Strategy for Funding Government

Open Email to House Speaker Boehner:

Dear Speaker Boehner,
The recent strategy of the House Republicans, based on the present government shutdown, appeared to be reinstituting parts of government that make sense and ignoring reinstitution (funding) of those parts which do not. In addition, the reinstitution must involve those items publicly desirable, and which the Senate will look bad in not accepting.
    Yesterday the House considered three bills: reopening parks and monuments; continuing veterans’ benefits; and allowing the municipal government of the District of Columbia to function.. All three bills were defeated in the House. Since the House Is said to be Republican-controlled, why did these bills fail?
    Fox News Politics said that only a simple majority was required to pass each bill. The House consists of 435 members. A simple majority would be 218. However, Fox news also said each measure would require 286 votes to pass. I wonder where they get that figure. Perhaps a two thirds majority would be required, which would be 290 votes.
There are 234 Republicans in the House and those three bills would have passed under the 218 simple majority rule, if all Republicans voted for them. If the two thirds majority were required and all Republicans voted for the bills, an additional 56 Democrats would have been needed.
Since the numbers are confusing, we will need to see how this plays out.

The Democrats keep howling that they need complete funding of the federal government. Baloney. The Democrats ask how about the National Institute of Health (NIH)? Except for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, the NIH is a bust. It sends billions of dollars to universities for ridiculous research projects.
As far as I'm concerned, you Speaker Boehner are on the right track. House Republicans must continue with their program of piecemeal reinstitution of government. If the House ever concedes to a Continuing Resolution which would fund all aspects of government, it would be putting the last nails in the coffin of our country's future.