Posted by Shyam Moondra
In 2011, Congressional Republicans led the ugly debate on debt ceiling which resulted in the downgrade of U.S. securities and eventually they ended up losing the 2012 election. One would think that Republicans probably learned their lesson; however, for whatever inexplicable reasons, they are making the same mistakes all over again. In essence, Republicans are continuing to self-destruct.
The country is on the verge of going over the "fiscal cliff" (automatic tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts on January 1, 2013) and voters overwhelmingly blame Republicans for putting the country through unnecessary unpredictable times. Another downgrade of government securities by the rating agencies may very well be inevitable. For a while, negotiations between President Barack Obama and the House Speaker John Boehner on "fiscal cliff" appeared to be headed to a successful conclusion, but then came a strange unilateral move by Boehner to pursue "Plan B" (making the Bush tax cuts for families earning less than $1 million a year permanent while letting the tax cuts for millionaires expire), which, as it turned out to Boehner's embarrassment, didn't even have the support of his own party caucus. The "Plan B" was never brought to a vote but this futile exercise derailed the negotiations between Obama and Boehner. So now what we have is nothing and we are only a few days away from the "fiscal cliff." A few weeks ago, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) introduced a bill to let Obama raise the debt ceiling to demonstrate that even Democrats wouldn't support it. However, when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) decided to put that bill up for a vote and it appeared that the bill could actually pass, McConnell was forced to filibuster his own bill. The current Republican leaders in the House and Senate seem to be bent on showing off that they can do the weirdest things and look incompetent or as the British would say "nutters."
To be able to govern, a party must first win election, and to win election it must pursue policies that are supported by a majority of the electorate. An overwhelming majority (including the rich people) support higher tax rates for those who make $250,000 or more to help reduce budget deficit. In a democracy, how can a party go against the wishes of the people and still expect to prevail? Republicans can't impose a minority view on a majority and get away with that. The same thing is true on other issues such as abortion, immigration, and gun control, where Republicans are pursuing their extreme policy agenda which is not supported by the majority of the people.
The U.S. demographics are changing; this year, for the first time ever, more non-white babies were born than white babies and that means the Obama coalition (Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, middle class whites, students, women, and veterans) will only get stronger in the future. Therefore, continuing to cling to rigid conservative ideologies that are not supported by the emerging electorate is a sure prescription for losing elections going forward.
Republicans' iron-cast ideology of "no new taxes, ever" is not only impractical but it's also damaging to the economic well-being of the country. President George W. Bush cut taxes for the rich (at a time when we were fighting two wars and spending like crazy) and, as a result, the rich people benefited the most during the last decade (which explains the widening gap between the rich and poor). So there is nothing wrong if rich people are asked to contribute more now to help reduce the deficit and debt.
Republicans will eventually lose on their right-wing ideologies (because of the changing demographics) and thereby become irrelevant. Recent opinion polls clearly show that the people are generally fed up with the Republican intransigence; in 2014, it's very likely that Democrats will win filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and they will also win the House, paving the way for gridlock to finally come to an end.
Republicans are digging their own grave and in 2014 they will finally get to RIP.
