Friday, October 4, 2013
Posted in
Politics
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I'm writing this article for those who blame both parties for the shutdown of the U.S. government that started on October 1, 2013. It is the Republicans who are responsible, not the Democrats. If you think otherwise, please keep reading.
As you know, or should know, the Congress has to appropriate money every year to keep the government operating. And every year there is wrangling over what should be in the appropriations bills (i.e., the budget), and every year the Democrats and Republicans end up compromising. In 1995 and 1996, when the government experienced shutdowns, there was a similar situation to what exists today -- similar, but not the same. The Republicans then controlled Congress, and Bill Clinton, a Democrat, was President. The Republicans refused to pass a budget that was acceptable to President Clinton, and the government shut down on more than one occasion.
What's happening this year is different: The Republicans hate President Obama and the Affordable Care Act ("ACA") so much that they are refusing to fund the government unless the ACA is killed, or at least delayed. However, the ACA is already the law of the land. It was passed by Congress and signed by President Obama in 2010. Most of it was ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court in 2012. Furthermore, the funds for the ACA have already been appropriated. Since the money is already appropriated, the ACA has nothing to do with the current budget.
By refusing to fund the government unless the ACA is killed or postponed, the Republicans are using the budget process to coerce the Senate and the President into doing what the Republicans want. But this isn't normal politicking. The normal way for Republicans to change a law is to elect a Republican president and a Republican congress, but they have only managed to keep control of the House (and only through gerrymandering, which is dishonest). The Republicans are essentially out of power in Washington, DC, so they've resorted to obstruction in order to get what they want. But obstruction is an illegitimate way of governing. When a party is out of power, they must show some willingness to compromise with the majority.
Imagine having a child who not only won't eat his dinner, but who insists that the food be thrown out so that no one can eat. Better yet, imagine a child who threatens to burn down the house if he isn't given only his favorite foods. In actuality, the Republicans have already gotten what they want. The Supreme Court ruled that Medicaid does not have to be expanded in states that don't want to expand it. So Republican states already have the right to disassociate themselves from the law if they wish to.
Opinion polls show that the public has mixed feelings about the ACA. They don't like it because of the mandate to buy insurance, but they also don't want it to be defunded. In other words, they are willing to give the law a chance. However, some of the people who say they don't like the ACA are people who feel that it doesn't go far enough. Those people are generally Democrats who wanted a single-payer system (in which the government pays all the bills and funds the program via taxes, as with Medicare). The fact is, a majority of Americans want the country to have a health-care system; they just don't like the one that we ended up with. It should also be noted that many of the people who don't like the ACA don't fully understand it. The Republicans have been bad-mouthing the law for three years, spreading misinformation, so naturally some people have turned against it.
If the public hated the ACA so much, they wouldn't have re-elected President Obama. One of the reasons that the Republicans are so anxious to kill the law is that they are afraid that the public will come to like it. Once the public decides that they like it, then the country will have a new government service that the Republicans won't be able to get rid of. The Republicans already want to get rid of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps.
Now that the shutdown is under way, the Republicans are using trickery to make the Democrats look bad. They have been passing individual bills to fund parts of the government. The Democrats won't accept that, and the reason is simple. If the Republicans fund the government piecemeal, then they can simply leave out funding for those portions of the government that they don't like. For example, they could fund the military, the Small Business Administration, the Parks Service, and the Veterans Administration. Once the Democrats accept funding for those departments, the Republicans could then pass bills that partially defund the Environemental Protection Agency, the Federal Trade Commission, the IRS, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, and other parts of the "safety net". If the Democrats then refused to accept reduced funding for those departments, the Republicans could simply leave those departments unfunded altogether. The Republicans, then, would have managed to wipe out the departments of the government that they don't like through trickery. If the Democrats allow themselves to be extorted in such a way this year, the Republicans will try to do it every year.
In short, the Republicans in the House are holding the government hostage in order to kill the ACA. It is a cynical, manipulative, dishonest and unpatriotic way to act. The ACA is the law of the land, and they need to accept that.
The Senate has passed a clean "continuing resolution". That's a bill that would keep all of the government funded at current levels. The continuing resolution would pass in the House (with votes from Democrats and moderate Republicans) if the Speaker of the House, John Boehner (a Republican), would allow the House to vote on it; but Boehner is refusing to do that in order to please the extreme right-wing of his party (the Tea Party). Boehner is afraid that if he crosses the Tea Party, he'll lose his job as Speaker. Thus, the Tea Party, with John Boehner's help, is holding the entire nation hostage in order to get their way. This is unprecedented behavior by a national political party, and it should not be allowed to happen.
[I originally used the term "blackmail" in this article instead of "extortion", but then I realized that blackmail is the wrong word. Blackmail is done in secrecy; extortion is done openly. The Republicans are conducting their extortion openly, for all the world to see.]
As you know, or should know, the Congress has to appropriate money every year to keep the government operating. And every year there is wrangling over what should be in the appropriations bills (i.e., the budget), and every year the Democrats and Republicans end up compromising. In 1995 and 1996, when the government experienced shutdowns, there was a similar situation to what exists today -- similar, but not the same. The Republicans then controlled Congress, and Bill Clinton, a Democrat, was President. The Republicans refused to pass a budget that was acceptable to President Clinton, and the government shut down on more than one occasion.
What's happening this year is different: The Republicans hate President Obama and the Affordable Care Act ("ACA") so much that they are refusing to fund the government unless the ACA is killed, or at least delayed. However, the ACA is already the law of the land. It was passed by Congress and signed by President Obama in 2010. Most of it was ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court in 2012. Furthermore, the funds for the ACA have already been appropriated. Since the money is already appropriated, the ACA has nothing to do with the current budget.
By refusing to fund the government unless the ACA is killed or postponed, the Republicans are using the budget process to coerce the Senate and the President into doing what the Republicans want. But this isn't normal politicking. The normal way for Republicans to change a law is to elect a Republican president and a Republican congress, but they have only managed to keep control of the House (and only through gerrymandering, which is dishonest). The Republicans are essentially out of power in Washington, DC, so they've resorted to obstruction in order to get what they want. But obstruction is an illegitimate way of governing. When a party is out of power, they must show some willingness to compromise with the majority.
Imagine having a child who not only won't eat his dinner, but who insists that the food be thrown out so that no one can eat. Better yet, imagine a child who threatens to burn down the house if he isn't given only his favorite foods. In actuality, the Republicans have already gotten what they want. The Supreme Court ruled that Medicaid does not have to be expanded in states that don't want to expand it. So Republican states already have the right to disassociate themselves from the law if they wish to.
Opinion polls show that the public has mixed feelings about the ACA. They don't like it because of the mandate to buy insurance, but they also don't want it to be defunded. In other words, they are willing to give the law a chance. However, some of the people who say they don't like the ACA are people who feel that it doesn't go far enough. Those people are generally Democrats who wanted a single-payer system (in which the government pays all the bills and funds the program via taxes, as with Medicare). The fact is, a majority of Americans want the country to have a health-care system; they just don't like the one that we ended up with. It should also be noted that many of the people who don't like the ACA don't fully understand it. The Republicans have been bad-mouthing the law for three years, spreading misinformation, so naturally some people have turned against it.
If the public hated the ACA so much, they wouldn't have re-elected President Obama. One of the reasons that the Republicans are so anxious to kill the law is that they are afraid that the public will come to like it. Once the public decides that they like it, then the country will have a new government service that the Republicans won't be able to get rid of. The Republicans already want to get rid of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps.
Now that the shutdown is under way, the Republicans are using trickery to make the Democrats look bad. They have been passing individual bills to fund parts of the government. The Democrats won't accept that, and the reason is simple. If the Republicans fund the government piecemeal, then they can simply leave out funding for those portions of the government that they don't like. For example, they could fund the military, the Small Business Administration, the Parks Service, and the Veterans Administration. Once the Democrats accept funding for those departments, the Republicans could then pass bills that partially defund the Environemental Protection Agency, the Federal Trade Commission, the IRS, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, and other parts of the "safety net". If the Democrats then refused to accept reduced funding for those departments, the Republicans could simply leave those departments unfunded altogether. The Republicans, then, would have managed to wipe out the departments of the government that they don't like through trickery. If the Democrats allow themselves to be extorted in such a way this year, the Republicans will try to do it every year.
In short, the Republicans in the House are holding the government hostage in order to kill the ACA. It is a cynical, manipulative, dishonest and unpatriotic way to act. The ACA is the law of the land, and they need to accept that.
The Senate has passed a clean "continuing resolution". That's a bill that would keep all of the government funded at current levels. The continuing resolution would pass in the House (with votes from Democrats and moderate Republicans) if the Speaker of the House, John Boehner (a Republican), would allow the House to vote on it; but Boehner is refusing to do that in order to please the extreme right-wing of his party (the Tea Party). Boehner is afraid that if he crosses the Tea Party, he'll lose his job as Speaker. Thus, the Tea Party, with John Boehner's help, is holding the entire nation hostage in order to get their way. This is unprecedented behavior by a national political party, and it should not be allowed to happen.
[I originally used the term "blackmail" in this article instead of "extortion", but then I realized that blackmail is the wrong word. Blackmail is done in secrecy; extortion is done openly. The Republicans are conducting their extortion openly, for all the world to see.]
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