 By Frank SikernitskyEditor-In-Chief |
"They're at it again," we hear everyone say. The United States Federal Government has gone into unbudgeted shutdown due to a partisan disagreement over welfare provisions. It is not a new politicalmaneuver -- ex-Connecticut Governor Wiecker forced a shutdown of the state government in 1991 when he was pushing for an income tax in the state. Without provisions for it in the budget, he vetoed every attempt to avoid the income tax. The legislature gave in within a week, and Connecticut joined the ranks of states with an income tax.Of course, the national government is very much different than the legislature of Connecticut. In this state, representatives and senators hold office in addition to jobs, essentially serving in a part-time capacity. But Congresspeople are full-time, with paid staffs and big egos.
What strikes me as strange is the low profile that the shutdown has attained. It doesn't lead the news, even nationally. If there is any group that is fine-tuned to what Americans want to hear, it is the media. Somehow, the public does not seem to care about it.
The public relations implications of this shutdown are staggering. Both sides are keeping quiet because the shutdown looks like a political pissing match. President Clinton has been almost entirely silent, a position he cannot afford to take. If Clinton were to go public and do some fast talking, he could take America's indifference and educate it with his agenda.
However, Clinton, like the Republicans, is afraid that any big statement could backfire. The best time to hold this National Address would be tonight, smack during "Good TV" night. He could avoid the snippetizing that the news employs to fill a mere two-minute time slot. He should name names. And he shouldn't speak alone. A decisive stand on many fronts will give Clinton the backbone that people don't perceive him as having. Dave Letterman analyzed the shutdown by saying, "Nobody Gives a Rat's Ass." That's because politicians have not gone directly to the people yet. They speak, but through the 4-second sound bite that one's favorite network uses. If Clinton interrupts "ER" to drop an ultimatum, people may suddenly care. Clinton must make it in America's best interest to care.
Isn't that democracy? Given, society now operates more on interest groups than on the individual -- interest groups mobilize and convey positions to the government. But shouldn't operation of that government be in the interest of all?
One last point -- future world ramifications. I don't believe that this event will shatter the United States' standing around the world. We in the United States take government stability to be a given; in most other countries, government is more volatile. Great Britain's government can change in a week if the Prime Minister loses majority support -- while Parliament members throw chairs at each other. Italy witnesses dozens of parties and mob bombing (and flying chairs). Russia is run by the mob, through thinly-veiled store-fronts and strongarm tactics. Japan has seen scandals that make the S&L bailout look like dime-store shoplifting. And we are worried that some checks won't get delivered?
Clinton and the Republicans are missing the boat with this crisis.
