Since the US government’s partial shut down is on everyone’s mind, I thought I would post two interesting perspectives on why Speaker of the House John Boehner has allowed a small minority in his caucus to set an agenda which poses serious risks for the Republican Party. Below are two columns which outline compelling motives why Boehner has chosen this avoidable pain.

The first column in the New Republic theorizes that Boehner has chosen the lessor of evils by allowing a government shutdown. The article ends by stating “Boehner would once again prove he’s far savvier than almost anyone in Washington gives him credit for.” See http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114857/john-boehner-needs-government-shutdown-avoid-debt-default

The second column, from The New York Times, presents an interesting theory that the Republican Party is actually threatened by the Affordable Care Act because its main constituency, the white middle class, stands to benefit greatly once they realize the benefits of Obamacare and that this could undermine their allegiance to the GOP. Thus this is a crucial fight for the base of the Republican Party and the short-term pain of a government shutdown is a small price to pay for that. See http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/02/business/economy/why-the-health-care-law-scares-the-gop.html?hp