I cannot recall a time in my adult life where my government wasn’t trying to scare the hell out of me.

In the 2000s, it was the fear of terrorism.

In the 2010s, it has been the fear of further economic ruin.

In the 2020s, it will be whatever calamity is readily available or conveniently manufactured.

Once upon a time we had nothing to fear but fear itself. The U.S. Congress increasingly relies on fear, and fear alone.

Congress handled its business on Wednesday. Its members reached an agreement to raise the debt limit, reopen government and create a framework for budget discussions. All of that was in jeopardy because of the Republican Party’s stubbornness over the new healthcare law. When Congress just doing its job is newsworthy, we got issues.

If Republicans are trying to show us they are better at governing, they’re not making a convincing case.

There’s no shared responsibility in this scenario. Blame for the manufactured fiasco rests squarely on the House Republicans, specifically a few dozen ultraconservative representatives. Fear was the only leverage the House GOP had, but they wasted it on mindless “Obamacare” scaremongering.

The healthcare roll out has been lackluster, but that’s nothing compared to the cluster that would have ensued if Republicans had allowed the country to default on its debts. Interest rates would skyrocket, it would cost us trillions more to borrow money and it would erase any trace of economic supremacy that America has left.

The House Republicans agreed to allow our country to pay its bills only when it became clear they had dug themselves into a pretty deep hole.

You know you’re losing the argument when Fox News can’t even adhere to its own talking points.

The Democratic Party isn’t the bee’s knees. They’re just the only alternative we have to this craziness.

I hold several conservative values in high regard. Wasteful government spending should be eliminated. People who are able-bodied should work, even if it’s volunteering in the community. Government should let free enterprise flourish.

What I disagree with, strongly, is the Republican Party’s offensive positions on social issues and general hatred of ideas that conflict with their own.

I also disagree that government should be fought at every opportunity. It’s a messy, complicated and uncaring institution, but it has its uses. Bringing down the cost of healthcare is not something that can be left to the free enterprise system. Anyone who would seek to profit from our health does not have our best interests at heart.

The Affordable Care Act isn’t going to fix all the problems with our system, but it’s a start. The law, imperfect as it is, is here to stay.

I’m not sure the same can be said about the GOP as we know it.

The scare tactics aren’t working. This country no longer fears the consequences of incompetent government. We’re already living it and the GOP is getting rightly blamed for it.

The GOP is becoming the face of everything it claims to hate.