A Layman Answer to the Debt Ceiling/Reduction Problem

It has become the norm for representatives of the people who get elected by promising to work for the few forget that they also must represent the many as well.  When you are elected to office, you carry with you more than those who elected you, you have now become the face of this nation and your actions or inactions reflect upon this nation.  The question which should be asked and answered by those chosen is what kind of face will others see?

John Boehner may be judged on how he can not act like the adult because he has to check with Rush Limbaugh before putting a plan on the floor but Eric Cantor will also be judged on his lack of leadership skills when it comes to him whipping the votes to pass anything.  It’s an established maxim that if you cater to the minority instead of the majority, you will always be changing planes in mid-air.  These guys are now doing it without a parachute, or so it appears.

If the Republican Party wishes to save itself from the Tea Party, I have a suggestion.  If John Boehner wishes to save his debt ceiling bill with attached debt reduction, it can be done and he can emerge a hero to any American who really does put country first. The first thing that need to do is commission a real poll in the area of those who strongly believe compromise is a dirty word and find out if the people in their districts really did send them to sabotage America?  The next thing he needs to do is realize that those freshmen congress people do not have longevity in office and will be gone in a few years, so to save the day, his name and this nation he can get together with Nancy Pelosi, Stanley Hoyer and Charles Clyburn, find out what is needed minimally to get the 197 Democratic votes in the House of Representatives then re configure his bill to reflect that.  This should make the whip count job of Eric Cantor much easier. 

The House submits that bill to the Senate and the Senate passes it without much fanfare because it got Democratic votes.  The problem is solved and the world now breathes easier.  For Boehner and Cantor’s re-election, many independents who normally would sit out the Republican State Primaries, step up and negate any power that the Tea Party seems to have.  Just as they did for John McCain against J.D. Hayward in Arizona.  Boehner and Cantor’s primary ad will be that they stood tall and walked proudly when it came to saving their nation.  They may have bowed to the Tea Party Assassins but they did not break.  After all, the main problem with those in the Tea Party is that they believe that what it took many years to break can be fixed over night and with one bill.  They believe that their only concern is those who elected them and while it is true, it is also true that once you raised your hand and swore that oath, you took on the hopes and dreams of all America too.  Even those who don’t look like you, think like you, worship like you, talk like you or live like you.  Just a thought!