Create An Independent Congressional Association

The House of Representatives recently managed to avert a federal government shutdown, with a mere few hours to spare. As they could not agree on an annual budget, they compromised, or ”kicked the can down the road”, with a forty five day ”Continuing Resolution”. This compromise satisfied absolutely no one!

In fact, ”The House”, as the press is currently referring to it, which is also known as the Congress, is controlled by the Republican Party, by the slimmest of margins. That Party is referred to as the ”GOP”, or Grand Old Party, although most Republican Party members no longer think the Party is quite so ”Grand”! The Members of that Party are at each others throats!

The ”rank and file” Members of the GOP are not at all satisfied with the leaders of the Party. Several of them decided to take action. In public, the leaders of the Republican Party are referring to them as the ”Eight Rebels”, as ”Legislative Terrorists”, as ”Saboteurs” and ”Pyromaniacs”. In private, the Party leaders are referring to them in somewhat stronger terms!

These ”Eight Rebels” are of the opinion that the GOP made some ”unacceptable concessions” to the Democrats, in order to avoid a government shut down. For that reason, they were able to force a vote, which resulted in the GOP Leader, Kevin McCarthy, losing his position, as Speaker of the House.

The House no longer has a Speaker! The House is deadlocked! Washington is deadlocked! No bills can be passed -or even considered!- until the House elects a Speaker!

The journalists are reporting that they have never before heard such ”political rhetoric”! The Members of the GOP have been meeting ”behind closed doors”, in an attempt to find a replacement for McCarthy. Some Members want the Eight Rebels kicked out of the Party! Personal insults have been exchanged! Amid ”flaring tempers”, certain Members have come close to ”fist fights”!

In an attempt to ”cool raging tempers”, the leaders of the GOP decided to adjourn for a week!

As the journalists have pointed out, as soon as the House resumes, they will have a mere five weeks to first elect a new Speaker, and then vote to pass a new budget. Without a Speaker, no such vote can take place, and the federal government will shut down, in mid November.

On the other hand, even with a Speaker, the Eight Rebels are determined to ”extract impossibly large concessions from the White House and the Senate”, according to the journalists. Even if the House passes such a budget, it is very likely that the Senate and White House will not agree. For that reason, the journalists are convinced that the government is certain to shut down, in the middle of November.

This ”governmental crisis” is being taken quite seriously, at least by certain scholars. In the simplicity of their souls, they consider this to be a ”warning sign for democracy”.

This is true, as far as it goes! These scholars -all of whom are bourgeois!- are careful to avoid class terms! They are careful to avoid saying that this crisis is a threat to bourgeois democracy! The democracy of the capitalists! The democracy of the billionaires!

Democracy is nothing other than a method of class rule! It is a method by which one class crushes another class! As we live under capitalism, it is the method by which the monopoly capitalists, the billionaires, crush the ”lower classes”, mainly the working class, but also the farmers, and the middle class.

This is the ”democracy”, the ”method of class rule”, which is being threatened! This is precisely the little detail that the bourgeois scholars neglect to mention!

One GOP rank and file Member of the House, stated the problem, as he saw it, in terms which are quite ”colourful”, as well as entertaining. He is not one of the Eight Rebels who voted to oust McCarthy, as Speaker of the House. Yet he expressed sentiments which closely match that of the ”Rebels”.

For that reason, it is reasonable to assume that his opinion is that of a great many rank and file Republican Members of the House of Representatives:

”If we do not change the foundational problems within our conference, it is just going to be the same stupid clown car with a different driver…the reality is that we are just going to have another blow up….The pyromaniacs and saboteurs are not going to be satisfied after they burned down one house. I think they are going to have an itching to go burn down a couple more… It is not time for polite talk… We are 33 Trillion dollars in debt, we have a southern border in crisis, and these guys, chaos artists, decide that we need to take a couple of weeks off from governing the country… They crave the attention and chaos…”

This statement is most significant, and not merely because it is entertaining. It clearly expresses the point of view of a number of young politicians, those who were recently elected. This rank and file Republican Member of Congress, is clearly consumed with bitterness and frustration.

No doubt, he is well aware that his constituency, the voters within his Congressional District, expect him to represent their best interests. As a person of principle, he went to Washington, as a Member of Congress, determined to do just that. Yet he found that he cannot! Due to forces that are clearly beyond his control!

In his frustration, he refers to certain ”foundational problems” within the ”conference”. It is very likely that the ”conference”, to which he is referring, is nothing other than the Republican Party, the GOP. It is also very likely that the ”foundational problems”, is a reference to the policy of that same Republican Party. He thinks the GOP should change its policy! Without a change in policy, he expects another ”blow up”!

This Member of Congress even went so far as to compare the Republican Party, of which he is a Member, to a ”clown car”! Without a fundamental change in policy, he is convinced that replacing Kevin McCarthy, as Speaker of the House, with a different Republican, would merely result in a ”different driver”! Nothing would change! He is so right!

He also referred to the ”pyromaniacs and saboteurs”, the ”chaos artists”, those who crave the ”attention and chaos”. It is not clear if he is referring to the leaders of the Republican Party, or possibly the Eight Rebels, or perhaps both. As he was speaking from a deep sense of anger and frustration, of bitterness, it is entirely possible that even he is not sure of just who is to blame!

That in no way changes the fact that the leaders of the Republican Party, are not ”pyromaniacs and saboteurs”. Nor are they ”chaos artists”. On the contrary, they are entirely focused! They are the loyal and devoted servants of the billionaires! The success -or failure!- of the American government, is of no concern to them! The same is true of the Democratic Party!

The fact that a rank and file Member of the GOP has dared to speak out, in such a manner, is an indication of the strength of the revolutionary movement. Within the House of Representatives, at least within the Republican Party, discipline has completely broken down. It is clear that the revolution has reached the politicians in Washington!

Another individual, who is considered to be the leader of the Eight Rebels, and is thought to be responsible for the removal of Kevin McCarthy, as Speaker of the House, also had a few words to say:

”We are 33 Trillion dollars in debt. We are facing 2.2 Trillion dollar annual deficits. We are facing de dollarization globally. That will crush working class Americans. Kevin McCarthy is a creature of the swamp. He has risen to power by collecting special interest money and re-distributing that money in exchange for favours. We are breaking the fever now. We should elect a Speaker who is better. What is paralyzing the House of Representatives was not taking up appropriations Bills. We lost six weeks vacation while the appropriations process hung in the balance… The House of Representatives has been paralyzed for the last several decades as we refused to pass a budget and was governed by Continuing Resolutions and Omnibus Bills. I think this represents the ripping off of the band aid and that is what we need to do to get back on track..”

This statement, by another rank and file member of Congress, an individual who is considered to be the leader of the Eight Rebels, is also quite remarkable. It is clear that he too, speaks from a deep sense of anger and frustration. His accusations, against the former Speaker of the House, are very serious, possibly even slanderous. But as a Member of Congress, he can perhaps get away with this.

Yet he is correct that the House has consistently refused to ”pass a budget”, instead choosing to ”kick the can down the road”, with ”Continuing Resolutions” and ”Omnibus Bills”. He is also correct when he stated that the country is ”33 Trillion dollars in debt”, with ”2.2 Trillion dollar annual deficits”.

Even though he stated the problem correctly, his solution, or ”ripping off the band aid”, is that of voting out Kevin McCarthy as Speaker! Then he proposes to ”elect a Speaker who is better”. He thinks that is what is needed to ”get back on track”!

Such starry eyed optimism is most touching! And completely out of place! He is a Member of the House of Representatives! Yet he sounds like a Boy Scout! Perhaps he thinks his ”good deed for the day” was voting to remove McCarthy as Speaker!

Reality check! There can be no question of getting the House ”back on track”, because the House is completely ”on track”! The leaders of the House are the loyal and devoted servants of the billionaires! The House has not been ”paralyzed for the last several decades”! On the contrary, the House has been working very hard, in the service of the billionaires! No change of face of the Speaker, is going to change that!

That bitter lesson was learned recently, by those who took part in the Occupy Movement! At the start of the Movement, common people thought that the system was not working properly. So they decided to exercise their democratic right to peaceful protest. They actually expected their democratically leaders to listen to them. The response of the government, that of clubs, pepper spray and tearing down of tents, handcuffs and jail, made it quite clear to those protesters, that the system is working precisely the way it is supposed to work! In the service of the billionaires!

That was a different time, and a different revolutionary movement. Our current revolutionary movement is much stronger and deeper! It has even penetrated the ”hallowed halls” of the House of Representatives!

This can best be explained by Lenin, in his excellent work, Left Wing Communism, An Infantile Disorder: ”Symptomatic of any genuine revolution is a rapid, tenfold and even hundredfold increase in the size of the working and oppressed masses -hitherto apathetic- who are capable of waging the political struggle”.

As a result of this ”genuine revolution”, countless people, who were ”hitherto apathetic”, are now ”waging the political struggle”. They have pressured the Party bosses, of both Democrats and Republicans, into nominating people of principle, for political office. These honest people of principle were elected and sent to Washington, especially to the House of Representatives, the Congress.

As these newly elected Members of Congress are people of principle, they set out to do that which they were elected to do. To govern! To represent their constituency! To do that which is in the best interests of the people who voted them into office! To perform their sworn duty! To ”preserve, protect and defend the Constitution”! This duty involves defying the Republican Party bosses!

These Members of Congress deserve our whole hearted admiration and support! They are very likely rather young, and expected something entirely different! They believed the lies they had been told all their lives! They actually thought that now that they were elected to Congress, they could go to Washington and make a difference! Fat chance!

This explains their frustration and anger, their bitterness! There is no harm in this. It is all part of the process of becoming tempered. It cannot be avoided. They will emerge from this class struggle far stronger! Veterans of the class war!

With that in mind, may I suggest that seasoned veterans, perhaps of the Occupy Movement, get in touch with these people. Share with them your experience. Just state the facts.

The fact is that at the beginning of the Occupy Movement, countless people were concerned that the government was not properly representing the common people. It seemed to be favouring the billionaires. Everyone thought that the democratically elected leaders, the politicians, were not aware of this. So people decided to protest, as a means of advising those leaders, those servants of the people.

The protesters actually thought that, once those leaders were aware of this, that the government officials would change their policy! The protesters expected the politicians to quit favouring the billionaires, and start treating all citizens equally! Ha!

In all fairness to the politicians, they did respond to those legitimate grievances! The police were turned loose! With clubs and pepper spray! With handcuffs and arrests! By tearing down the tents of those who were exercising their constitutional right to peaceful protest, and throwing those citizens in jail!

These protesters were at first devastated! Consumed with anger and frustration! Supremely bitter! To think that they have been lied to all of their lives! To find out that the people whom they -formerly!- admired and respected, are a pack liars and hypocrites!

Now that the revolutionary motion is raging, once again, a whole new generation of common people have to go through this process, that of being tempered. It is the manner in which we become veterans, battle hardened in the class struggle!

As for those who are currently determined to enact change, once they get over this feeling of bitterness and betrayal, then they can return to battle! They will then know what to expect! It is not a school yard squabble! It is a battle of survival! The government is in the service of the billionaires! The billionaires are determined to become trillionaires! At our expense! Class warfare!

The billionaires are in charge! The government is set up to protect the billionaires. Nothing else! The suffering of the common people is of no concern to them! Sentiment has no monetary value! Whether the government shuts down, or even goes broke, is a matter of complete indifference, to the billionaires!

It is the system that has to be destroyed, as it cannot be ”patched up”! That calls for revolution. Those who are placed in positions of authority, in Washington, such as in the House, can play a key role in that revolution!

For such people, at the very least, a careful reading of State and Revolution, by Lenin, is necessary.

May I suggest that our veterans, of the Occupy Movement, stress to our newly elected, principled Members of the House, that at the time of the revolution, the state apparatus is certain to be destroyed. As that is the case, It is imperative that all such Members make quite clear, their support for the revolution. Otherwise, they could become a target of the revolution!

The experience of previous revolutions has proven, that it is to the advantage of the working class, to have politicians who support the revolution, within the Capital. Those politicians do not have to be Communists, or even self proclaimed socialists. But it is important that they support the revolution.

Stress the fact that the only alternative to capitalism is socialism. It is also a fact that the billionaires have just made it clear that all banks but eight, and all businesses but five, are Too Small To Succeed.

As all principled Members of Congress are almost certainly middle class, this just means that they are facing financial ruin. It is in their best interests to support the revolution. After the revolution, under socialism, their training and skills will prove to be most valuable. They can expect to be rewarded.

That in no way changes the fact that all such Members are under extreme pressure, from their respective Party Leaders. Just as the GOP Members are under pressure from their Party bosses, so too the Democratic Members of Congress, are also under such pressure.

Yet there is strength in numbers! All union workers can testify to that! Not that it is reasonable to expect middle class Members of Congress to form a union! But perhaps an Independent Association of Members of Congress! The rank and file Members can ”reach across the aisle”, to their Democratic colleagues! As all have taken the same oath, to ”preserve, protect and defend the Constitution”, that oath can form the foundation of their Association!

For that matter, feel free to reach ”across the chamber”, to the Senate! It is very likely that many rank and file Senators may be anxious to join the Independent Association of Members of Congress!

Bear in mind that, after the Great October Socialist Russian Revolution of 1917, the Russian Duma continued to function. It is entirely possible that after the American Revolution, the Congress will also continue to function. Not that it is likely that both the House and the Senate will continue in operation. After all, a country needs only one legislative body.

No doubt, voices will be raised, in objection to Members of Congress, from both Parties, coming together to form an Independent Association. True, each Member ran for office as a Member of one or the other mainstream political party, either Republican or Democratic. For that reason, there are those who maintain that they have a moral obligation to be loyal to that particular party.

In response to this legitimate concern, our principled Members of Congress can respond that their main responsibility is towards the Constitution! They took an oath to ”preserve, protect and defend the Constitution!” As the leaders, of both Parties, are working in the service of the billionaires, it is simply not possible for principled Members of Congress, to remain loyal to their Party! Conscience dictates that they form an Independent Association of Members of Congress. That is the only way in which they can properly serve their constituency!

The more rank and file Members of Congress who join the Association, the better! If they form the majority, they can then elect a new Speaker of the House! The newly united House can then pass a balanced budget, one that requires the billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes.

Of course, such a budget would also have to pass the Senate, before going to the White House, for the president to sign into law. Yet if enough Senators join the Independent Association of Members of Congress, that is not a problem! They could even have enough votes to overturn a presidential veto!

As well, the government will continue to function, avoiding a shut down. Problem solved!

In conclusion, we can say that the revolutionary movement is now so strong, it has reached into the ”hallowed halls” of the House of Representatives, possibly also the Senate.

It is entirely possible, that the only way in which a new Speaker of the House can be elected, is through the creation of an Independent Association of Members of Congress. Such an Association would very likely succeed in passing a balanced budget, one which taxes the billionaires.

The one week ”cooling off period” could well backfire! The ranks of the ”Rebels” could swell considerably! The efforts of the Party bosses, to restore ”law and order” within the ranks, could well force the Members to band together in protest! To form an Association!

Without doubt, the approaching few weeks are bound to be most interesting. As the common people are watching events closely, it is bound to raise their level of awareness.

It is the duty of Communists, to get in touch with as many rank and file Members of Congress as possible, and offer them our full support! As well, get in touch with as many common people as possible, if only through the internet. Explain to them that which is happening. Encourage people to read State and Revolution, at the very minimum.

We have no way of knowing how this is going to play out. We do know that the revolutionary motion has touched down in Washington! This is most encouraging.

At the time Congress resumes, it is doubtful that the Party bosses will be able to elect a new Speaker. It is entirely possible that the rank and file Members, will relieve them of that burden! They may elect their own Speaker! And then pass an annual budget, one which taxes the billionaires! As well as avoid a government shut down!

Or perhaps the Members of the House will continue to fight among themselves, unable to elect a Speaker, unable to avoid a government shut down.

The important thing is that the revolution has reached Washington, and the working people are paying close attention.