Republican's Folly

On Monday, October 21, 2013, The Huffington Post, published an article titled "Republicans Shoot America in the Foot" written by Leo W. Gerard, one of The Huffington Post's signature contributors. Gerard writes his opinion about how the Republicans have done something rather self-deprecating to America. Throughout his blog, Gerard mentions how the Republicans kept referring to the whole government shutdown like it was some sort of battle that they just lost. Gerard believes that the Republicans had not only hurt themselves, but also aided in hurting the entire nation as a whole by holding "hostage" the government, which in turn "depressed growth and killed jobs."

Gerard begins backing up his argument with some evidence from a Washington Post-ABC poll that found that nearly three-quarters of Americans disapproved of Republicans and that the poll also found that 47% of Republicans disapprove of Congressional Republicans. Gerard gives an example of Senator John McCain stating that the government shutdown was a "hard blow to the Republican Party," which further proves his argument that even a well-known Republican acknowledges that the GOP had really screwed up in this situation. He continues in his post by giving us facts about the government shutdown like for example, how the 16-day shutdown "took $24 billion out of the economy and suppressed growth."

Gerard then explains all the ripple effect consequences that came out of the government shutdown and it was all because of the GOP's war on the government that is to blame. He gives his predictions on how the after-effects of the government shutdown may affect the market and raise borrowing costs for not only the government but for also homebuyers and businesses. Gerard ends his post with how the Republicans will possibly close the government again come Jan. 15, when financing expires under the deal that was approved upon last week.

Leo W. Gerard's intended audience can be seen to be aimed at the general public and the Democratic Party because he tries to convince his readers of the wrongdoings of the GOP and that these mistakes may cost the Republicans dearly, in coming elections. I do believe in Gerard's credibility because of his experience in various policy committees and groups. His title of International President of the United Steelworkers Union (USW) also gives him credit since it is the largest manufacturing union in North America, representing 1.2 million active and retired industrial and service sector workers in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. I would have to agree with Mr. Gerard's argument of the GOP not only shooting themselves in the foot but also shooting America in the foot. His examples of the Republicans threat of default showed that it was a waste of money and did nothing for the economy but made it even more difficult for it to recover from the recent "Great Recession." I find it sad that the GOP took the measures that they took just to prove a point. Why risk a complete meltdown of the nation? It seems rather a folly move on their part. I guess issues like these will never have a truly perfect solution, but rather it is up to the people of this nation to learn from these events and to build upon those experiences to create the near perfect solution. I do wonder what will become of us come January 15, 2014...only time will tell.