Government Shutdown

While the surprise resignation of John Boehner as Speaker of the House has allowed the U.S. government to prevent a shutdown this week through a budget extension, this is by no means a solution. Rather, it is pushing off a stupid and costly battle that will not only hurt both parties and their constituencies, but will also damage the very conservatives who want to force the defunding of Planned Parenthood through a shutdown. For a Republican nominee to win the election, they must let Planned Parenthood remain funded.Some disastrously misguided conservative congressmen believe that they could defund Planned Parenthood by refusing to support any budget bill that includes funding for the organization. As the Republican party doesn’t hold enough votes to overturn a veto, a bill that would defund Planned Parenthood will not pass. However, if those politicians refuse to support a budget bill that includes Planned Parenthood funding, the government would be forced into a shutdown. No matter what, the Democrats will not support a bill that defunds Planned Parenthood, and the Republicans cannot pass a bill that would do so. In this situation, those pushing for the defunding of Planned Parenthood are poised to lose in all circumstances.When the government shutdown occurred in 2011 over Obamacare, a plurality of voters supported the defunding of the program. Nevertheless, after the public was faced with the impending doom of a fiscal cliff and true damages of a shutdown were revealed, voters blamed the Republican Party for the harm caused by the shutdown and the public perception of GOP as well as the government overall was greatly damaged. In this case, 55 percent of the public believe that Planned Parenthood should have some sort of government funding. Obama no longer has his re-election to think about and has nothing to lose. The public initially supported the cause the Republicans were championing in 2011, yet the GOP exited the shutdown having lost the most. The odds are stacked even further against those planning a shutdown. Polls already show that the vast majority of the American electorate would blame the Republican Party for the shutdown. With no incumbent running in the upcoming presidential race and rocky Democratic candidates, the Republican Party has a stronger shot at the presidency than in 2012. If the Republican Party allows their conservative politicians to force a shutdown, that would tank their favorability, which could possibly cost them the election.As atypical candidates such as Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina are becoming increasingly popular in the Republican field and Bernie Sanders in the Democratic field, it’s clear that many voters are tired of the inaction and ineffectiveness of the political machine. In the wake of the recent scandals regarding Planned Parenthood, many Republican voters want to see action taken to defund the organization. Those politicians who want to defund Planned Parenthood regardless of the clear costs and unwinnable odds seem to think that by doing this they will show themselves to be men of action, unlike those that are driving so many people to support non-politicians in this election cycle. However, the only thing worse than inaction is action that is harmful, and nobody wins when the government shuts down. The American people not only want politicians who will support their beliefs and champion them, but those who also know how to pick their battles and how to compromise. A government shutdown staged by Republican politicians now will either drive voters away from the Republican party altogether or drive them away from established candidates and toward more extreme, atypical candidates like Donald Trump, alienating independent voters.The shutdown in 2011 was terrible and had it continued for longer, it would have been catastrophic. The conservative lawmakers who allowed the shutdown to happen and last as long as it did should have learned their lesson already. Nobody wins in a shutdown. It is astoundingly clear that in the event of a shutdown, the Republican Party would be the biggest loser and would greatly jeopardize its shot at presidency. Politicians must learn how to pick their fights, when to suck it up and give in. For the sake of their party, those Conservative congressmen must heel, and the Establishment Republicans must regain enough control to make them.