It has been almost a week since the government shutdown and
it seems that neither side is willing to compromise. The Republicans will not
make any compromise that does not involve defunding Obamacare, which the
Democrats have made clear will not happen under their watch. With compromise
not occurring the Democrats are looking to other means to end the shutdown by
going around the Republicans. On October 4th the “House
Democrats said that they would attempt to force a vote to end the ongoing
government shutdown with a series of procedural maneuvers dubbed a ‘discharge
petition.’”[1]
The Democrats are calling it the “Open the Government” resolution, but to get
this resolution passed will not be easy. The bill will be sent to the House
Rules committee, which being a majority Republican committee will knock it
down. The Democrats plan on petitioning to get the bill out of the committee
and straight to the floor for a direct vote, to do this they will need 218
signatures. Congressman Dingell (D-MI) is in support of this plan because he
was quoted saying, “We are announcing something good today. We are about to
rescue the Republicans, who have gotten themselves in the unhappy position of
the dog that caught the car.”[2]
Does Dingell believe that the Democrats are knights in shining armor coming to
save the Republicans from their mess? It seems a little presumptuous to put all
the blame on Republicans; after all it takes two to tango. There are two
parties in Congress and it is the fault of both that the government has shutdown.
It’s this kind of attitude, putting blame on the other that has caused there to
be a stalemate in Congress.
Dingell
has been busy with other matters as he, like all the other members of Congress
are trying to end this shutdown. On October 5th, Dingell issued a
joint statement with former Republican Senator Bob Dole calling attention to
the affects the shutdown will have on veteran affairs. Dingell is one of the
few remaining WWII veterans left in Congress and while Dole, a veteran himself,
has been out of the Senate since 1996 he still holds a lot of influence on the
hill. In this joint statement Dingell said, "if this Congress truly wishes to
recognize the sacrifice and bravery of our World War II veterans and all who’ve
come after, it will end this shutdown and reopen our government now.”[3]
It seems anytime you bring in veterans into the conversation things can get a
bit tricky. It almost un-American to not support the troops and Dingell is
digging right into this notion. Closing the government down is hurting veterans
and denying them their benefits is almost insulting what they have done.
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