Federal Government Shutdown: Is Ideology In The Way?
Saturday, April 09, 2011
As the clocked ticked away at a midnight deadline that would have created a federal government shutdown, members of Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation blasted the GOP for turning a battle to cut spending into an ideological war.
A deal in the final hour kept the government running in the short term, but Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Representatives James Langevin and David Cicilline said Friday philosophical differences were getting in the way of a long-term agreement.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDepending on the length of a shutdown, unemployment benefits, veterans’ services, passports and visa applications, national parks, FHA new home loan guarantees, and IRS tax refunds are among the long list of services that have the potential to slow down or come to a complete shutdown.
Defunding Planned Parenthood
At the center of the controversy Friday was Planned Parenthood, the largest family planning provider in the country. GOP leadership hopes to defund the organization, which provides services to millions of women each year and has about a third of its $1 billion budget covered by the federal government.
Democrats spent the day blaming the looming shutdown on the issue of funding the organization, arguing that they agreed with the dollar amount of cuts needed, but were unwilling to budge on a women’s health issue.
Congressman Cicilline (at left below) blamed “extreme” Republicans for holding the federal government hostage in its final hours.
“A government shutdown is not in the best interests of our country, will hurt our families and our economy, and a shutdown is completely avoidable because an agreement had been reached on budget numbers. But extreme members of the Republican caucus have hijacked the budget process and are holding it up with controversial policies regarding women’s health and the environment. Democratic leadership has offered
Republicans many different opportunities to vote to keep the government open; again, Republicans have said no.”
Proposal Studded With Riders
During a speech on the Senate floor Thursday evening, Senator Reed blasted GOP leadership for proposing a budget that focuses on social issues as opposed to fiscal problems. Reed said the House budget proposal was littered with provisions (riders) that had little to do with balancing the budget.
“The proposal of the Republican House is studded with special interest riders -- social policy not fiscal policy,” Reed said. “And, in fact, there is the impression sometimes that the deficit reduction claims are really just an excuse to try to advance not through the legislative process but through the appropriation process, through the threat of a shutdown, very conservative social policies. These policies should be debated, they should be voted on, but to try to present them as non-negotiable demands with a penalty for failure, to heed to their demands the shutdown of the entire U.S. government is, I think, inappropriate.”
Reed warned that an inability to separate social and fiscal policy could affect the nation’s image to the rest of the world.
“What could be more uncertain than shutting down the government of the United States without any plan to bring it back and, indeed, without any clue as to what is the critical issue that must be addressed,” Reed said. “At one point, it's deficit. At another point it's social policy. That uncertainty I think will -- could lead, and I hope it does not -- to a lack of confidence in our capacity to govern which will ripple through economic markets worldwide, which also I think could, challenge the perception of the United States as a coherent world leader. “
Political Gamesmanship
In addition to defunding Planned Parenthood, the rider GOP leadership appeared unwilling to budge on was a severe weakening of the Clean Air Act. The House GOP hopes to strip the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
But Congressman Langevin called the political football being played by Republicans irresponsible when so many citizens could be affected.
“Allowing the government to shut down in the interest of political gamesmanship is the height of irresponsibility in the midst of a delicate economic recovery,” said Langevin. “Republicans demanded $61 billion in cuts that would be devastating to students in need of college aid, homeowners at risk of foreclosure, small businesses looking for loans, and low-income families struggling to put food on the table.”
Langevin said Democrats have proved willing to make necessary cuts, but they are unwilling to do so at the expense of health care and the environment.
“We worked hard to cut more than half that amount, but, unfortunately, some members are willing to unleash the serious economic damage a shutdown would cause to pursue a political agenda that has nothing to do with responsibly cutting costs. They have reneged on their offers and have consistently tried to add so-called ‘policy riders’ that limit health care services and harm the environment.”
State Impact
Governor Chafee and essential staff spent the day closely monitoring the situation in Washington, according to spokesman Mike Trainor. Trainor said the governor has been assembling a staff to deal with contingency plans in the event of a shutdown.
He said the governor had a conference call with the White House Friday afternoon, but that Chafee wouldn’t know the full details until the weekend.
“The reality is we won’t know the full scope until we know exactly what’s happening,” Trainor said Friday night. “The governor has required cabinet members and senior staff to be on call through the weekend.”
Trainor said Chafee would release an official statement Sunday night when more details are announced.
Republicans Won’t Take Yes For Answer
Arguing that Democrats and Republicans “completely agree” on spending cuts, Senator Whitehouse (at right) joined his fellow members of the Congressional delegation in blaming Republicans allowing ideology to get in the way of a deal.
“Republicans won’t take yes for answer,” Whitehouse said in a speech Thursday evening. “The issue that is dividing us at this point is not the need to keep the military funded, we completely agree on that; It is not the need to deal with the deficit, we completely agree on that. Indeed, the last time we successfully dealt with the deficit it was under Democrats; and clearly we have gone way more than half by agreeing to cut $73 billion in spending”
Whitehouse followed up Friday by saying members of Congress should not be paid in the event of a shutdown.
“In the event of a shutdown, I’ll continue working hard with my colleagues in the Senate to find a sensible, bipartisan solution,” he said. “But with millions of workers and service members facing the prospect of going without pay, I believe members of Congress shouldn’t get paid.”
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