So, the government shutdown ended a while ago and should be old news by now, but the political demagoguery regarding key players of the latest Congressional "calamity" reverberates continuously across the airwaves. It doesn't matter where you go to get your news, either. It's everywhere, and it's ridiculous. It's especially frustrating to know that despite all the phony outrage over the government closing for 16 days (ergo giving all "non-essential" government employees a free two-weeks paid vacation plus a raise, which will begin early next year), the media and the press still fail to cover the essential elements of information surrounding the circumstances of the shutdown. All I ever heard from every news source was "It's the Republicans fault!," "They're holding the American People hostage!," "We won't negotiate with this terrorism!" the typical projection we can expect from the congressional left. And again, an absence of facts and valid arguments (or any argument, for that matter). This should not come as a surprise to anyone, however. Any uninformed citizen could have turned on the news (any news) for five minutes and be convinced the entire shutdown was solely the fault of the GOP and the Tea Party without hearing any details explaining why. We also never hear about the actions executed by our Congressional Democrats and the White House only to exacerbate the problem, then blame the outcome of those actions on the GOP and the Tea Party as well.
The partial government shutdown began on the days leading up to the end of the government fiscal year and the decision to pass legislation on funding the government. Funding the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare) is where the conflict in Congress began, which was preceded days earlier on September 24th-25th when Senator Ted Cruz took the stand in the Senate to decry the ACA; a speech that lasted approximately 21 hours. His goal was intended not only to encourage Republicans to continue the fight against the ACA, but to persuade all members of Congress that the ACA would ultimately hurt Americans via increases in premium payments and discontinued policies. It didn't make much difference, however. Some Congressional Republicans ultimately decided to concede in their struggle against Obamacare, most of whom swept entire elections based on their pledge to fight it. Despite what you may have heard on the news, this was really the only involvement Ted Cruz had with the partial government shutdown; a 21 hour speech and a single vote in the U.S. Senate. A few news station websites have released shutdown timelines beginning from Sep 19th and ending on Oct 17th, You can see CNN's shutdown 2013 timeline here. So, if CNN had actually read their own timeline rather than blaming Republicans for the shutdown, they would eventually discover that it was not the GOP, House Speaker Boehner, Sen. Cruz, or the Tea Party that refused to negotiate (ultimately causing a shutdown), it was actually the Democrats. So here's a brief summary of what happened in Congress between September 20th and October 17th.
Friday, September 20th - The House of Representatives pass a bill to fund the government until Dec 15th, as long as the ACA did not receive funding. With a Republican majority in the House, the bill passed 230-189, but by the time it hit the Senate (Democratic majority), the bill was turned down, as expected. The Republicans certainly didn't expect much of a compromise here.
Tuesday, September 24th - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announces at a press conference the Senate will not pass any legislation that defunds or delays the ACA. Senator Ted Cruz takes the stand on the Senate floor for 21 hours. Sen. Cruz's speech did not delay any votes so his actions could hardly be construed as a filibuster. This is contrary to what most talking heads of the mass media had to say about him, however.
Friday, September 27th - The Senate takes the same bill passed by the House of Representatives and removes all provisions intended to defund the ACA. Another change involved funding the government through to Nov 15, instead of Dec 15th. The bill was passed onto the House of Representatives.
Saturday, September 28th - The House of Representatives debates the bill.
Sunday, September 29th - The House of Representatives votes 231-192 to delay the implementation of the ACA for another year as well as 248-174 for removing the medical device tax (a significant part of the ACA's source of funding). The bill is then sent on to the Senate.
Monday, September 30th - I bolded this particular day for a reason. Pay attention to what happens here because it could change your entire perspective toward this situation. Again, the Senate 54-46 strips all provisions against the ACA passed by the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives again 228-201 pushes to delay the ACA for another year as well as mandating that Congress and its staffers abide by the statute of the ACA, just like that of every other citizen in the country. This would have required the ACA to be all-inclusive. No member of Congress is allowed exemption. The Republicans' mentality for this provision is simply "If it's good for the people, it's good for Congress." Democratic members of Congress apparently disagree. Their sheeple followers will follow suit as well.
Harry Reid did state on September 24th the Senate wouldn't pass a bill that either defunded or delayed the ACA. Either way, the Senate also rejected the notion of passing Obamacare, even under the premise that members of Congress would also be included. The architects of Obamacare so firmly believe this bill will fix the problems America is faced within our current Healthcare system, yet they so adamantly refuse to include themselves or their families within the stipulations of such legislation. It's a shame such news was so rarely and briefly mentioned within the labyrinth of timeline articles that were published online. I have not witnessed a single second of television airtime that mentioned these details, either.
It is also worth noting that as long as big business, unions, special interest groups, and all members of Congress are not required to purchase their own healthcare under the ACA, it will be that much more difficult for the American people to repeal it, even if it turns out to be a total failure. We already see that happening, and I'm not referring to the stupid website; another fad nauseam. A non-functioning website is the least of the policy's problems and is really just a diversion from its real ramifications. Unsurprisingly, the media won't shut up about that, either.
But, the government did not reopen until October 17. So, what happened in Congress between the time of September 30th and October 17th? The House passed more than a dozen bills to keep certain parts of the federal government running. Paying all active duty military servicemen was one of them. Most of those bills, however, sat on Harry Reid's desk and would never get passed by the Senate. The Democrats, aware the media was making the shutdown out to be the fault of the GOP and the Tea Party, would use that leverage to place further pressure on the House to reopen the government and remove all provisions against the ACA. It eventually worked; so much for compromise. An episode of "Crossfire" on CNN brought Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse together to discuss this matter as well. You can view this video below.
So, why are people (a sect of the Republican population and all Liberals) hating upon Ted Cruz and the Tea Party so much over this issue? Because they represent of group of people who elected them to fight Obamacare until it is finally repealed. At this point, it seems unrealistic to think that is possible, especially this early. But, what Ted Cruz and the Tea Party did was entirely within the interests of the people who elected them. If there's any reason their supporters are currently dissatisfied with Ted Cruz and the Tea Party is primarily because, in the end, they failed to defund the ACA. Raising the debt ceiling will be a similar circumstance because it's the only solution our Treasury has for America to pay its bills and not go into default. That says a lot about how out of control our government spending has become. It woud be like opening up a new credit card account just to pay the fees on all the other maxed out credit cards. The Tea Party will have no choice but to concede on that issue as well. Despite all this, the Tea Party is still a force to be reckoned with. While there is an estimated 22% of the American population who strongly affiliate themselves with the Tea Party, I personally believe the number is higher than estimated and may continue to grow over time. One can blame the national debt and all the frivolous government spending as a direct result of that.
Tuesday, September 24th - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announces at a press conference the Senate will not pass any legislation that defunds or delays the ACA. Senator Ted Cruz takes the stand on the Senate floor for 21 hours. Sen. Cruz's speech did not delay any votes so his actions could hardly be construed as a filibuster. This is contrary to what most talking heads of the mass media had to say about him, however.
Friday, September 27th - The Senate takes the same bill passed by the House of Representatives and removes all provisions intended to defund the ACA. Another change involved funding the government through to Nov 15, instead of Dec 15th. The bill was passed onto the House of Representatives.
Saturday, September 28th - The House of Representatives debates the bill.
Sunday, September 29th - The House of Representatives votes 231-192 to delay the implementation of the ACA for another year as well as 248-174 for removing the medical device tax (a significant part of the ACA's source of funding). The bill is then sent on to the Senate.
Monday, September 30th - I bolded this particular day for a reason. Pay attention to what happens here because it could change your entire perspective toward this situation. Again, the Senate 54-46 strips all provisions against the ACA passed by the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives again 228-201 pushes to delay the ACA for another year as well as mandating that Congress and its staffers abide by the statute of the ACA, just like that of every other citizen in the country. This would have required the ACA to be all-inclusive. No member of Congress is allowed exemption. The Republicans' mentality for this provision is simply "If it's good for the people, it's good for Congress." Democratic members of Congress apparently disagree. Their sheeple followers will follow suit as well.
Harry Reid did state on September 24th the Senate wouldn't pass a bill that either defunded or delayed the ACA. Either way, the Senate also rejected the notion of passing Obamacare, even under the premise that members of Congress would also be included. The architects of Obamacare so firmly believe this bill will fix the problems America is faced within our current Healthcare system, yet they so adamantly refuse to include themselves or their families within the stipulations of such legislation. It's a shame such news was so rarely and briefly mentioned within the labyrinth of timeline articles that were published online. I have not witnessed a single second of television airtime that mentioned these details, either.
It is also worth noting that as long as big business, unions, special interest groups, and all members of Congress are not required to purchase their own healthcare under the ACA, it will be that much more difficult for the American people to repeal it, even if it turns out to be a total failure. We already see that happening, and I'm not referring to the stupid website; another fad nauseam. A non-functioning website is the least of the policy's problems and is really just a diversion from its real ramifications. Unsurprisingly, the media won't shut up about that, either.
But, the government did not reopen until October 17. So, what happened in Congress between the time of September 30th and October 17th? The House passed more than a dozen bills to keep certain parts of the federal government running. Paying all active duty military servicemen was one of them. Most of those bills, however, sat on Harry Reid's desk and would never get passed by the Senate. The Democrats, aware the media was making the shutdown out to be the fault of the GOP and the Tea Party, would use that leverage to place further pressure on the House to reopen the government and remove all provisions against the ACA. It eventually worked; so much for compromise. An episode of "Crossfire" on CNN brought Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse together to discuss this matter as well. You can view this video below.
So, why are people (a sect of the Republican population and all Liberals) hating upon Ted Cruz and the Tea Party so much over this issue? Because they represent of group of people who elected them to fight Obamacare until it is finally repealed. At this point, it seems unrealistic to think that is possible, especially this early. But, what Ted Cruz and the Tea Party did was entirely within the interests of the people who elected them. If there's any reason their supporters are currently dissatisfied with Ted Cruz and the Tea Party is primarily because, in the end, they failed to defund the ACA. Raising the debt ceiling will be a similar circumstance because it's the only solution our Treasury has for America to pay its bills and not go into default. That says a lot about how out of control our government spending has become. It woud be like opening up a new credit card account just to pay the fees on all the other maxed out credit cards. The Tea Party will have no choice but to concede on that issue as well. Despite all this, the Tea Party is still a force to be reckoned with. While there is an estimated 22% of the American population who strongly affiliate themselves with the Tea Party, I personally believe the number is higher than estimated and may continue to grow over time. One can blame the national debt and all the frivolous government spending as a direct result of that.
- JSR
