UPDATE: On Friday, after intense media pressure, Representative Ellmers agreed to suspend her Congressional pay for the duration of the government shut down.
Renee Ellmers is the poster child for what’s wrong with the GOP shutdown of the federal government. When WTVD asked whether she was willing to give up her paycheck during the shutdown, she replied, “I need my paycheck. That’s the bottom line.” Like the 800,000 federal employees she helped furlough don’t.
The statement is so tone deaf that it borders on sociopathic. She obviously can’t see beyond her own circumstances and doesn’t recognize how her actions affect others. Not a good trait for an elected official but it seems the norm for the current brand of GOPers.
Then yesterday, Ellmers “held back tears” as she described children being denied cancer treatment due the the shutdown. This is the same Ellmers who voted to cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, aka food stamps, that makes sure children have enough to eat. Republicans care about children before they are born or after they are sick, but provide little or no support when they and their families are just struggling to get by. So cry me a river.
But I digress. Ellmers tears were a feeble attempt to pass blame to Democrats for the shutdown. In fact, Republicans warned that either they get serious cuts to Obamacare or they were going to shutter the federal government. They didn’t and they did. Now they want to blame other people. That’s absurd.
The Affordable Care Act is not a bill to be debated. It’s the law of the land. Ironically, the people who are holding Congress and the country hostage are the same ones who like to wrap themselves in the Constitution and refer to themselves as patriots. Well, the Founding Fathers are rolling over in the their graves. These actions violate the very principles Jefferson, Madison and company had in mind when they set up our fractured system of government.
Ellmers and her colleagues adopted a strategy that was doomed to fail. They are hurting American families while insulating themselves from the pain. They are so busy listening to their wing-nut flank, talk radio and Fox News, that they’re losing touch reality and believe they are winning.
And that’s what’s wrong with the Ellmers and the GOP. They’ve made this episode about themselves and political points, not the people they are supposed to serve.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
Now it’s time to go after Mark Meadows. Is he still receiving his congressional pay?
He is not, but look at the post Shutting down the leaf season.
Elmers is nothing more then cracker trash
Spoken like a true bigot.
The GOP/TeaPartiers are violating the letter and spirit of the Constitution of the United States and trying to blame everybody else for the results of their irresponsible course of action. I hope citizens wake up and vote these people out before we no long have a country called America.
Pardon me, but your ignorance is showing. You clearly haven’t read The Federalist Papers or any other proto-American writings. Socialized healthscare [sic] has zero to do with the Founding Fathers’ principles. The Founders wished to keep government as small as possible to avoid exactly the problems we are having today; they would not recognize the current system as their creation and the original colonists who rebelled against England’s meddling in their affairs would be appalled at modern Americans’ sense of entitlement and expectation to have everything done for them without having to do anything in return. Where is the “freedom of choice” in forcing everyone to purchase a product they may not desire to have? Are you REALLY looking forward to your healthcare being bound up in the same wonderful bureaucracy, red tape, and inefficiency you find at the DMV, Post Office, Passport agency, and every other enterprise that big government operates?
I’m so tired of the Republican talking points. The ACA is there to insure everyone has access to health insurance…it is not there to run the healthcare system. This is very similar to auto insurance. We need it because if we do damage to someone or their property while driving we want to insure someone will pay for that damage. With healthcare, because we have made the moral decision as a society not to turn away someone who shows up at an emergency room needing care, we also need to make sure there is a way to pay for that cost. Insuring everyone has health insurance accomplishes that. Whether you like it or not you are already paying the price for others’ health care costs right now because of the current system. I’m not defending Obamacare… it is likely an inefficient way to accomplish it’s goal…but I do believe in the goal it is trying to achieve. It is the law and Republicans throwing a tantrum like little children should be spending their time figure out how they can improve it than sabotage it. Imagine what would happen if either party acted like this for every law passed that they didn’t agree with. Republicans say they are standing up for the American people but what they are actually doing is ignoring us because our elected representatives voted this in as a law, it was confirmed by the Supreme Court that it is constitutional, and yet Republicans refuse to yield to the will of the majority. And just an FYI, I’m generally a moderate conservative…but I feel like the GOP is trying really hard to make me a Democrat (I’m an independent for the moment).
Thanks Sonny! It’s always a pleasure to meet a sane dude. I agree, Obamacare is not the endpoint, but it’s an excellent pivot away from the “devil-take-the-hindmost” approach that has become doctrine in the Republican camp. Face it, the Rs are going to the barricades in defense of STOOPID!!!!. Let’s reward them appropriately.
Sorry Lotus, but, really, are you a paid flak? The Federalist Papers is one of the founding documents of our nation, yes, but are you cognizant that it represents ONE SIDE OF THE ARGUMENT?Quoting it as authority paints you in somewhat suspicious light, to put it kindly. Everything after “The Founders” in your paragraph is speculative, debatable, or just dumb.
Personally, I am fascinated with the Founding Fathers. I dote on their words, I try to understand their arguments. I find very significant a passage at the back of Paul Revere’s Ride, by David Hackett Fischer. He talks about the colonist’s sense of community and responsibility. It’s not a short argument, but when he sums it up, it comes down to this: in 1776, our forefathers went to war over collective rights, with a strong sense of individual responsibilities to enforce the same. Today, from the right, we hear an incessant yammering, largely sponsored by the very rich, over individual rights, with no acknowledgment of collective responsibility.
You said:
>The Founders wished to keep government as small as possible to avoid exactly the
> problems we are having today; they would not recognize the current system as their
> creation and the original colonists who rebelled against England’s meddling in their
>affairs would be appalled at modern Americans’ sense of entitlement and expectation
>to have everything done for them without having to do anything in return.
Say whuh? In the first sentence, you reference the “Founders” (an entity which I have an informed respect for) and imply their intent. So, whereby do you imply their intent? The Founders are not one thing, which any educated person understands intuitively. I rather agree with your point about the sense of entitlement, but aside from that your argument is incoherent. Face it, we live in a Full World. Farmers in 18th Century Mass. laid us a good framework, but don’t get carried away. That is NOT an argument to just let the rich have their way, which is where you are headed.
>Where is the “freedom of choice” in forcing everyone to purchase a product they may
>not desire to have? Are you REALLY looking forward to your healthcare being bound
>up in the same wonderful bureaucracy, red tape, and inefficiency you find at the
>DMV, Post Office, Passport agency, and every other enterprise that big
>government operates?
Oh, grow up. I am very much looking forward to NOT having some faceless employee of an insurance company decide how my healthcare shall be paid for. It turns out, having the Big Government manage your healthcare is significantly more efficient (like 5 – 10 % points of GNP!!!) than having private insurance manage it. So, Lotus, what are you? Stupid? Uninformed? A paid flak? DON’T BE SHY, since you’re willing to use ALL CAPS.
You sound like a PAID TROLL. Tell us, why should we regard you as anything else?
Best regards,
-Paleotek
PSL Oh, and I find it offensive you imply ignorance so quickly. Why should we impute yo insight?
Anyone doubt that our elected officials aren’t out of touch with those they’re elected to serve? D-duhhhhhhh …
You’d have to explain which aspects you’re talking about but the enforcement of laws is strictly within the powers of the executive branch so the president has some degree of leeway in how he enforces the law.
“The Affordable Care Act is not a bill to be debated. It’s the law of the land.” – if that’s the case, why then is the President choosing to ignore certain aspects of the law he doesn’t wish to enforce – for purely political reasons?
Such as?
As the executive responsible for implementation, he is authorized to implement is as efficiently as he can; if he were NOT authorized the republicans would have already raked in his a??.
Blue Line……because he is president. Like the outlook on the “Mast”, he sees what those on the “Deck” do not see.. No one has bragged that the Law is utterly perfect. That perfect law has not been passed yet. Should all laws await perfection…and who then is the Judge.?
The judge is the American people. Ant the polls sow the majority do not want Obamacare.
First, polls should not dictate legislation. But, second, your premise is false. A solid majority of people want health care reform. Almost 15% of the opposition is from people who say it doesn’t go far enough and want a single-payer plan. See here: https://www.politicsnc.com/blather-baloney-and-conventional-wisdom/