Hamilton and Madison were wrong

     On the ninth day of the United States Government shut down, one thing is clear: Alexander Hamilton and James Madison were wrong. During the debates over ratification of the Constitution, the Anti-Federalists were deeply concerned about the possibility of groups and/or factions gaining control of he government and forcing their ideas and agenda on the citizens of the United States.  Both Alexander Hamilton and James Madison addressed these concerns.
     Hamilton, in Federalist Number 9, uses the words of the philosopher Montesquieu to demonstrate that larger governing bodies can be an effective force against factions gaining control because the other members of the governing body would act to stop that from happening.  Hamilton chose to quote Montesquieu directly because the Anti-Federalists used Montesquieu's writings to oppose a central government.  Montesquieu believed in very small republics.
    Madison, in Federalist 10, acknowledged that factions and parties will form.  He defined a faction as: "a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community."  
    Madison believed that "if a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote."  The faction could "clog the administration".   Madison also knew that factions could gain a majority and believed that "the form of popular government, on the other hand, enables it to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good and the rights of other citizens." 
     But Both Hamilton and Madison believed that Congress would ultimately do what was right and best for the citizens.  How sad that a small group of Republicans proved them wrong.

Stunned...

I am stunned that the Republican controlled - Tea Party influenced - House of Representatives has allowed the United States Federal Government to shut down.  But what is more disturbing is their reason: the Affordable Care Act, more commonly referred to as ObamaCare.  For reasons which I cannot even begin to comprehend, Republicans in the House and Senate as well as Republican Governors and Republican controlled State Legislatures do not believe that every citizen of this country should be able to see a doctor or fill a prescription or have a life-saving operation at prices they can actually afford.  What is even worse, yes there is something even worse, they have managed to convince some of the very people who could benefit from affordable health care that it is bad.  How can this be?  How can being able to go to a doctor, have medication and/or surgery that can save a life be wrong?
The Republicans have convinced those people that the Federal Government is forcing them to something they do not want to do and should not have to do.   One group in Florida who opposes the ACA uses the word liberty in their name.  This reminds me of the Republican led fight against a mandatory seat belt law in Massachusetts back in the late seventies/early eighties.  How dare Governor Dukakis take away peoples' rights to impale themselves on steering wheels?  And how dare President Obama take away peoples' rights to die rather than seek life-saving medical attention?