Let us start by taking a look at the big picture: A shutdown of the federal government would be harmful to the economy. Not only would thousands of government workers not be receiving paychecks, but “nonessential” services such as housing subsidies, business loans and construction projects could be temporarily halted, slowing the flow of commerce and creating a damaging ripple effect.
In other words, Republicans in Congress should choose their battles carefully — a relatively simplistic task they seem unable to manage. The latest tussle is over a desire by some conservatives to halt federal funding for Planned Parenthood and a willingness to shut down the government over the organization’s abortion practices. Without passage of a Continuing Resolution to provide funding for federal functions, the government will shut down Oct. 1.
Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate President Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., both recognize that this is an unwinnable battle for their party. President Barack Obama will veto any budget resolution that strips funding for Planned Parenthood, and Republicans don’t have enough votes to override the veto. In addition, according to a CNN poll, 71 percent of Americans want Congress to avoid a shutdown, and a majority of the public associates Planned Parenthood with women’s health rather than abortions. Planned Parenthood, it should be noted, is prohibited from using federal funding for abortions.
Unwinnable crusades, however, have not deterred congressional Republicans in the past. They shut down the government for 16 days in 2013 while tilting at the windmill that is the Affordable Care Act; Boehner eventually called the failed shutdown a “predictable disaster.”
While the big picture suggests that Congress should keep the government running, a mosaic of small portraits gives Republicans reason to force the issue. Presidential candidate Ted Cruz, a senator from Texas, is among the leaders of the shutdown movement, and The Washington Post notes: “Right now he doesn’t need to appeal to the broad electorate — he needs Republican primary voters. And those voters are basically split on the question of whether to shut down the government.” House Republicans whose greatest electoral concern is a primary challenge from the right, rather than the general election, also have incentive to push the agenda. “In other words,” the Post writes, “forcing a shutdown is entirely rational for Cruz and those conservative members, even if it hurts their party overall.”
Therein lies the problem with a dysfunctional Congress that is more interested in pandering than in effectively governing. As Stan Collender writes for Politico: “A shutdown would be the legislative equivalent of a re-election campaign event that energizes the Republican base and convinces constituents someone is fighting for them in Washington.”
Rather than focus on what is best for the country, some Republicans are heeding what they hear in the echo chamber of conservative demagoguery. As Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said: “They’re kind of like their own party. You can’t really do anything about it because they’re right-wing Marxists. It’s unpredictable what they’re going to do.”
Congress is faced with pressing issues regarding the Highway Trust Fund, the Export-Import Bank, and the Land and Water Conservation Fund — items that call for action and should relegate Planned Parenthood funding to a sideshow. Instead, Tea Party conservatives have shamelessly placed it in the center ring.
