Ive been seeing the old conservative canard, were a republic, not a democracy a lot lately. Of course, the truth is, were a democratic republic, and its childishly simplistic to see these two aspects of our nation as mutually exclusive. But even if we WERE merely a republic, it is the American republic, even more than our democracy, that the House Republicans are threatening with their #shutdown extortion. They have closed the government and threaten to default on our debts, because they dont like the Affordable Care Act. How does this violate republican governance? Let me count the ways: 1. The Affordable Care Act was debated and voted on in both houses of our bicameral legislative body, Congress. The House GOP challenging it extra-legally violates the role of laws and Congress power in voting on them in our republic. 2. The job of Congress is to debate and vote on laws while representing their constituencies. They hold the republics purse strings. They voted to spend X amount and now they refuse to honor the debts for the expenditures they voted on. They are violating their Constitutional role to represent their constituents and manage the budget in our republic. 3. The law was signed by the president, who holds executive power in our republic. The president also has veto power over a law voted on by Congress. Congress does not have veto power over a law signed by the President. The House GOP is violating the system of checks and balances in our republic. 4. The Supreme Court approved the law over politically-motivated challenges. The job of the Supreme Court is to interpret and rule on laws. The Supreme Court ruled that the ACA is legal, and their ruling is final unless Congress passes a new law reversing it and the president signs it. House Republicans are violating checks and balances and the authority of the Supreme Court in our republic. 5. The 14th Amendment stipulates that the public debt of the US government may not be questioned. House Republicans are violating the 14th Amendment of our republican Constitution. But we ARE also a democracy, and the House GOP is violating our democracy as well. 6. By millions of votes, the law survived a national election between a Democratic presidential candidate who promised to implement it, and a Republican candidate who promised to repeal it. 7. The law is currently being implemented, and millions of Americans have already signed up. 8. The American people have made it very clear that they view Congress job as putting forward bills to create jobs for the presidents waiting signature. Instead they have wasted the peoples time and money pursuing a political farce of trying to gum up the works of government because they dont like a law. But House Republicans are NOT above the law. For all these reasons, their shutdown of the government combined with holding the debt hostage is more similar to the treasonous secession of the Confederacy over 150 years ago than it is to any semblance of healthy debate in a democratic republic. We The People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, must hold them accountable next November.
Posted on: Sat, 12 Oct 2013 02:59:21 +0000
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