Forbes: A Fitting End For Disgraceful House Republicans
This year concludes the same way it began: with a partial shutdown of the federal government. There is no doubt that President Donald Trump is primarily responsible for this shutdown – less than two weeks ago, during a nationally televised meeting in the Oval Office, he explicitly said so himself.
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It’s a fitting end for a group that has been a budgetary disaster since the moment it first took control in 2011. Less than eight months into their tenure, House Republicans brought the United States to the brink of defaulting on our national debt for the first time in history, resulting in the government’s credit rating being downgraded from AAA to AA+. Two years later, they shut down the government for 16 days after President Obama refused to let them take the American people’s health care hostage. And for six years, instead of addressing the real drivers of our national debt, House Republicans forced reckless cuts to critical public investments that undermined the long-term health of our economy.
But it wasn’t until Republicans gained unified control of the U.S. House, Senate, and presidency in 2017 that the wheels really came off the wagon. The shutdown that began at midnight is the third shutdown this year. At no point in the last four decades has the federal government shut down thrice in one year, nor has it shut down even once during that period when one party had unified control of the federal government. That both happened in 2018 is a testament to the ineptitude of the Trump administration and its allies in the 115th Congress.
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Thankfully, the American people decided they finally had enough of the GOP’s dismal leadership and ousted them from power in last month’s election. When the 116th Congress convenes, many of its members will be replaced by several dozen freshmen in the Democratic Caucus who campaigned on being far more responsible stewards of the federal budget – surely the new majority will vote to reopen the government immediately if the outgoing Congress does not. But one thing is crystal clear: it just wouldn’t have been a proper end for the House GOP without throwing one last tantrum before the adults get put back in charge.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/benritz/2018/12/22/a-fitting-end-for-disgraceful-house-republicans/amp/
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