The politics of greed pollutes the political oxygen

The politics of greed pollutes the political oxygen

By Derek Joy

True ‘dat.

The media, Congress and the American people are talking as the dust settles and the smoke clears in the aftermath of the government shutdown.

The end result is an estimated $24-billion loss to the American economy. And for what?

Tea Party Republicans are widely credited with engineering the government shutdown in a misguided attempt to defund Obamacare – the nation’s healthcare law.

It was the lead topics on NBC’s Meet the Press and CBS’s Face the Nation. For sure it was embraced on WFOR/CBS 4’s Facing South Florida with Jim DeFede and WPLG/Local 10’s This Week in South Florida with Michael Putney.

“The Tea Party can’t accept the fact that they’ve exhausted all avenues in the democratic process to defund Obamacare,” said Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who appeared with Putney.

“Obamacare has given people like me, peace of mind. That’s what the Tea Party wants to take away from us – peace of mind,” added Wasserman Schultz, who chairs the Democratic National Committee, and is the mother of three.

Wasserman Schultz talked about the peace of mind in knowing insurance companies can no longer deny insurance or drop policyholders like her, who is a breast cancer survivor. She wrote a book titled: “The Next Generation,” which notes children as America’s future and that next generation.

Interesting how the GOP – Tea Party in particular-never seemed to consider the future of America. They only thought of their own personal gain through a destructive political agenda.

Fortunately, Sen. Ted Cruz, (R-Tex.), were hung out to dry. They literally were exposed as gigantic elephants trying to hide under a rug.

And, fortunately, there are Republicans like Miami’s Ileana Ros Lehtinen, who stood against the Republican hard line that shutdown the government.

“May the Holy Spirit help us so there won’t be another government shutdown,” said Roslehtinen while appearing with DeFede, and noted she voted to increase the debt ceiling to fund the government.

No such acts of contrition on the part of the Tea Party or other Republicans who stood with House Speaker John Boehner in shutting down the government.

Consequently, there is added credence to given to mounting public opinion in some segments that the Tea Party is mainly composed of wealthy, not very intelligent people who have succeeded in life by hook, crook and buying their way.

“The GOP’s budget battles, debt-ceiling showdowns and budget cuts that have consumed Congress since the Republican takeover in 2010 have cost the United States an estimated $700 billion in economic activity and more than 2-million jobs.”

“It was not just plummeting poll numbers that pushed so many Republicans to finally agree to end the crises. It was also the realization that this government was causing so many families and small businesses real financial hardship.”

Hence, the end result is that the American people won a perverted sort of a battle in seeing the reality of how the political oxygen, and the very lifeline of America, is being polluted by greed.