Government Shutdown, VeggieTales Style

So L was watching VeggieTales this afternoon, and it made a little ditty go through my head…

“We are the Congress who don’t do anything
We took your government and shut it down…
And if you ask us to do anything, we’ll just tell you…. We don’t do anything…”

So who wants to do a verse of this in the comments? I’ll start.

JOHN BOEHNER:
Well, I’ve never lived on food stamps and I can afford insurance
And I don’t know why we have to turn the clocks back in the fall
And I’ve never served in combat and I don’t have a vagina
But I sure know how to legislate it all….

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GOPetulant

Here is a suggestion for House Republicans, in accordance with both their stated objectives and the principles of responsible government:

1. Accepting (arguendo) that the Affordable Care Act is a lousy law and will do nobody any good, it will inevitably fail out there in the world beyond Capitol Hill, due to the mechanics of the free market. As such, if it is allowed to go into effect unhindered, the free market will fix it and you get the “I told you so” rights.

2. The Constitution, which you all profess to be defending with all your might, establishes very clear mechanisms for both the passing of a bill into law and the challenging thereof. There was (endless) debate, even going so far as to ask the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of the law, and it passed. The Constitution mandates that it is now the law of the land. Efforts to repeal it by the provided mechanisms also failed, and it therefore remains the law of the land. The constitutional thing to do now is to uphold it, and propose a viable alternative in the next legislative session. Presumably you have a viable alternative, so let’s see it.

3. If the law truly is as horrible as you believe, then allowing it to go into effect will prove that to the public, and those of you who voted against it will be lauded as heroes by your constituents when it is time to campaign for reelection.

So the Constitution, the free market and your own political aspirations are all in favor of allowing the Affordable Care Act to be law. Why are you fighting this? Maybe you’re just a teeny tiny bit petrified that the law will turn out to be a good thing, and you’re all going to have to go back to your constituents and explain why you fought tooth and nail to defeat something which actually effects a positive change in their lives? ‘Cause, you know, that would be pretty darn humiliating and would probably torpedo not only your own reelection hopes but any hope that you had of winning back the White House in 2016…

Ah, I see. I get it now. Carry on, then.

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