COLUMN: Immature Republican freshmen undermine government progress

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by Sheffy Gordon

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IF THE U.S. federal government cannot reach an agreement by midnight tonight, the third partial government shutdown since the Republican Revolution will commence.

Although both Republicans and Democrats are blowing whistles at each other for the blame, the Republicans are the only ones with the power to shut down the government, and they are the only ones who can restart it again.

It is an issue of political blackmail, an attempt to coerce the president to sign a budget that is against his conscience because it will harm the disabled, the poor, the elderly and the students of the United States.

Congress is responsible each year for passing a budget by Sept. 30.

It is now Jan. 26 and little progress has been made. In fact, the Republican-controlled 1995 session of Congress now holds the record for passing the fewest bills (of any kind) for any Congress this century. We are now at the end of another Continuing Resolution that operates the government at 90 percent of last year's operating expenses.

It is merely a game to the congressional Republicans who do not realize the burden of 400,000 federal employees who have to determine how they can pay rent and electricity when their income has been indefinitely denied.

Maybe congressional Republicans would realize the pressure if Democratic attempts to withhold pay to Congress had succeeded, but House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) balked at such an idea saying he was a "government official" and not an "employee."

One-third of government workers were told they were "unessential," and it's actually illegal for them to show up or get paid. Others were forced to work for no pay, virtually slave labor.

This is not a way to motivate a stagnant work force; the government is not showing respect, and in fact our very own Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) said how wonderfully we could get along without these employees and how maybe the cuts should be deeper.

He must not have sympathized with those suffering the flu epidemic in the Midwest when the Center for Disease Control could not respond. The cleanup of toxic waste sites ceased.

Although federal workers eventually got paid, certain private businesses that depend on the government had to layoff workers, such as companies around Houston that feed into NASA.

During the shutdown, the government was losing about $65 million a day without receiving the benefits of an operational government. Politics is the only party to blame.

The Republicans have been trying to force the president to sign their budget, but it has not worked.

Both sides are persistent, but rather than agreeing, the Republicans will again exercise their one power, the power of the purse, to try to force a decision that is out of their hands.

But it hasn't worked, and it won't work as long as President Clinton continues to demonstrate the principled leadership that he stands for. He will not allow Medicare premiums to jump from $46 to $90 a month; for 1.3 million disabled Americans to be denied Medicaid; for states to be able to force the children of Medicaid patients to pay the $38,000 per annum from their own assets.

He knows it's not fair to raise taxes on 12.6 million families with incomes under $30,000 and deny 180,000 pre-schoolers the highly successful Head Start program.

The Republicans are planning to make drastic cuts in education at the primary and secondary levels.

The number of colleges and universities currently involved in the direct lending of government loans to students will be cut from 40 percent to 10 percent, and special interests (as opposed to our interests) have pushed the Republicans to 25 percent cuts in anti-pollution enforcement. This is our future at stake. Even in the day of fiscal austerity, education must be supported.

House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) promised last week to shut down the government once again unless Republicans can have their balanced budget.

Clinton's proposals to balance the budget in seven years have been ignored, maybe because they lack the $245 billion tax break for the rich or maybe because the Republicans don't want to open up the government after all.

Even Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.) realized after 18 days of the second furlough that things had gone too far, but when he tried to put an end to the madness, the congressional freshmen in his own party went out on a limb and refused to negotiate, establishing this impasse as a mere political maneuver to force the country into submission.

Would someone tell these freshmen to act their age and quit crying?

The Rice Young Democrats meets at 6 p.m. on alternate Wednesdays in the Hanszen loft.

This item appeared in the Opinion section of the January 26, 1996 issue.

Copyright © 1996 The Rice Thresher. All Rights Reserved.
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