THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIII, Issue # 74, March 23, 2011
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
TRUTH & LIES OF A GOVERNMENT "SHUTDOWN"
By Christopher G. Adamo
THE ONGOING POLITICAL BATTLE OVER THE U.S. FEDERAL BUDGET: NO GREATER OPPORTUNITY HAS EXISTED IN
NEARLY TWO DECADES FOR TRUE CONSERVATIVES IN THE U.S. CONGRESS TO CONTRAST THEMSELVES AGAINST THE
ABUSE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS BY DEMOCRATIC PARTY POLITICIANS. YET, MANY REPUBLICANS PRETENDING TO
BE CONSERVATIVE OPT TO MAKE DEALS WITH THE DEMOCRATS, WHILE LOUDLY TRUMPETING THEIR MEAGER SPENDING
"CUTS" AS THE SALVATION OF AMERICA. THE AMERICAN VOTERS ARE READY TO TAKE ON & REPLACE BOTH
LIBERAL LEFTIST DEMOCRATS & BELTWAY "MODERATE" REPUBLICANS
FULL STORY:
In broad daylight, after having won a landslide victory last November, congressional Republicans are engineering the
most embarrassing surrender since Napoleon at Waterloo. And the greatest outrage of it is that such a debacle need
not ever take place. To this day, the GOP remains in a prime position to devastate its Democratic Party opposition and
strike a fatal blow to the Liberal juggernaut that threatens financial ruin for this country. But, having accepted the
standard media diatribe that engaging in such a contest might be politically costly, Republican leaders are, instead,
opting to backtrack and capitulate.
The issue at stake is the ongoing budget battle, which Democrats dropped on the GOP, in anticipation of the massive
turnover of congressional seats to the political Right in the November, 2010, mid-term elections. Rather than passing a
budget of their own, which would have made their outrageous spending spree a front-page campaign topic on the eve
of the election, they punted, and thereby left the nation’s Treasury in ruins, while forcing the Republicans to pick up
the pieces.
Ironically, incoming U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (Republican - Ohio) could conceivably have accomplished just
that, being in a prime position to make real cuts in the bloated and wasteful spending of the Democrats, while
positioning himself and his party for even bigger gains in 2012. Yet the Democrats expected that he would not rise to
this occasion, but would, instead, acquiesce, in hopes of circumventing a “government shutdown” and avoiding the
inevitable media attacks that would surely follow. At this point it appears that the Democrats’ gamble may well pay off.
Beltway Republicans live in acute fear of a government shutdown, and have bought into the deception that is
relentlessly repeated regarding the infamous budget impasse that occurred in the fall of 1995. Shrouded in myth and
misrepresentation, it is regularly wielded like a mace to bludgeon those cowering GOP Senators and Representatives.
As a result, they have become paralyzed by the dread of any recurrence, even to the point of total capitulation on
budgetary issues. It is an appalling situation indeed, and only proves the old axiom that a big lie, if repeated often
enough, will eventually be believed.
In the first place, the 1995 U.S. government shutdown was not initiated by congressional Republicans, then under the
leadership of Newt Gingrich in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Bob Dole in the U.S. Senate. Rather, it was Bill
Clinton’s presidential veto of the budget passed by both houses of Congress, and submitted to the President, that
brought Washington to its much trumpeted and hysterically overplayed “standstill.” The initial stalemate lasted a mere
five days, from November 14 to November 19, 1995, before the Congress passed another continuing resolution
budgetary band-aid.
With Clinton completely unwilling to rein in social spending, the situation came to a head again in December, 1995,
lasting this time for nearly three weeks. In early January of 1996, Bob Dole waved the white flag, offering his infamous
“Enough is enough!” capitulation.
Since that time, we have been told that the entire budget battle was, from the beginning, a public-relations fiasco for
the Republicans, contributing to their losses in the 1996 elections and nullifying any momentum they had previously
acquired. Consequently, Republicans have not only been unwilling to seriously confront budget problems, they have
even gone so far as to engage in their own indefensible spending binges. But theirs has been an unnecessary political
and philosophical collapse.
Prior to Dole’s total capitulation, Bill Clinton’s popularity was plummeting. In fact, according to then Representative
Joe Scarborough of Florida, Clinton’s job approval had reached its absolute lowest point at the precise time of the GOP
surrender. Subsequent to that however, his image rebounded, while that of Dole and Gingrich hit the skids. In short, it
was not the stoppage of government that cost the Republicans, but their willingness to restart it on terms dictated by
Clinton and the Democrats.
Likewise, the inconsequential Republican congressional losses in the following year’s elections were in no way a
reflection of lingering public anger over the brief pause of government “services” during the previous year. A much
more plausible explanation would be, simply, that the 1996 Republican presidential candidate was none other than Bob
Dole, who was also the chief architect of his party’s budgetary defeat. Losing to Clinton by a significant margin, the
negative effect of his political “coat tails” took its toll on a handful of close races for members of his party in the
House of Representatives.
It is ludicrous to suggest that the situation represented a major “win” for Clinton. He did indeed remain in office, but
accomplished this with less than fifty percent of one of the lowest voter turnouts in decades. In other words, while he
and his Leftist agenda were hardly popular with the American people, Bob Dole’s weakness and willingness to
abandon principle found even less favor on Mainstreet.
It is a lesson that House Speaker Boehner and the other Beltway Republicans would do well to learn. The nation’s
finances are in a meltdown, with deficits in the hundreds of billions accumulating with each passing month. No greater
opportunity has existed in nearly two decades for true Conservatives to contrast themselves against this criminal abuse
of taxpayer dollars. Yet, they opt to make deals with the Democrats, while loudly trumpeting their meager spending
“cuts” as the salvation of America.
“We the people” are ready to take on those in Washington who squander the nation’s prosperity in service to special
interests that feed at the public trough. The results of last Fall’s elections cannot be interpreted in any other way. And,
if the current crop of “Republicans” chooses to ignore the message, they can likewise be replaced in the next cycle.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Politics, Political Competition, & the Control of
Public Policy: Elections, Political Parties, Political Factions,
Ideologies, Special Interest Groups, & Political Corruption
Fiscal Policy: Taxation & Government Spending
Political Economy -- Philosophies, Systems, & Public Policies:
Government, the Economy, & Economic Prosperity
The American Political & Cultural Left:
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, Marxists, & Other Leftists:
The Democratic Party, Academia, & the Mainstream Media
The American Political System:
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.
Liberalism Versus Conservatism in American Politics
-------------------------
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY & POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES:
COMPETING SYSTEMS OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
Conservatism
Traditional Conservatism: Questions & Answers
Conservatism: Attitudes, Types, & Present Status
Constitutional Conservatism: American & British
Liberalism
Classical Liberalism: Intellectual Foundations
Classical Liberalism: Conservative Liberalism
Manchester Liberalism & Social Darwinism
Modern Social "Liberalism": Statist "Liberalism"
Radical & Totalitarian Ideologies
Radicalism, Utopianism, & Totalitarianism
Christopher G. Adamo is a resident of southeastern Wyoming. He has been involved in politics at the local and state
level for many years. His contact information and article archives can be found at www.chrisadamo.com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity