Shutdown politics can be a distraction

Editorial by Jacksonville Daily News, October 3, 2013.

We share congressional Republicans’ distaste for President Obama’s health care law — and judging by most public opinion polls, so does a majority of Americans. We would prefer it be replaced with something non-coercive, less costly, less complex and less bureaucratic.

Our disagreement is over how to achieve that.

Both sides on the Obama-care issue are dug in like it’s the Western Front circa 1915 — and opponents lack the political means to break the stalemate.

Many House Republicans opted for a frontal assault across No Man’s Land: forcing Democrats to choose between accepting appropriations bills that delay Obama-care’s implementation for a year.

The success of that strategy depends on the public blaming Democrats for the shutdown and having them cave to the political pressure. It’s a risky gambit given that many of the same polls that show Americans disapprove of Obama-care also indicate the public does not support shutting down the government and will hold Republicans responsible. Democrats are so outwardly confident of their position on the matter that they all but asked for a shutdown, figuring that Republicans will pay the political price.

This stalemate is a product of divided government, which is not a bug in our (small-”r”) republican form of government but a feature. The founders intended for this kind of tension between the executive and legislative branches, and the two chambers of Congress.

If neither side is willing to compromise, they can appeal to the electorate to break the logjam at the ballot box. That’s what happened in 2008 when voters, weary of nearly a decade of Republican rule, handed Democrats control of both houses of Congress and the presidency. That enabled the Democrats to (barely) pass the Affordable Care Act over strident opposition from GOP minorities in the House and Senate.

In 2010, enough voters were sufficiently repelled by that and Republicans regained control of the House (and picked up six seats in the Senate). That put a brake on the Democrats’ legislative express, but it left Republicans short of what they need to roll back the president’s previous gains.

The solution should be to transform public dissatisfaction with Obama-care — which has grown since the bill was passed — into votes to win back the Senate in 2014 and the White House in 2016. Then Republicans will have the political muscle to undo Obama-care — just as Democrats did to pass it.

Postponing the law a year accomplishes nothing — it doesn’t end the program, and it delays the pain the public could feel when it’s implemented, thus depriving Republicans of potential political capital in the midterm elections. Furthermore, the battle to achieve such a nominal gain could further damage the GOP’s electoral chances next year if the public blames the party for a government shutdown.

Standing and fighting on principle has appeal. But you must choose your battlefield wisely and a lengthy government shutdown might prove a distraction from persuading the public that Obama-care must go.