Edited by Laurence Bouvard
A Tailwind for the Fanatics
What possesses a group of conservative Republicans to cripple the U.S. government and risk national bankruptcy just because they don't like Barack Obama's health care reforms? Commentators have been scratching their heads for days trying to answer that question. Surveys show that a majority of Americans blame the Republicans for the shutdown. The 1995 shutdown caused by budget disagreements in Bill Clinton's administration in 1995 turned out to be a boomerang — Clinton was re-elected in 1996.
But Senator Ted Cruz, who gained notoriety by staging a 21-hour filibuster against Obamacare, might be the key to providing a possible motive for the strategy of the Senator's tea party friends: Cruz counseled journalists to reread their history books. The year 1996 was not only a winning one for Clinton, but for Republicans as well. For the first time since the 1930s they were able to defend their congressional majority. The determination of the ideological hard liners had been rewarded.
In addition, there might be another older Republican motive to oppose Obamacare: states' rights. That will be a mobilizing factor above all in the Southern states for anyone against the Washington-inspired health care reforms. This all points to no quick end to the budget fight. The tea partiers have too strong a wind at their backs.
But Senator Ted Cruz, who gained notoriety by staging a 21-hour filibuster against Obamacare, might be the key to providing a possible motive for the strategy of the Senator's tea party friends: Cruz counseled journalists to reread their history books. The year 1996 was not only a winning one for Clinton, but for Republicans as well. For the first time since the 1930s they were able to defend their congressional majority. The determination of the ideological hard liners had been rewarded.
In addition, there might be another older Republican motive to oppose Obamacare: states' rights. That will be a mobilizing factor above all in the Southern states for anyone against the Washington-inspired health care reforms. This all points to no quick end to the budget fight. The tea partiers have too strong a wind at their backs.