Let us learn a lesson from US shutdown

US President Barack Obama walks alongside Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius arrive to speak about the Affordable Care Act, as well as the government shutdown in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, October 1, 2013. AFP

In Summary

• We have a tradition where the Executive routinely surrenders to blackmail, passing budget proposals only when immoral perks and goodies are added onto the pay-cheques of Members of Parliament.

The United States enters the third day of a shutdown over a budgetary deadlock that has forced closure of many government operations.

In rejecting a move by the Republican-controlled legislature to starve funding for the ‘Obamacare’ universal medical cover initiative, President Barack Obama took a principled stand.

His is the position that naked and selfish political power-plays must never be allowed to override the common good, and he is prepared to stand up for what is right.

The American president could also have been emboldened by the outcome of the last time there was similar budgetary deadlock some 17 years ago.

That was when President Bill Clinton’s budget proposals were trashed by the Republican majorities in the House and Senate, but the president won in the court of public opinion and his re-election to a second term was assured.

The politics being played out in Washington right now might hold great lessons for us.

We have a tradition where the Executive routinely surrenders to blackmail, passing budget proposals only when immoral perks and goodies are added onto the pay-cheques of Members of Parliament.

As Parliament has become stronger in the last few years, it has gained great leverage, but all too often, the enhanced clout is used for personal benefit rather than the public good.

Every threat to shoot down the Finance Bill has seen successive Presidents agreeing to all kinds of underhand schemes to line the pockets of MPs. That amounts to blackmail by the Legislature, and to bribery by the Executive.

The lesson from Washington is that the next time MPs resort to blackmail, the President and the Treasury must face them down.

The legislators might succeed in crippling the government for a little while, but in the long-term, they will lose the trust and respect of the electorate.