The question now is...could it happen again in just a few months? After Uncle Sam put out the "Gone Fishing" sign for 16 days...will Republicans use their theatrical dramatics in an encore performance come early in 2014? Congress and President Obama have only agreed - through legislation passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives...and signed by the President - to fund the government until January 15th. The Treasury will have the ability to borrow above the 16.7 trillion-dollar debt limit until February 7th...or perhaps a few weeks longer...by Treasury officials using bookkeeping maneuvers to delay a default.Knowing all of that...will the United States suffer another government shutdown in about 3 months? Will the debt ceiling be raised...and not just temporarily until sometime in February? Will vicious verbal ammunition be used...by Republicans and Democrats...to shoot up each other on the Washington battlefield...come the beginning of the new year?
Let us all take note..and remember very carefully...that the cost of the federal shutdown was reportedly 24 billion dollars. That - in and of itself - is pure insanity. The Republican House of Representatives created a mess... and it's disgraceful...that they let it go so long...knowing fair well...that the price tag for closing the government's doors...would be astronomically high. We must avert another crisis in 2014. The government of the United States must operate... for at least the next year - but preferably...and obviously...much longer - with a solid budget.
It is no secret that I am not a fan - politically - of Republicans. And I am surely disappointed...and disgusted...with the Republican House...as they are responsible for the stress and aggravation we all suffered...throughout the last few weeks...by causing America to be on a brink of disaster...not knowing whether our country was going to default on our debts.
But I agree with President Obama that "There are no winners here." The President does accuse Republicans of harming the U.S. economy...to near catastrophe...since it was members of the GOP who spearheaded the government shutdown and "did more damage to America's credibility to the world." Mr. Obama sternly stated that by closing down the government...it "depressed our friends who look to us for steady leadership." Still, the President doesn't believe that the deadlock will be repeated in 2014. But not everyone is as optimistic as Mr. Obama. I...on the other hand... have to agree with our Commander-in-Chief. Despite the fact that in previous commentaries...I have accused CERTAIN Republicans of being "haters"...and "crybabies"...and that I have used phrases such as... "conservative culprits" and "Tea Party Tyrants"...I have got to believe - or at least, want to be hopeful - that the majority of GOP members - in both the House and the Senate - have learned an important lesson over the last month...so that a "Republican ruckus" will not be replicated next year.
That being said...I unfortunately still believe...that it is the goal of SOME Republicans...to destroy the Democratic Party and Barack Obama's Presidency. I also unfortunately still believe...that SOME Republicans - a select few - will continue to act like "spoiled children" - as a recent CNN/ORC International poll indicated - and their more sensible colleagues will have to put those...bitchy little brats...in the corner...for a "time-out"...while cooler heads prevail.
Some "Tea Party" Republicans...such as Senator Ted Cruz of Texas...will likely continue with antagonistic ways. After all...it was Cruz who led the effort...to tie the defunding of "Obamacare"...to closing the doors of the federal government. And Cruz still says he will continue to do "anything" he can...to "stop the train wreck...that is Obamacare." But there are some smart members of the GOP... who - as honorable Americans - want to help move our country in a positive direction. I would like to feel confident...that THOSE Republicans... will work in tandem...with their partners across the aisle...and with the President...to avoid any further confrontations and commotion.It is refreshing that some Republicans are actually pointing the finger at other GOP members for their shameful and slimy ways over the last month.
Can we have faith that Senator McConnell and Speaker of the House John Boehner - Republican from Ohio - will not allow Senator Cruz and others...to pursue more despicable actions...that can only hurt the United States? I want to believe we can.The job approval rating for Congress is horrendous. According to a recent Gallup Poll...only 11 percent of Americans approve of the work being done by both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. The American people are thoroughly fed up and appalled with the politics of Washington, DC.
One of the best game shows in television history was created by Merv Griffin. The government of the United States has been playing an extremely bad version of that game...and it is obvious that our country is in very serious "Jeopardy." But will Round 2 of our nation's poorly played game show...receive higher ratings? Congress...and the President...have got to realize... that if America - in early 2014 - loses in "Double Jeopardy"...there will be no "Final Jeopardy." The "answer" will be...a government in default...a country in distress...a nation in danger of death.
We MUST move forward...and in a bi-partisan fashion. Therefore...if I were to recommend anything to President Obama - that is if I may respectfully be so bold to think that the President of the United States would take my advice - I would suggest the following. I would advise the President to ask a dozen or so Republicans - along with a few key Democrats - to stop by The White House...to meet behind closed doors...in total and complete privacy. Secrecy must be absolute. I would not tell The White House staff...and I certainly would not tell the press or anybody in the media. When inviting these Senators and House Representatives...I would advise President Obama to encourage his guests to be casually dressed - in jeans and sweatshirts - that they will be eating hamburgers and hotdogs... drinking a beer or two...and watching a football game on television. It would be Barack calling John, Mitch, John and others... not President Obama calling 
Speaker Boehner, Senator McConnell, Senator McCain and so forth. While hanging out in the Presidential "man cave"... these Sunday afternoon "buddies" that the President welcomes in to his den...can hash out how the people of the United States of America are going to come together as one. We must go back to
solving the nation's problems as Republican President Ronald Reagan did with Democratic Speaker of the House Thomas "Tip" O'Neill...
and as Democratic President Bill Clinton did with Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. A divided government has worked in the past. It can...and it must...do so again.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.
The Controversy will make an effort to publish a new commentary every Sunday. Unscheduled essays may appear, from time to time, on other days as well.
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