On Oct. 5, President Barack Obama told The Associated Press that Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner was to blame for the partial shutdown — because of course pointing fingers is exactly what the nation needs right now.
The only thing keeping an agreement out of reach is Boehner's "decision that he is going to hold out to see if he can get additional concessions from us," Obama said.
The Republican Party is dominant in the House, but in the Senate, there remains a small cadre of Republican extremists who will stop at very little to delay the passing of nearly any spending bill. One of these Republicans, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, gave a 21-hour-long "filibuster" that prevented possible debate, though it did not delay any action on a bill.
Obama blames Boehner because he is also the Republican leader in the House. But should he really be the only one to blame here? After all, he represents half of Congress. It takes two to make an argument, but it shouldn’t take two to make the entire government shut down.
Under the Constitution, the Speaker of the House is second in line to succeed the President, after the Vice President.
The vice president is also the procedural leader of the Senate, which means the leader of the Senate would take over the role of president, followed by the leader of the House if both the president and vice president were unable to perform their duties.
Where was the Vice President on the day of Cruz’s "filibuster?" Biden may have had more control over Cruz than Boehner because of the differences between the House and Senate. Could he have done more to get the Senate moving and help prevent the shutdown?
To make one point clear, Cruz stole 21 hours of debate time. The filibuster was allowed to continue, despite the looming deadline on Oct. 1, when the fiscal year ended and the federal government ran out of money. In the end, it was the Senate that couldn't come up with a decision, not the House. So why is the leader of the House getting all the blame?
According to the Boston Globe, during the fiscal cliff negotiations back in late 2012, “Boehner had announced a plan to raise taxes only on those earning more than $1 million a year, a much smaller group than Obama wanted to target.”
When Boehner’s plan was announced to other Republicans, he was rejected, and his plan did not move forward.
Even Boehner is more or less powerless against his own party when it comes to their uncompromising views.
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle never agree on anything, and what’s more, never want to agree. They are willing to shut down the government, all the while keeping their own pay, just to assert their own agendas.
Why are they casting around for someone to blame instead of looking for ways to negotiate?
Congress desperately needs to start discussing its problems soon, with an eye for real and lasting good. Just because the Senate got a cookie and the House didn’t, doesn’t mean they have to shut down altogether.
Reach the columnist at lmrich@asu.edu.
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