Casey, Dems provide no solutions to debt

Guest Column by Laureen A Cummings

On Dec. 19, 1779, Thomas Paine wrote “The American Crisis, No. 1.” It is in this document that his now famous words were written: “Lead, follow or get out of the way.”

It is in this context that we must evaluate U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., in the debt ceiling debate.

To anyone following this issue, it is obvious the Republicans are doing their best to provide Americans with reasonable solutions to our debt crisis. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and the Republicans in the House of Representatives have drawn up several approaches to the debt ceiling crisis that will lead to spending cuts and ultimately a balanced budget. He has repeatedly compromised and offered to discuss the measures.

Meanwhile, Sen. Casey and the Democrat-controlled Senate continue to follow their president by offering no ideas, no solutions and no alternatives, thereby obstructing the process. Now really, exactly who is the party of “no?”

I find it ironic that the party that controls the executive branch and half of the legislative branch of government refuses to assume a leadership role in what they refer to as “the most serious threat to our economy in decades.” Sen. Casey blindly follows his party’s orders by voting to “table” measures passed by the House.

In a further example of the lunacy in Washington, the White House released word that the president would not even sign the plan crafted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Reid then revealed the only plan the Democrats have now is to “band together” and refuse to consider any plan that comes from the House of Representatives. Democratic leaders are even bragging about how they’re going to “prolong this crisis instead of doing the hard work of trying to solve it ... And that includes the president.”

Those same Democrats have the audacity to label the House freshman and tea party members as “obstructionists?”

It is the so-called liberal, “progressive Democrats”, including Bob Casey, who are intentionally stalling the process in the hopes of gaining some hypothetical political advantage in the 2012 elections. They obviously do not care about the emotional and financial strain they are putting on the American people. To them, it’s only about re-election.

I recently read that Bob Casey has a record of voting with the Obama administration 97 percent of the time – that’s right, 97 percent. That is not leadership. That is simply following the president down the path of failure – failure for the administration and failure for America.

Pennsylvania deserves better. Bob Casey is not acting as a leader. He is acting as a typical career politician who follows those who want to obstruct the process until they can find a political advantage for themselves.

I believe it’s time for Bob Casey to follow Thomas Paine’s advice and “get out of the way.”

Laureen A. Cummings is a Republican committeewoman from Old Forge and the founder of the Scranton tea party.