The official shutdown of the U.S. government underscores the fully reactionary character of the capitalist-controlled political process in this country. Why is the government shut down? Why have 800,000 federal workers been furloughed (i.e., laid off)? Because the Republican-led House of Representatives is outraged that 50 million people will have access to health care starting in 2014.
President Obama and the Democratic Party could have made an appeal in recent weeks for millions of people to go into the streets and protest against the imminent mass layoff of workers. They know that the Tea Party right wingers are isolated and seen to be holding a gun to the head of government: “Unless you cancel a health care plan that was passed by the House and Senate and signed by the President and upheld by the Supreme Court, we will shut down the government.”
But President Obama and the Democrats aren’t that worried about the shut down. They see it as an opportunity. That’s why they didn’t rally the people to fight against the extremist right-wing hostage takers in the House. The Democratic Party leaders callously think this will help them as an electoral maneuver. They can blame the Republicans for causing more misery and suffering. That will help get more votes in the 2014 mid-term Congressional elections. Yes, millions of workers will be affected. Many have suddenly become unemployed. Others will lose access to vital social services. But the Democratic leadership is clearly content with the situation because it makes the Republicans look bad.
The House of Representatives is filled with racist, sexist, right-wing politicians. The so-called Tea Party wing of the Republicans has a dominant position among the House Republicans even though they are a minority caucus. The Republican Party’s successful gerrymandering or restructuring of Congressional Districts has made their districts bastions of right-wing and racist control. Thus, their positions in Congress are secured even if most of the country is repulsed by their reactionary and semi-fascist views.
This is the same House of Representatives that just cut $40 billion in food stamps for poor people in the United States. So-called Obamacare, or the Affordable Health Care Act, couldn’t have been crafted on a more pro-capitalist basis. The uninsured must now buy coverage from the largest capitalist insurance companies. Obamacare is essentially a Republican-inspired health care plan. It is not a single-payer health plan. It is not Medicare for all. It is certainly not free health care, which would be the hallmark of a system based on socialized medicine. In short, there is nothing “socialist” about this plan.
But the semi-fascist wing of the Republican Party shut down the government anyway. Their goal is to destroy all social programs, civil rights and social rights that have been achieved as a result of decades (and centuries) of struggle by the working classes in the United States.
