Gene Jones: Republican extremists forced a constitutional crisis

Published: Thursday, October 17, 2013 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 at 6:36 p.m.

America has faced an attack on our democracy and a looming constitutional crisis. We reached an impasse due to ideologically driven extremists who shut down our government and refused to pay debts already approved by Congress unless they obtained their agenda.

Our economy has been hurt by their actions. Apparently, many of the extremist leaders, like Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Ted Cruz, believe that the damage they caused is worthwhile in order to obtain that which they failed to gain in the last presidential election, i.e., ending Obamacare and limiting Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and veterans benefits.

The extremists have already caused economic damage. Already, the partial government shutdown orchestrated by them has disrupted lives, interrupted scientific research, closed national parks and memorials, eliminated service member benefits and limited medical research.

With the extremists' opposition to raising the debt limit, the American people and veterans faced more harm. Disabled veterans would not receive their checks. Social Security payments and government pensions could stop.

Contrary to popular perception, the impasse has been more than a partisan squabble. In fact, extremist Republicans forced a constitutional crisis that is not as self-evident as the economic damage they initiated. The lack of clarity is due to the efforts by the extremists, some media and others to paint the dispute as partisan bickering when, in fact, much more was at stake.

Under our Constitution, the executive and legislative branches are equal, with neither having supremacy to force its will on the other. Within our system, the possibility for an impasse between the executive branch and Congress always exists. Fortunately, America has usually avoided a constitutional showdown, although the Civil War era is a glaring exception.

Our government has lasted, when so many others have failed, because the American people rarely tolerate ideological purists. We are practical people who value the rule of law and support our great country without tying ourselves in rigid political straitjackets. Of course, we have political conflicts, but the winners and losers stay within bounds.

In the past, when we had a divided government, legislative compromises were reached or, at worst, the government gridlocked. Democratic presidents have had to deal with Republican Congresses, and vice versa.

At times, little was accomplished but, with very few exceptions, one party was not willing to shut down the government when it didn't get its way.

This impasse was different.

The Republican ideologues in Congress were not content with legislative compromise, or even gridlock in the legislative arena. Unable to prevail within legislative norms, the extremists were nevertheless determined to force Congress and the president to repeal Obamacare and obtain other concessions, or they would tear down the government.

Paul Ryan said, "The reason this debt-limit fight is different is we don't have an election around the corner where we feel we are going to win and fix it ourselves."

Ryan is correct. He knows that President Obama won the last election by 5 million votes and that the extremists are unlikely to win nationwide elections in the near future. Nevertheless, Ryan and his ideological fellow travelers are willing to take down the government in order to accomplish an agenda that they haven't won at the ballot box.

In short, the extremist Republicans are behaving like bullies.

The best way to deal with bullies is to call them out and stand up to them. If President Obama had yielded to their strong-arm tactics, a precedent would have been set such that all future presidents would have to kowtow to an extremist minority or face a government shutdown or financial default.

And, citizens should note, the extremists would not be placated even if President Obama acquiesced to their demands. To paraphrase Grover Norquist, the extremists' ultimate goal is to shrink government to a size where it can be drowned in the bathtub.

The American people should call on every member of Congress to demand that Speaker John Boehner keep our government open and raise the debt limit as needed. The American people need to know who supports our constitutional system and who does not. The American people need to know which politicians are bullies and which are not.

Gene Jones is president of Florida Veterans for Common Sense Inc. He lives in Sarasota. Email:

This story appeared in print on page A6


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