Opinion || The Weaker of the House
The parents of Republican politicians must have taught their kids not to make the bed, sweep the dirt under the carpet, and that a little dried egg on the corner of the plate is okay. In the intervening days, since the Republican party was literally at each other’s throats on the floor of the House of Representatives, they have been trying to convince us that messy politics is a good thing. All weekend long on every cable news channel, the word “messy” was hung around the neck of the American public like a cheap strand of pearls. “Sometimes democracy is messy, but I would argue that’s exactly how the Founders intended it,” said rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) set to chair a new committee called the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government aside from the Judiciary Committee. Amid the GOP chaos, newly elected Speaker Kevin McCarthy was wondering if he needed a gavel or a Hoover vac to govern his party.
As much as I disagree with almost everything that comes from the brain and mouth of Rep. Matt Gaetz, he did say something worthwhile… “maybe the right person for the job of Speaker of the House isn’t someone who wants it so bad.” Possibly, what Mr. Gaetz meant was someone not so weak. Most of us, with even a modicum of business acumen, know you bargain from a place of strength. Kevin McCarthy was one Mike Rogers punch away from offering up a lily-livered kidney. The American people got an example of his cowardice under fire. He gave away the power of the purse and, down the road, the full faith and credit of the United States for one swing of a mini hammer. Republicans forewarned us that they will oppose raising the debt limit when it comes up next for a vote. The last time the GOP pulled off that gamut of obstinance was during the Obama administration, and America’s credit rating was lowered from AAA to AA+ for the first time in history.
McCarthy wanted the job so badly to paraphrase Gaetz he agreed to have the likes of Reps. Gosar, Roy, Boebert, Gaetz, or Bishop to call into question his leadership at a whim and demand his expulsion.
The Republicans have given us the usual bumper sticker rhetoric, waste, fraud, and abuse. Woke, corruption, and oversight. Like with the Affordable Care Act, the GOP promises to repeal and replace Biden’s agenda with no details. In September 2020, Donald Trump’s White House told us he would reveal his health care plan in two weeks. “I would say, two weeks,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said the Republicans have the program to fix all that ails us. “We know how to do it….” Scalise told Fox News. “[So] we’re not just against what he’s [Biden] doing, which is bad. We’re going to have a full agenda to show how to fix these problems that are facing our country,” Scalise said.
We got a sample of GOP governance a week ago, capitulation, physical threats, vulgarity, and appeasement. In the final analysis, another American institution has been lessened. The House of Representatives and America, courtesy of Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the Republican party, is weaker.
Continue to Vote for Change.
