I wrote the other day that the House Republicans are to blame for the shutdown. To me, this couldn’t be more obvious. However, Senator Reid should be doing a much better job of addressing the crisis to the American people. At a press conference today, Reid referred to Speaker Boehner as a coward. This might be true, but it’s for the blogs and the Daily Show to refer to Boehner as a coward, not for the Senate Majority Leader.
Reid needs to put the shutdown in objective terms, explaining to the people that the ACA was passed into law, was upheld by the Supreme Court, and has survived forty something attempts by the GOP in the House to repeal it. Reid should emphasize that he understands why those with different political viewpoints might disagree with aspects of the ACA or all of it. In addition, he could say something like this, “As the law continues to be rolled out, we welcome debate over it provided the opposition brings to the table concrete concerns backed up by proven data.” At the moment, Reid is not saying those things and the GOP is not responding in a constructive manner either. And I am not hopeful, yet, that either side will change their behavior any time soon.
Meanwhile, this guy (Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)), who is one of those people directly responsible for shutting down the government, made a fool of himself yesterday as he shouted down a park ranger, saying that she should be ashamed of herself for the shutdown. It’s truly a crazy video. Expletives come to mind. Just watch…
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IR From Afar 