Let’s go back and talk a bit of history.
Once upon a time, the Democrats and Republicans got together and wrote a healthcare bill based on Republican ideas, because that was better than no bill at all. The Republican leaders brought the bill to their colleagues, who objected because it was a compromise and as a compromise, didn't give them 100% of their way. They said “go back and force them to compromise some more!” and they sent their leaders back with the “argument” that the previous compromise wasn't a compromise, that the Democrats had refused to negotiate.
So the Democrats said “fine. We’ll give you a few more items from your list even though you are moving the goalposts and going back on your word.” And the Republican leaders went back to the flock and the flock said “Oh hey, that worked. Let’s keep doing it!”
And so, once again, they claimed that the Democrats refused to compromise as cover for them moving the goal posts and going back on their word. The Democrats saw the writing on the wall and said “nope! You’ll just keep doing that.”
And so after months of negotiations and 6 months to read the vast majority of the bill, the bill went to a vote. The Republicans claimed that they hadn't had time to read the bill because it just came out, even though what had just come out were changes that they requested to a bill they had 6 months to read. And then they started lying about death panels and other things that quite literally are more of a problem under private health care than under public health care. The bill became a law anyway.
And then they decided that what really needed to happen is that equality in health care that had been in place since early in GW Bush’s term had to be rolled back because “religious freedom” is the freedom to force others to conform to your religion, but only if you are of the “correct” sect of the “correct” religion.
Then the LAW went before the US Supreme Court, where it was upheld as Constitutional. So back to Congress we went, to one side insisting that the subject be brought up again and again, each time blaming the other side for “refusing to compromise” by quite literally IGNORING THEIR ATTEMPT TO OVERRIDE PREVIOUS NEGOTIATIONS.
And so we came to an impasse, one that was designed on purpose years ago. You see, the Republicans want the government to be dysfunctional so that they can get their way on regulations and low taxes for the rich and fewer ways for rights to be protected under the law, something that won’t hurt them because they know that they are the ones whose rights are NEVER in question. They were elected through gerrymandering on a premise that the government should be shut down and now they have done that.
But they are doing it by throwing yet another temper tantrum and yet again pointing to the other side and claiming that it is the other side’s fault. Once again, they have tried to move the goalposts and called that “refusal to compromise.” Once again, they tried to eliminate rights of women to equality in health care as a scapegoat for their own bad behavior. The Republicans got their way and are blaming the Democrats for their own actions.
Anyone who says that this shutdown is two sided is arguing that one side should be allowed to go back on its word, force one side to compromise an infinite number of times so that the end compromise is not a compromise at all, blame the other side for disallowing infinite compromise, continue to move the goal posts while failing to take responsibility for that, and in the process, try to subjugate women.
Anyone who says that this shutdown is two sided is full of shit and needs to stop because we’re not morons.
Once upon a time, the Democrats and Republicans got together and wrote a healthcare bill based on Republican ideas, because that was better than no bill at all. The Republican leaders brought the bill to their colleagues, who objected because it was a compromise and as a compromise, didn't give them 100% of their way. They said “go back and force them to compromise some more!” and they sent their leaders back with the “argument” that the previous compromise wasn't a compromise, that the Democrats had refused to negotiate.
So the Democrats said “fine. We’ll give you a few more items from your list even though you are moving the goalposts and going back on your word.” And the Republican leaders went back to the flock and the flock said “Oh hey, that worked. Let’s keep doing it!”
And so, once again, they claimed that the Democrats refused to compromise as cover for them moving the goal posts and going back on their word. The Democrats saw the writing on the wall and said “nope! You’ll just keep doing that.”
And so after months of negotiations and 6 months to read the vast majority of the bill, the bill went to a vote. The Republicans claimed that they hadn't had time to read the bill because it just came out, even though what had just come out were changes that they requested to a bill they had 6 months to read. And then they started lying about death panels and other things that quite literally are more of a problem under private health care than under public health care. The bill became a law anyway.
And then they decided that what really needed to happen is that equality in health care that had been in place since early in GW Bush’s term had to be rolled back because “religious freedom” is the freedom to force others to conform to your religion, but only if you are of the “correct” sect of the “correct” religion.
Then the LAW went before the US Supreme Court, where it was upheld as Constitutional. So back to Congress we went, to one side insisting that the subject be brought up again and again, each time blaming the other side for “refusing to compromise” by quite literally IGNORING THEIR ATTEMPT TO OVERRIDE PREVIOUS NEGOTIATIONS.
And so we came to an impasse, one that was designed on purpose years ago. You see, the Republicans want the government to be dysfunctional so that they can get their way on regulations and low taxes for the rich and fewer ways for rights to be protected under the law, something that won’t hurt them because they know that they are the ones whose rights are NEVER in question. They were elected through gerrymandering on a premise that the government should be shut down and now they have done that.
But they are doing it by throwing yet another temper tantrum and yet again pointing to the other side and claiming that it is the other side’s fault. Once again, they have tried to move the goalposts and called that “refusal to compromise.” Once again, they tried to eliminate rights of women to equality in health care as a scapegoat for their own bad behavior. The Republicans got their way and are blaming the Democrats for their own actions.
Anyone who says that this shutdown is two sided is arguing that one side should be allowed to go back on its word, force one side to compromise an infinite number of times so that the end compromise is not a compromise at all, blame the other side for disallowing infinite compromise, continue to move the goal posts while failing to take responsibility for that, and in the process, try to subjugate women.
Anyone who says that this shutdown is two sided is full of shit and needs to stop because we’re not morons.
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