Inaction on Capitol Hill
In the midst of a government shut-down, while other
politicians are playing the blame-game, what is the noble Barbara Boxer,
longtime Senate Democrat, doing: Playing the blame-game. She took to Twitter to express her discontent
with House Republicans, a vessel of contact with the public she uses about once
or twice a week. Because of the war in
Washington this week, she has amped up her public relations utilizing the
social media network tweeting five times on Monday and twice on Tuesday,
attacking Republicans for their refusal to back-down over funding for the
Affordable Care Act. In four of the five
tweets, she used the hash tag #GOP shutdown – in itself associating the shut-down
with the Republican Party. The rest of the tweets afford the same
responsibility to the GOP:
At 11:30AM ET I
will join @SenatorBarb
@stabenow
@maziehirono
to speak out against House #GOPshutdown bill that targets women’s
healthcare.
The #GOP
is holding the entire country hostage so it can push its War on Women. WATCH: http://www.boxer.senate.gov/en/press/videos/093013B.cfm … #GOPshutdown
House #GOPshutdown
bill singles out only group to deny #ACA
preventive health care benefits – women.
Republicans are
obsessed with stopping the Affordable Care Act but let’s be clear: a government
shutdown will not stop the ACA.
Shutting down the
government is a dangerous game Republicans are playing, with no winners - only
losers. #GOPshutdown
Open up the
government. That's your job. That's your responsibility. For the people. #GOPshutdown[1]
Republicans are putting our families and our economy at
risk. It's irresponsible. End the #GOPShutdown
Clearly, Boxer is among the
ranks of politicians utilizing the crisis as a publicity opportunity to bash
the faults of the opposing party. None
of her tweets discuss efforts of the Democratic party to compromise with
Republicans in order to make gains to end the shutdown. The Los Angeles Times further reported about statements Boxer made, reportedly
telling House Republicans to “Grow up”.[2] While the article sites plastered on Boxer’s
office door in Washington read a sign “Office closed due to government
shutdown” it fails to state exactly WHAT democrats are doing to work
to end the shutdown – especially when they blaming their opposing party for its
occurrence and continuation. The LA
Times describes the democrats as angered, but illustrates inaction, relaying
that Boxer was present in her office, but only “steaming”, and unwilling to
negotiate until a bill was passed by the house to reopen the government without
nixing the Affordable Care Act.[3] Yes,
in the news, the Democrats are pinning the blame on Republicans, and
vice-versa, but in reality, the progress towards a resolution between the two
parties is miniscule. Hopefully we will
see more action by both parties as pressure builds from the public – a.k.a. the
voters.
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