.....
Mark Meckler, a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots,
pounded the shutdown drum before the election. Tea Party supporters in the Republican leadership
have now joined the effort, and there is a
growing consensus that we are headed towards one or more government shutdowns, or threats of shutdown, to implement the radical Tea Party agenda. ..... Threatened shutdowns are political tantrums, and thus a form of extortion. If such behavior is rewarded, it will only become more frequent and demanding. Historically, when exposed and dealt with firmly, these efforts have failed. But the Tea Party -- along with other Republicans -- views Barack Obama as a weak president, not without reason, so they have everything to gain and nothing to lose by using this approach.
.....
Threatening, or forcing, a government shutdown is a conspicuous breach of the Congressional Oath. Our Constitution contemplates continuous government, undertaken pursuant to the structure set forth within that document, unless amended by the terms of that document, as spelled out in its Article V. ..... The tactic of threatening the shutdown of, or actually shutting down, the federal government by withholding funding will not be found anywhere in the U.S. Constitution. In fact, it is a brazen abuse of power. This is a kind of gaming of the appropriations process, or taking advantage of a president when confronted with a debt limit, in a manner that is far beyond even Richard Nixon's abuse-of-power activities, for which he was forced from office.
.....
The reason I raise this subject at this time is that I am worried that when the thug-talking Tea Party players get going in Washington this coming January, they may successfully bully their way with President Obama. President Obama is a wonderful human being -- smart, caring, a man who wants to do what is best for America. But he has not yet figured out that a president is not simply a super-Senator, a legislator-in-chief, a consensus-seeker extraordinaire, always willing to compromise to keep everyone happy. Being president of the United States is not the same as being president of the Harvard Law Review, which was his prior executive experience. Mr. Obama learned his politics as a legislator, and while he clearly has the talent to do so, he has yet to employ his skills as they are needed by a modern American president.
Republicans, using the Tea Party toughs, no doubt feel emboldened. In the last election, they kicked President Obama's behind for doing what he believed to be best for the nation. I do not know when, or if, Mr. Obama will realize his potential as a president. So I worry. For example, as I write this column, he is floating a trial balloon as to what the reaction would be if he collapsed on the issue of prohibiting further ongoing tax cuts for America's super-wealthy, who are the very last to need tax cuts. Such a collapse would please Republicans and really upset Obama's base. Soon, the President will be negotiating with the government shutdown crowd, and I worry he will give up even more of the greater good to appease Republicans. In fact, he should be planning now (and putting Tea Party members on notice of his plans) as to how, at a minimum, he will embarrass them (no easy task) for threatening to shut down our government. Or, better yet, he should place them on notice that he will request his Attorney General to criminal prosecute them if they use such criminal tactics for political ends. (Congressional immunity is very limited.)
The bottom line: It is time now to plan for the bad behavior that will be coming to Washington with the Tea Party Movement, and to recognize the high stakes that will be involved when they threaten to shut down the government.
Criminal extortionists.
For the sake of the country, I hope our president has noticed this glinting tsunami on the horizon.
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