Thoughtful Thursday: Time to Take an Honest, Hard Look

I have been following the government shutdown, the debt ceiling debate and who is doing what. Here's what happened:

In the days before the government shutdown, the House of Representatives did their job by passing a bill to fund the government. The Senate refused to even debate the bill and the President said he would surely veto it. This happened at least three times before the government "shutdown" on Oct 1st.

During this time President Obama gave a few speeches saying that he was the one willing to compromise. The House passed three different bills-- three separate compromises-- and yet, the President and the Senate would not budge. The President and the Senate would not compromise.

The government shutdown began. As the House of Representatives continued to pass bill after bill giving more and more up for the President and and the Senate, the President made sure what things were shutdown were felt by the people. The President wanted to punish the citizens of the United States. He wanted the people to feel pain. He shut down the parks and spent more money using guards to keep people out than he would have to keep them open. The Presidential golf course stayed open.

The House continued trying to compromise without giving into everything the President wanted. On Oct 15th,  presidential staff announced that unless the government was "opened up" soon, food stamp money would be withheld for the month of November. The President planned to take food away from the poor. On Oct 16th, the House caved and the Senate took over and passed a bill that would please our President. The House did not block it.

The House should have blocked it. The President of the United States should not use food as a way to end all compromise between himself and the legislature.

Before the house even voted, President Obama gave a speech. He said,  "I want to thank the leadership for coming together and getting this done.  Hopefully, next time, it won't be in the 11th hour.  One of the things that I said throughout this process is we've got to get out of the habit of governing by crisis.  And my hope and expectation is everybody has learned that there is no reason why we can't work on the issues at hand, why we can't disagree between the parties while still being agreeable, and make sure that we're not inflicting harm on the American people when we do have disagreements." In actuality, it is the President's hope and expectation that the legislature has learned that he will not compromise, and if they withstand him, there will be harm to the nation.

In some of the final words of his speech, President Obama said, "So hopefully that’s a lesson that will be internalized..." Yes, the President wants the House, the Senate, and all of his subjects to remember that he has the power to inflict pain when we do not fully accept and embrace what he wants.

ps. I am certain that if the House withstood, the poor people in the United States would have had food. My sister, an Army vet, who did not receive her pay during the shutdown was given food and money by many, many people. She wanted for nothing.  I wish the House withstood, I wish our legislatures could have proven that they can stop our President who does not believe he is the head of a republic, but rather the head of a kingdom.