Paul Giorgio: Tea Party Turning US Into A Banana Republic
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Republicans are creating problems that they are demanding others solve, according to Paul Giorgio.
As the Republicans drive the nation over the fiscal cliff and to economic calamity, fissures are appearing in the Republican Party’s base. The Tea Party wing of the GOP is alienating traditional Republicans. You have to move pretty far to the right and to the edge of the abyss for the US Chamber of Commerce and the Koch Brothers to citizen you, but that is exactly what is happening nationally to the Republican Party.
It was one thing to force a government shutdown; it is quite another totally irresponsible act to have the US government default on its debts. The House Republicans are making us look like so many European social democracies on this issue. Pretty soon the world will be comparing us to Greece and Portugal. It was only a short time ago, the beginning of this past summer, when the newspapers were full of stories about riots in the streets of Athens. The Tea Party crazies in the House of Representatives are making America look like some third world Banana Republic. I think the press might want to start calling the extreme right wing of the Republican Party-Banana Republicans.
Progress stopped in its tracks
Since this government was founded over two hundred years ago, we have never defaulted on our obligations. The dollar is the “gold standard” of world currency. Now with our economy still fragile and the recovery starting to pick up steam, the Republican members of the US House of Representatives have decided to disrupt the economy.
This is so callous a move that the US Chamber of Commerce has come out against the Tea Party Republicans and their plan to not raise the debt ceiling and lead the country into default. Most of the nation's corporate leaders and fat cat Wall Street billionaires have been calling speaker Boehner, urging him to raise the debt ceiling.
Raising the debt ceiling is not a new idea. What is, is the threat to hold the US economy hostage if the president doesn’t pledge to defund the Affordable Healthcare Act. We have raised the debt ceiling 78 times since 1960.
The blame game
But this is more than raising the debt ceiling; this is once again about trying to embarrass President Barack Obama, who was re-elected less than a year ago by over 5 million votes. According to a report in The Huffington Post, Republican US Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas "isn't sure whether he'll support a debt limit deal, but he is sure of one thing: a debt default would be President Obama's fault.” Said Gohmert, "That would be an impeachable offense by the president."
So the Republican House members create a crisis, then blame the President, and then on top of that, claim he should be impeached for not solving the problem they created.
The Republicans are engaged in a circular firing squad action. They are shooting each other while shooting themselves in the foot.
Paul Giorgio is a longtime Democratic Party Activist who has worked on numerous campaigns. He was a Lead Advance Person for President Clinton & Vice President Gore. He was Deputy Director of Special Events for President Clinton’s first Inauguration. He has been elected a delegate to numerous Democratic National Conventions and recently served as one of President Obama’s representatives on the Platform Committee. In 2013 he was chosen as a Presidential Elector. He is the President of Pagio, Inc., publishers of Pulse Magazine, Vitality Magazine and Worcester Medicine.
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