Stephen King’s exhilarating thriller, “Under the Dome”, is an entertaining science-fiction TV series on CBS, but there is another “Under the Dome” that Stephen King did not write. Instead it is being written and starred in by politicians in Washington who are digging themselves a dysfunctional hole under the Capital Dome.
Gridlock over defunding “Obamacare” has led to one of the worst political debacles in the country’s storied 237 year history (or seasons). The effort to defund “Obamacare” has been seen as an irrational move by many, one that has been led by freshman Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz. Cruz has emerged onto the scene as a persistent hardnosed political player, who associates himself with the expanding Tea Party. His antics of what was an attempt at a filibuster, gained him much of the attention he was seeking. Albeit, the attention was not all positive, in fact it was primarily negative.
According to a Washington Post Poll, 74% of Americans disapproved of the way were they handling the crisis, while 53% disapproved of the way President Obama was handling the situation while Republicans are split on the issue of defunding “Obamacare,” many of the more moderate conservative representatives in the house feel that the effort is not worth the government shutdown. Politicians such as Peter King, John McCain, and even representatives such as Mitch McConnell have been outspoken about giving up the attempt. This is not the first time the Republican party has attempted to eradicate “Obamacare,” in fact there have been 42 other attempts to repeal the law but none have been successful. Basically this is a rerun episode of the Dysfunctional Capital Dome- with the expectation of our new character that has been introduced – Mr. Cruz. Cruz and some of his constituents felt that this might have been the last possible measure to blocking the law, which begin enrollment on Oct. 1 (first day of the fiscal year) – despite the government shutdown, and will be implemented for individuals on Jan. 1 2014.
Luckily, for loyal fans – we still have all our old favorite characters in these episodes – we still have fan favorites. We have Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, Eric Cantor, President Obama, John Boehner, and other side characters. Boehner, who found himself caught in a battle between moderate republicans and Tea Party republicans on how to handle the situation – might not make it to next season. He has been facing a lot of pressure from every which way, as a group of 40 or 50 Tea Party republicans forced his hand into pursuing the tumultuous road we took. Harry Reid, claimed the agreement was historic (a shows first?). This is something that should not have to be historic. Why should doing what is listed in your job description be considered historic? When it was all said and done, a deal was reached just in time to avert the looming debt ceiling disaster: TV drama at its best. Ergo, once again we have kicked the can down the road. The deal means that the government will be funded until Jan. 15 and the debt ceiling raised until Feb. 7 where the show will likely have its drama packed episodes once more! Will our favorite characters make a splash, or will they be voted out? It is must watch TV!
The “in” fighting in the Republican Party has left the group somewhat decimated after the latest government battle. Let’s use Walking Dead as an analogy. Imagine Rick (the main character) and his faction are the Democratic Party and The Governor and his cohort are the Republican Party (spoiler alert). The Governor and his party are left ravaged after disagreements from the outside and particularly with his group people, this “civil war” within his group cost him his role. Essentially, this lack of compromise within and overall have been extremely detrimental to our political system. Overall, once all the smoke cleared, an estimated 24 billion was lost by keeping the government shutdown for over two weeks. This is certainly a gargantuan budget to allow a drama of this magnitude to proceed.
With the midterm elections coming up – one would surmise that some of the representatives who were affiliated with causing the latest mess would face some type of ramifications – such as losing their seat. But chances are that will not happen- thanks to a term known as gerrymandering. Basically what this entails is that these districts have drawn the “lines” so it favors a particular party – meaning that there is virtually no chance they will lose their seats. This is dangerous for democracy- if we leave incompetent officials to continue this trend of gridlock and inefficiency. But it does make for good TV drama – something everyone loves!
With so many story plots to be had, it is a cannot miss for next season’s Dysfunction Under the Capital Dome. When President Obama was asked if this fighting will continue in the upcoming weeks he replied, “No.” Does that mean, like many new episodes in old tv shows, that this season will be lackluster and without its drama? – doubtful.
Evan Smith is a fourth-year student majoring in political science and minoring in communications. He can be reached at ES777403@wcupa.edu.
Fri. Apr 19th, 2024
