US Shutdown a Tea Party or Coup d’etat?
Interestingly sedition comes to mind.
Wikipedia defines coup d’etat as – A coup d’état (/ˌkuːdeɪˈtɑː/; plural: coups d’état), also known as a coup, a putsch, or an overthrow, is the sudden deposition of a government,[1][2][3][4] usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to depose the extant government and replace it with another body, civil or military. A coup d’état is considered successful when the usurpers establish their dominance. When the coup neither fails completely nor succeeds, a civil war is a likely consequence… A coup d’état typically uses the extant government’s power to assume political control of the country. In Coup d’État: A Practical Handbook, military historian Edward Luttwak states that “[a] coup consists of the infiltration of a small, but critical, segment of the state apparatus, which is then used to displace the government from its control of the remainder.”
Sedition is defined by wikipedia as –
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent (or resistance) to lawful authority. Sedition may include any commotion, though not aimed at direct and open violence against the laws. Seditious words in writing are seditious libel. A seditionist is one who engages in or promotes the interests of sedition.
Typically, sedition is considered a subversive act, and the overt acts that may be prosecutable under sedition laws vary from one legal code to another. Where the history of these legal codes has been traced, there is also a record of the change in the definition of the elements constituting sedition at certain points in history. This overview has served to develop a sociological definition of sedition as well, within the study of state persecution.
I was musing over the ramifications and considered the US dollar and government instability. The fear in the US would be over depreciation of the dollar and the flight of capital. Other considerations were the global financial crisis and the fall of the US (since 1980’s) and how this situation of blocking the budget could strike a blow at the heart of the notion of prosperity in the United States. I reflected on how it might look to the world if the US was plunged into a depression. In my previous blog I spoke of this situation as similar to the Whitlam dismissal in 1975 and the double dissolution of the Labour Government by the Liberals. My sense is an old system is collapsing and I wonder about the new system that will arise overtime. I wonder does the Statue of Liberty mean the freedom to bring down a government for political reasons?
Our world has still not learned best interest over self interest. Nor does it see the damage that our industrial world has done to nature. We still do not know that what we do to another we do to ourselves. Wisdom is relegated to niche books or poetry, still it is not a lived experience for the many. When we deeply question our world and how it is run we will start to feel a sense of responsibility arising. We may even decide to claim the idea of democracy and live it. For the governments are not run be we the people, there are many faceless faces behind the scenes and increasingly more politicians sponsored by special interests. It is noteworthy at how much of a threat Obama is perceived as. He must be doing something right. I certainly approve of universal health care and it is most definitely the sign of a civilised society. So let’s see if it will rise or fall. The fall out will have ramifications around the world. It is said that when the US sneezes the world catches cold. So ethical behaviour in countries like the US impacts on the rest of the world.
Acton’s axiom: all power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Here is an analysis by Australia’s ABC Q&A.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-02/us-government-shutdown-explained/4993530
Q&A: The US government shutdown explained
Updated Thu 3 Oct 2013, 9:16am AEST
The dramatic shutdown of the US government has highlighted the political gridlock in Washington DC.
Around 800,000 government employees have been sent home without pay, while 1 million more are being asked to work without pay. Tourists have been locked out of major US sites and there are warnings of broader dire consequences for the economy. The last shutdown 17 years ago lasted for 20 days and there are fears it could take a number of weeks for Congress to overcome this latest stalemate.
The shutdown has raised plenty of questions from the ABC Fact Check audience about why it’s happening, who is to blame and what might happen next. To provide some clarity on the matter, a selection of questions received on Twitter, Facebook and Reddit is answered below.
Can you explain why it is a conflict between the Congress and president? Why they don’t have the double dissolution option? – @chriscourtney4
The federal government in the United States has shut down because Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate) failed to pass a budget before the start of the financial year on October 1. It’s the responsibility of Congress to pass a budget, not the US president, although the president does submit a budget early in the year in what amounts to a “wish list” to get the budget ball rolling.
The budget standoff that’s led to the shutdown of the US government is more of a conflict between the Republican-dominated House of Representatives and the Democrat-controlled Senate. Some Republicans, many of them identified with the Tea Party Movement, oppose healthcare reforms known as “Obamacare”. They have voted for budget measures to delay or defund healthcare changes passed by Congress in 2010 but framed by Democrat president Barack Obama.
The US system is quite different to Australia’s. The US government isn’t formed by the party with the house majority as it is in Australia – and it’s not unusual to have different parties controlling the US House, the Senate and the presidency.
A double dissolution-type option to hold a joint sitting preceding an early election would hand significantly increased power to the House, which has 435 members compared to the 100-member Senate.
Here’s a detailed description of the US budget process, which helps explain why it is so hard to pass a budget.
Why aren’t Congressional salaries included in the shutdown? Seems like a good way to keep them motivated to me. – OptimalCynic via reddit
Members of Congress keep getting paid during a shutdown because of the 27th amendment to the US constitution. It was designed to stop politicians giving themselves pay rises, but also stops them taking a cut.
But cutting the pay of members of Congress may not help anyway, as they’re not usually short of a buck. Based on figures from 2011, United States Senators have an average personal wealth of almost $US12 million and House Representatives have an average of $US6.5 million to their names.
How does the Tea Party control the Republicans? – Abbie Jedwab
The Tea Party take their name from the colonial American “Boston Tea Party” in 1773, when a group of men disguised comically as Indians dumped a shipment of imported British tea into Boston Harbour in protest at being forced to pay taxes.
The modern Tea Party isn’t a political party as such. They began as a grassroots conservative movement with an anti-taxation, anti-government, anti-debt message. Egged-on by conservative talk radio, Fox News and wealthy backers like The Koch Brothers, hundreds of Tea Party groups emerged across the United States in 2009 following the election of Mr Obama. They opposed what they saw as his “big government” approach to issues like health care reform.
The Tea Party offered their support to like-minded members of Congress and candidates in the Republican’s pre-selection primaries leading up to the 2010 midterm elections. The Tea Party caucus now forms a sizable voting block in the House of Representatives.
As well as their numbers in Congress, the Tea Party continues to influence who will stand for the Republican party in House elections, which come along every two years, and Senate ballots, which are every six years.
A number of more moderate Republicans have been defeated by conservatives backed by the Tea Party. The overall effect of the Tea Party has been to shift the Republican Party to the right.
How do they define which services get furloughed? How is it at all legal to get some government employees to come in without pay? – nerdyogre254 via reddit
US federal departments and agencies are bound by the Antideficiency Act, which basically says they can’t spend money they don’t have. As of October 1, Congress hasn’t given them any money – although some departments plan to keep operating as normal for a week or more before sending non-essential staff home.
Other departments and agencies are exempt because they don’t rely on discretionary spending through annual appropriations (i.e. money from the budget).
However, a wide range of “non-essential” US federal government services have already shut down, with their workers “furloughed” – meaning they now have to stay home and may not ever be paid for the duration of the closure. The means federally-run institutions including The Smithsonian, landmarks like The Statue of Liberty and National Parks have all been closed.
Despite the shutdown, some services regarded as essential will continue – social security (pension) payments, the US postal service, active military, NASA Mission Control and air traffic controllers, to name a few. In many cases their employees will be required to work but may not receive a pay check until the shutdown ends.
What, exactly, are the Republicans demanding in order to resolve the stalemate? What, exactly, are the Democrats demanding in order to resolve the stalemate? (Non-polemical answers, please) – ctav via reddit
Republicans want “Obamacare” delayed, Democrats don’t.
The Congressional stalemate and government shutdown are likely to end with a Continuing Resolution, which will provide money for government services until a broader budget agreement is reached. Agreement on a budget is far from certain however, and Continuing Resolutions have become the lifeblood of the US government, adding to uncertainty and a sense of dysfunction.