Oct. 27, 2013
The Problem is Not the Government!
By Dr. E. Faye Williams
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – On March 23, 2010, I was in the Capitol watching every move, listening to every speech (pro and con), trying to figure out what could possibly be objectionable about affordable health care for all who needed it. It was clear that Members of Congress were provided health care by us--the long suffering taxpayers. What would be the benefit of denying millions of taxpaying citizens access to affordable health care when we pay for theirs? Are we any less worthy of the emotional security that accrues to those capable of weathering the financial storms of catastrophic illness opposed to falling over the “financial cliff” into bankruptcy?
I’ve finally figured it out. As Paul Ryan opined, “Some people are just takers.” During his campaign for vice-president, he elaborated on “takers” and we thought that he was talking about poor people. Now, the truth rings clear. Ryan was attempting to disguise the real intent of his colleagues who want things for themselves at the expense of those who really need help. The problem is not the government. It’s the distortion of principles of governance by those so misguided that their selfishness overwhelms their failed commitment to public service.
A good example is Michele Bachmann who always seems to get things wrong. Remember when she took great pride in proclaiming that John Wayne, the actor, was a native of her home and that she wanted to run her campaign in the same spirit as John Wayne from Waterloo, Iowa —only to discover that her “homeboy” was really the serial killer, John Wayne Gacy! Likewise, Bachmann rushed over to the WWII Memorial and joined in blaming the President, Park Police and anyone else she could think of for shutting down the government. Factually, this shutdown was made possible by her vote, and the votes of politicians motivated more by racial animus than “the general welfare.”
Recently, we saw Utah’s Mike Lee, and other deniers of affordable health care, shift focus from the so-called damaging human impact of the ACA to finger-pointing at the technologically flawed launch of the program. The fact hasn’t been lost that these miscreants created false equivalences on both sides of a single issue. They offer nothing to the public discourse except their destructive obsession to erase the historical fingerprint of the first Black President. More tragic is the reality that their shrill racist rants have found kindred spirits in a small, but vocal segment of the political right.
The infamous Ted Cruz returned to Texas last week to a hero’s welcome because he played such a big part in shutting down the government to prevent those in need from having affordable health care—causing our economy to lose 24 billion dollars in the process! Yet, he leads the folk who want to save the taxpayers from government! Upon examination, his tactics are like those of the homeowner who burns his home down because he thinks the kitchen needs remodeling! His self-serving, grand-standing is a prime example of our need to be more careful in examining the motives of those who present themselves to govern.
Speaker John Boehner was elected to lead the U.S. House of Representatives, but we saw everything except leadership from him during the recent shutdown crisis. He could only lead 87 members of his caucus to vote with him to end the awful economic crisis; on the other hand, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi did not lose a single vote in her caucus. Hers sounds like real leadership to me. Speaker Boehner seems to need a bit more practice.
2014 gives us a chance to bring back sensible governance because the American people do need government. We just need to change some of those doing the governing.
(Dr. E. Faye Williams is Chair of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. 202/678-6788. www.nationalcongressbw.org)