With Tax Bill's Passage Seemingly Assured, Is Time To Shut The Government Down?

With John McCain and Susan Collins now apparently on board, swayed by lies and empty promises, the remaining question is whether Paul Ryan will allow the Senate bill to go to conference or whether he will simply take the Senate bill and shove it down the House GOP. I’m assuming the latter because the longer this process plays out, the stronger the opposition will be.

Susan Collins says that she has a promise from Mitch McConnell that the Medicare cuts prompted by the tax bill’s blowing through the PAYGO provisions will not kick in. McConnell has promised that the PAYGO provision will be waived in the upcoming budget agreement. Of course, McConnell has no means to make that promise because whatever budget agreement that gets hashed out will require Democratic votes in the Senate in order to overcome the 60 vote threshold.

John McCain just put out a statement expressing “concern” about the impact on the deficit but saying the “net effect on our economy will be positive”. He forgot to add “for my donors, the top 0.1%”. He will now vote for the bill. I guess the idea of passing the bill without any detailed analysis or real hearings counts as regular order to McCain now.

With Murkowski bought off by drilling in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge and Corker satisfied by some unknown and undefined trigger that will never be allowed to kick in when the deficit explodes, there appears to be nothing capable of stopping this horrendous bill.

So, assuming the bill does become law, the next question is what do the Democrats do with the only point of leverage they still have left and that is the budget and keeping the government functioning. Maybe I’m speaking out of the anger of the moment, but I really wonder if we wouldn’t be better off just shutting the whole thing down at this point. Most of the government agencies, such as the EPA, Interior, and DHS, are actually inflicting damage on the country, rather than protecting it.

Moreover, Collins promise from McConnell on Medicare is essentially an attempt to blackmail Democrats into protecting her vote for this “immoral” tax bill, as Bernie Sanders so rightfully calls it. In addition, agreeing to a budget at this point will just clear the way for the Medicare and Social Security cuts that the administration and Senators like Rubio are already proposing. Collins may object to them but she will get rolled on that by her own Republican colleagues.

At this point, why should Democrats be willing to negotiate on anything with the Republicans when they have done nothing of the sort with any of the legislation they’ve both tried and failed to pass in the last year. And why should they clear a path for Republicans to further gut the social safety net. It is time to let the Republicans live with what they have actually done and not bail them out once again “for the good of the country”.

Is it a risky strategy politically. Most assuredly. Will it cause pain and hardship for the American people. Definitely. But at some point your party has to stand for its principles and say enough is enough. In Europe, the center-left lost its support because it constantly supported austerity policies in coalition governments with the center right in the belief that political stability was key in order to maintain financial stability. Labour’s resurgence under Corbyn in Britain was based on return to the core principles of the party. It was a desire for a similar return that the SPD decided not to join the grand coalition again in Germany and once again become a true opposition party, a decision they are now unfortunately rethinking, again, in an attempt for “stability”. In fact, it could be argued that the lack of a real opposition from the left opened up the opportunities for the far right.

It’s time for Democrats to say enough. Shut the government down until late in the spring of 2018 and make the midterm elections a referendum on the destruction of health care and the social safety net created by the GOP.