Cynical obstruction

On the very night of Barack Obama’s first inauguration, several Republican luminaries, including current House Speaker Paul Ryan, devised a strategy to make Obama a one-term president. In order to prevent Obama from accomplishing anything, they decided to oppose everything he supported, even if it had originally been proposed by Republicans.

Consequently, not a single Republican legislator supported Obama’s economic stimulus legislation, which most economists believe saved the U.S. economy from disaster. Just one Republican voted for Obamacare, which was modeled on legislation originally proposed by Republicans.

Since enactment of Obamacare, Republicans have voted dozens of times to repeal it. In 2011 their efforts nearly caused a debt default, resulting in a downgrade of U.S. Treasury debt. In a 2013 repeal attempt, they shut down the government at an economic cost estimated at $24 billion by Standard and Poor’s. Ryan currently proposes taking away medical insurance from about 20 million people who gained it under Obamacare and replacing it with something deemed “hard on the poor, old and sick” by the Washington Post.

Throughout this cynical exercise, Cathy McMorris Rodgers has been a proud member of the House Republican leadership. It is long past time for her to go.

Donald Lamp

Spokane