 1996 when Republicans shut down the government over cuts to medicaid and medicare, even though President Clinton came about 80% of the way toward their position. And then in 2013, the Republicans again shut down the government in an attempt to repeal the Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act. Both times, the Republican’s actions were rightly derided by Democrats as “hostage taking” and the Democratic President hung tough and ultimately prevailed. Now, the Democrats are using the Republican’s twice failed tactic.
I have read many commentators, both here and elsewhere, blame the shutdown on the Republicans. After all, the Republicans control both the presidency and both houses of Congress. Yet, in reality, it is the Democrats that are causing the shutdown by using its filibuster to thwart the majority. The only real difference between what we are doing and what the Republicans did in 2013 is that we believe that protecting the DREAMers through legislation is worth a government shutdown and we were not willing to abandon Obamacare to avoid a shutdown. But this is still just another way of saying It’s OK if you are a Democrat.
By the way, on the merits, I am pro-immigration. I dont even distinguish so called “illegal” and legal immigration. My paternal grandfather was an immigrant and I believe immigration is not just good for the US, but vital to our economic and social well being. But tactics matter.
The thing is I think there is a principled way to accomplish the objective we all want-to protect the DREAMers. It is a principal that can be applied no matter who is in the White House and runs Congress. The principal is that the majority has the obligation to enact the routine legislative measures to keep government running. The minority should not use its filibuster power in the Senate to thwart the majority, unless the majority attempts to use these routine measure for ideological or political gain. However, if the majority party can not pass a routine measure with its own majority, then the minority party has a right to negotiate for some legislative priority in exchange for its votes.
How does this principal get us what we want for the DREAMers? In March, I believe, the issue of raising the debt ceiling arises again. The Democrats are under no moral obligation to vote in favor of this. Congressional Democrats should say that they will not use their filibuster power to block raising the debt ceiling, so long as it is “clean,” but we wont vote for it either. You Republicans are in the majority and it is your duty to pass this vital measure. Of course, the Republicans will not be able to do this with their own membership. They will not even be close to doing this. So, they will have two choices. One choice will be to load the debt ceiling bill with so many right wing “goodies” that they can pass the bill with Republican votes only. At that point, the Senate Democrats can step in and say, nope, you are legislating through the debt ceiling vote, we dont think that is proper, we will filibuster it. The other option for the Republicans is to come to the Democrats for its votes. At that point the Democrats can say, yes we will certainly help you with this politically unpopular vote, as soon as Congress enacts and the President of your party signs the bipartisan agreement regarding the DREAMers.
BUT THIS IS HOSTAGE TAKING the Republicans will say. But truly it is not. In a hostage situation, one party does not come to the other party asking for help. This is no more a hostage situation then a party in a contract insisting that it receive fair value in return for what it is willing to give. At that point the Republicans can either pass the debt ceiling with only its own votes, a political impossibility, or make a deal.
I want to end by saying that I am not in any way attempting to criticize the motives or intentions of the any people who agree with the approach the Democrats are taking. Too often on this site, I have noted in the 9 or 10 months I have “lurked” here, comments quickly turn to personal attacks. This is an important reason why I did not participate here earlier. However, I am going to try very hard to refrain from this. Right now, more then any time in memory, progressives need to personally encourage and support each other. For me, while we will not always agree on tactics, I support the honor and integrity of all who are on our side.