Closed for business: Tea Party in progress

The political situation in America is unsustainable, but now the entire world is at risk of an economic calamity as the Tea Party continues its antics.

By Anvar Sarygulov

America is at war. Only the battlefield is not located in an oppressive dictatorship on the other side of the globe, but in Washington D.C. itself. All non-essential government services are closed and the clock is ticking for the debt ceiling. Should the Congress fail to raise it by 17th October, US might have to default on its debts. Such an outcome will have cataclysmic effects. The markets will lose confidence in the US Dollar, triggering panic and chaos in investment banks and causing a worldwide financial crisis that will rival the previous world recession.

In 2010, the Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Congress, while the Democrats retained control of the Senate, the upper chamber. This meant that the Democrats could no longer pass legislation without negotiation. To the dismay of the Obama administration, most of the Republican gains were achieved by its ultra-conservative wing, the Tea Party, characterised by its love of guns, small government and Christian values. To make the matters worse, the Tea Party has managed to take near full control of the Republicans. By having a powerful grassroot support and refusing to compromise, the entirety of the party had adopted the extreme policies. The moderates are powerless. Any attempt to step away from the party line is seen as a defeat. The Democrats cannot challenge them, due to the practice of gerrymandering, where politicians are able to redraw the constituency borders. Tea Party candidates only have to contend with other Republicans, which they win due to their strong grassroots.

It is unsurprising that the Tea Party has chosen to follow the same strategy when dealing with the Democrats. Their greatest wish is to completely dismantle the proposed healthcare reforms, which they see as dysfunctional and un-American. This is despite the fact that the current system does not work. America spends more on healthcare than any other nation, with 17.9% of GDP going towards it, which is nearly double of UK’s spending, yet it is the worst in terms of quality among all developed nations. More than 60% of bankruptcies are declared due to extortionate medical bills, as one sixth of the entire population is uninsured and has no access to affordable medical assistance. Obama’s reforms include a minimum standard for insurance policies, prohibit denying coverage due to pre-existing coverages and force businesses with more than 50 employees to provide insurance to their full-time employees. They are necessary to improve the abysmal healthcare system.

This does not mean that Obamacare is perfect. Should the reforms fail to make the insurance market more efficient, the costs will continue to spiral, yet there is no sign of an alternative, only opposition. The Tea Party has resorted to desperate tactics, refusing to pass a budget unless Obamacare is repealed. The demand is completely ridiculous. The healthcare reform is already considered to be the greatest achievement of Obama’s administration and the act has been signed 3 years ago. It would be unimaginable for Obama to concede on the issue. Most Republicans realise that the system needs to be changed, but they are hostages to the extreme right-wing ideology, where any increase in government spending is seen as unsustainable. The leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives, John Boehner, could stop this farce at any moment by letting the moderates pass the budget, resume government services and increase the debt ceiling, but such an act would be political suicide. Any proposal that the Republicans should agree with the Democrats is seen as traitorous, as it suggests that Obama’s administration is actually doing something right, which is unthinkable. American politics have become so polarised that even if Obama was to state that the sky is blue, the Republicans would rapidly dismiss it as false.

The current predicament is not helping the already atrocious ratings of approval for the current Congress, with only 11% of the population believing the Congress is doing a good job. While both parties experienced loss of approval, the Republicans are more hurt than the Democrats. The dominance of the Tea Party is driving away independents and moderates away from the Republicans, as their inability to compromise is threatening not just the US economy, but the entire world. To make matters worse, the Tea Party demographic is shrinking. Should the Republicans continue to pursue a socially conservative agenda, they are risking irrelevancy in the long-term.

Hopefully, common sense will prevail in Washington and a financial apocalypse will be avoided. It is not in the interests of the Tea Party, which is backed by several prominent businessman, to cause a calamity. Yet, the civil war in Congress is a sign that American politics need to change. It should be much more difficult, if not impossible, for a very loud minority to hijack the Republican Party and then hold the entire world as a hostage. The practice of gerrymandering must end to ensure that politicians will fear other parties more than the extremists in theirs. The Tea Party will fade into obscurity in a few election cycles, but until then American politics will only continue to exasperate.

Anvar Sarygulov