Larry Kudlow believes it's time to shut down the government

Larry Kudlow believes it's time to shut down the government

Rick Moran

Syndicated columnist and host of the MSNBC program "The Kudlow Report" is not generally seen as a far right bomb thrower. But Kudlow agrees with House conservatives that it's time to shut down the government to make a point.

Kudlow points out that the resignation of John Boehner has opened the door to a deal between some House Republicans and Democrats to keep the government going until December. But is that really the best that Republicans can do?

RealClearPolitics:

I am not arguing for a constant series of budget shutdowns. And I will always oppose any expiration of the U.S. Treasury debt ceiling. That would be a harmful global economic event. No good. But it is worth remembering that there are no catastrophic political or economic consequences attached to these shutdowns.

Surely, shutdowns are a cumbersome way to make a point. But the GOP base is clamoring for a more aggressive Republican Congress. The grassroots are angry and frustrated that the Republican House and Senate have not passed a series of large-scale bills.

There's been no repeal and rewrite of Obamacare. There's been no corporate tax reform, at a minimum, or overall personal tax reform. There's been no energy bill -- neither to build the XL pipeline nor to end limits on oil and gas exports and drilling on federal lands.

Immigration reform is a hot topic on the presidential debate scene. But there's been nothing on this from Congress. And the huge issue is the Iran nuclear deal, which in addition to being unverifiable would give Iran $150 billion to kill more American soldiers and advance its domination of the Middle East. But the congressional GOP response has been weak and confusing.

And the fact that legislative hurdles -- such as the filibuster, 60-vote rule in the Senate -- prevents these reforms is unsatisfying to the GOP base.

Of course, the arrogant and ideologically stubborn President Obama would veto all these reforms if they ever got to his desk. But if I read the grassroots properly, they know this and believe these vetoes would set the stage for a big Republican victory in 2016.

Of course, a key point here is that you can't govern form Congress alone. You need the White House. Expectations from last November's sweep were always too high.

But perhaps Republican leadership in both houses might think of this: There are too many deals and not enough principles, beliefs and clear messaging.

The GOP ultimately will nominate a presidential candidate who will hopefully get the right message out. But in the meantime, as House Republicans choose a new top team and Majority Leader McConnell continues his term in the Senate, the congressional GOP leadership should think harder about principled messaging and less about accommodation.

If that requires a short-run shutdown, so be it. 

Kudlow makes some interesting points. There is no doubt that Congressional Republicans have been milquetoast opponents for President Obama and hte Democrats. They have been outplayed and out manuevered by Pelosi-Reid since they became the majority.

But is a shutdown the answer? More to the point, Republicans need coherence in their message and agenda. In effect, the Republican party doesn't know what it stands for so when the right talks about shutting down the government on "principle," there is no universal agreement on what those principles are.

The GOP doesn't have a leader who can articulate what the party stands for, which is a huge disadvantage going into 2016. It's hoped that whoever emerges on top in the presidential primaries will be able to unite the party , but at present, it doesn't look like that is going to be possible