By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Here’s the roll call, Save Jerseyans.
And I’m frustrated. Much like I’m sure you are at the moment.
The majority GOP opinion? “President Obama’s illegal amnesty cannot be ignored. It’s why I voted against his actions back in January, and was so pleased to see that the judicial branch was also blocking those orders,” explained our friend Rep. Tom MacArthur (R, NJ-03), who as most of you are aware is in his first term.
“But the unfortunate truth is that Senate Democrats, President Obama, and too many others have chosen gridlock and partisanship again and again, bringing us to the brink of a shutdown while pointing fingers at the other side of the aisle,” MacArthur continued. “Simply put, we cannot afford a DHS shutdown, and we cannot afford a President who disregards the Constitutional limits on his power. The judicial branch is working to restore the balance of powers, and I’m confident there will be further opportunities for us to block this amnesty. But as we’ve now been brought to the 11th hour, I believe it is our responsibility to the American people to prevent a DHS shutdown of any sort.”
Look: at the risk of beating you over the head with a cliché conservative talking point, we did perfectly well without a DHS prior to 2002. It’s true. The department is a waste of money. Yes, there are some vital functions in there, but we funded’em just fine beforehand. And what’s more, while I’m at it, the resilience of this persistent “shutdowns hurt the GOP” myth when there isn’t much evidence to support it needs to stop.
But I fully recognize those are secondary issues in this instant debate. My real concern, Save Jerseyans? The fact that John Boehner and Mitch McConnell apparently aren’t talking. At least not meaningfully. That, and we still seem to have no freakin’ clue how to advance an argument, compromising before we’ve even begun to negotiate and letting the Democrats run circles around us from a minority position. Again, we never win the argument because we continue to forfeit opportunities to present our argument.
Thank God it’s the weekend. I need a break. You probably do, too. Enjoy it.
For now, Mick Mulvaney says it best for all of us:
You are going around in circles… All Boehner had to do was bring the Senate Immigration bill up for a vote.. yes or no, simple… that’s democracy… instead he did nothing and now is whining about Obama! Ridiculous!
Let’s see how long we can defund DHS. Then try Education.