Republicans complain loudly but do not offer alternative solutions
by A. Altieri D’Angelo
If Republicans were students, they would receive a failing grade
When Republicans won control of the House of Representatives (the House), they promised to cut government spending, investigate the Biden family, the January 6th riot, weaponization of the Justice Department, the botched withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, and other matters. The strategy was based on revenge politics and offered no creative bipartisan solutions. Well, it is fair to say that the Republicans have failed to deliver on their promises.
House Republicans are in total disarray and lack unity of purpose. They wasted a week fighting over Kevin McCarthy’s appointment as Speaker of the House. McCarthy gained the support of the hard right faction (the MAGAs) by empowering the MAGAs to pursue aggressive investigations and agreed to cut government spending in order to create a multi-year plan to balance the budget.
McCarthy’s efforts, however, at negotiating a multi-year balanced budget (which would require massive spending cuts) have failed. McCarthy and his MAGA allies have stated that if Biden did not agree to substantial spending reductions, the House would not approve an increase in the debt limit. Such an action would cause the U.S. to default on its payments to creditors. Biden has refused to negotiate over the debt limit. He also managed to shame House Republicans into publicly agreeing not to cut Social Security and Medicare. He then issued his budget plan. The Republicans immediately attacked the budget proposal. Biden then suggested that the Republicans release their budget, and the two sides could sit down and try to find common ground. McCarthy has been unable to issue a budget because his party cannot agree on what should be eliminated.
The reality is that many of the cuts demanded by Republicans would hurt a growing part of the Republican Party (lower-income families, including white conservative voters). Republicans are only now realizing that taxes must be increased to achieve a balanced budget in the next several years. The budget talks are on hold because Republicans can't offer any credible alternative to the Biden Budget. But they have resorted to blaming Biden for the stalemate.
At the same time, Republicans have started several investigations. James Comer- House Oversight Committee, and Representative Jim Jordan- Judiciary Committee, lead the two most important committees. Comer is looking into the Biden family business dealings going back 14 years, and Jordan is focused on the weaponization of the Justice Department. The committee hearings have been a joke and an embarrassment to the Republican Party.
Comer’s first hearing looked into an allegation that the FBI had instructed Twitter management not to release a story that Hunter Biden's laptop contained e-mails detailing business with Chinese and Ukrainian people. Comer noted that “Americans deserve answers about this attack on the First Amendment and why Big Tech and the Swamp colluded to censor this information about the Biden family selling access for profit. Accountability is coming,”
The committee hearing proved to be eye-opening, not because the allegations were true but because Twitter executives categorically denied any involvement by the intelligence community. They did regret not publishing the information until a day or two after receiving it. Comer looked foolish by trying to dismantle Twitter management's explanation. Democrats and Republicans criticized him for his handling of the matter.
Jim Jordan’s committee hearings have also been poorly handled. Jordan’s goal is to prove that conservatives are victims of a federal plot to suppress their freedoms, he has been unable to provide evidence. All that has happened is people have made allegations without proof. To minimize the PR damage, Jordan has brought in witnesses to testify but has not allowed anyone to question their testimony, leading to Republican and Democratic disapproval of Jordan's committee leadership. Jesse Watters, a well-known Fox News commentator, stated, “Make me feel better, guys. Tell me this is going somewhere. Can I throw someone in prison? Can someone go to jail? Can someone get fined?" Many Republican voters share his frustration.
(The recent New York City indictment of former President Trump has now given Republicans another opportunity to avoid making a profound and meaningful effort to solving America's problems. They are all, conveniently, focused on investigating the N.Y.C. District Attorney, thereby energizing their conservative base.)
Most House Republicans have no desire to work with Biden. They would instead engage in rabble-rousing. It is a pity, given that Biden has demonstrated that he can build a consensus and enact bipartisan legislation. One can only hope voters will remove such obstructive Republicans from office.