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Government Shutdown


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  The 2 party system doesn't work, and its impossible to get a third party in office because there simply aren't voters for it. 

I think its more like the 2 major parties are the ones who would make the decision to change to a 3 or 4 party system and that means giving up some of the campaign monies.......and that ain't happenin.  Term limits, pay raises, stopping their pay when the govt is partially shut down....all decisions congress would have to make will never happen.  They aren't going to let go of their brass ring.

Edited by ohiomike
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Good luck getting the corporations most of us work for to stop taking it out of our checks.

 

That is a good point.....damnit!!!!! Well lets just all stop working then, seems to be a pretty popular fad in the country......lets all shutdown.

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Gozer the Traveler. He will come in one of the pre-chosen forms. During the rectification of the Vuldrini, the traveler came as a large and moving Torg! Then, during the third reconciliation of the last of the McKetrick supplicants, they chose a new form for him: that of a giant Slor! Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you!
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http://www.creators.com/print/conservative/thomas-sowell/who-shut-down-the-government.html

 

Even when it comes to something as basic, and apparently as simple and straightforward, as the question of who shut down the federal government, there are diametrically opposite answers, depending on whether you talk to Democrats or to Republicans.

There is really nothing complicated about the facts. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted all the money required to keep all government activities going — except for ObamaCare.  This is not a matter of opinion. You can check the Congressional Record.

 

As for the House of Representatives' right to grant or withhold money, that is not a matter of opinion either. You can check the Constitution of the United States. All spending bills must originate in the House of Representatives, which means that Congressmen there have a right to decide whether or not they want to spend money on a particular government activity.

Whether ObamaCare is good, bad or indifferent is a matter of opinion. But it is a matter of fact that members of the House of Representatives have a right to make spending decisions based on their opinion.

 

ObamaCare is indeed "the law of the land," as its supporters keep saying, and the Supreme Court has upheld its Constitutionality.

 

But the whole point of having a division of powers within the federal government is that each branch can decide independently what it wants to do or not do, regardless of what the other branches do, when exercising the powers specifically granted to that branch by the Constitution.

 

The hundreds of thousands of government workers who have been laid off are not idle because the House of Representatives did not vote enough money to pay their salaries or the other expenses of their agencies — unless they are in an agency that would administer ObamaCare.

 

Since we cannot read minds, we cannot say who — if anybody — "wants to shut down the government." But we do know who had the option to keep the government running and chose not to. The money voted by the House of Representatives covered everything that the government does, except for ObamaCare.

 

The Senate chose not to vote to authorize that money to be spent, because it did not include money for ObamaCare. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says that he wants a "clean" bill from the House of Representatives, and some in the media keep repeating the word "clean" like a mantra. But what is unclean about not giving Harry Reid everything he wants?  If Senator Reid and President Obama refuse to accept the money required to run the government, because it leaves out the money they want to run ObamaCare, that is their right. But that is also their responsibility.

 

You cannot blame other people for not giving you everything you want. And it is a fraud to blame them when you refuse to use the money they did vote, even when it is ample to pay for everything else in the government.

 

When Barack Obama keeps claiming that it is some new outrage for those who control the money to try to change government policy by granting or withholding money, that is simply a bald-faced lie. You can check the history of other examples of "legislation by appropriation" as it used to be called.

 

Whether legislation by appropriation is a good idea or a bad idea is a matter of opinion. But whether it is both legal and not unprecedented is a matter of fact.

 

Perhaps the biggest of the big lies is that the government will not be able to pay what it owes on the national debt, creating a danger of default. Tax money keeps coming into the Treasury during the shutdown, and it vastly exceeds the interest that has to be paid on the national debt.

 

Even if the debt ceiling is not lifted, that only means that government is not allowed to run up new debt. But that does not mean that it is unable to pay the interest on existing debt.

None of this is rocket science. But unless the Republicans get their side of the story out — and articulation has never been their strong suit — the lies will win. More important, the whole country will lose.

 

Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. His website is http://www.tsowell.com. To find out more about Thomas Sowell and read features by other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at http://www.creators.com.

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Fact: if John Boehner would allow a vote on a clean bill to fund the government (without stripping out the one law he doesn't like) that has already been proposed, it would have enough votes to pass the house, pass the senate, and it would be signed by the president right away.

1 person is responsible for the shutdown it's john boner

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Fact: if John Boehner would allow a vote on a clean bill to fund the government (without stripping out the one law he doesn't like) that has already been proposed, it would have enough votes to pass the house, pass the senate, and it would be signed by the president right away.

1 person is responsible for the shutdown it's john boner

 

We shall see, I am not yet convinced on anything that Obummer would do or not do.

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Here is a swell example of the "ACA"

http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/

This will calculate the Silver plan average. (2nd from the bottom, lower premium higher out of pocket)

 

I'm going to give you an example of someone who actually truly needs healthcare. But can't currently afford it. Who also, doesn't qualify for Medicaid.  Who certainly won't be able to afford it unable the "ACA". The federal goverment say that $11,490 is the poverty level @ 100%

 

1.Choose Ohio

2.Change to % of Poverty

3. Enter 30% (That's roughtly $3,500.00)

4. No

5. 1

6. 1

7. None

 

Currently Ohio is still on the fence about expanding Medicaid.

Please tell me how this is going to work for this individual? How is asking them to pay 200% of their income "affordable?" Sure, currently they don't have healthcare coverage. But they also aren't going to be penalized if they don't buy it.

 

I'm just giving examples. I have disdain for both sides of the isle equally.

This post has no political motivations. I would just like an explaniation of how exactly it's "affordable".

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Here is a swell example of the "ACA"

http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/

This will calculate the Silver plan average. (2nd from the bottom, lower premium higher out of pocket)

 

I'm going to give you an example of someone who actually truly needs healthcare. But can't currently afford it. Who also, doesn't qualify for Medicaid.  Who certainly won't be able to afford it unable the "ACA". The federal goverment say that $11,490 is the poverty level @ 100%

 

1.Choose Ohio

2.Change to % of Poverty

3. Enter 30% (That's roughtly $3,500.00)

4. No

5. 1

6. 1

7. None

 

Currently Ohio is still on the fence about expanding Medicaid.

Please tell me how this is going to work for this individual? How is asking them to pay 200% of their income "affordable?" Sure, currently they don't have healthcare coverage. But they also aren't going to be penalized if they don't buy it.

 

I'm just giving examples. I have disdain for both sides of the isle equally.

This post has no political motivations. I would just like an explaniation of how exactly it's "affordable".

Even if Ohio does not expand coverage this person would still qualify for Medicaid in Ohio making only 30% of the national poverty level. So no they wouldnt get any subsidy under ACA but under Medicaid they would. 

 

Here is another example using the same calculator:

 

2 adults 30yr. old non-smokers

2 kids

Combined income- $33k (that $8 an hr. working 40hr. a week.)

 

213% poverty level

$2226 for insurance (about $42 a week for insurance. Which i would guess is cheaper than what most people pay for a employer based group plan)

$6371 Gov't credit

 

In the end i believe that the $2226 that is their share, effectively will be zero after its all said and done. Come tax time you could assume that this family will recieve a deduction for 2 dependents and sprinkle in some earned-income-credit which will more than cover the $2226. 

 

BOOM,  free insurance with money left over for a party at Chucky Cheese. For them its totally affordable.

 

Current MAX income for Medicaid in Ohio:

Single: $10,344 (your example qualifies)

Family of 4: $21,192 (my example does not and would benefit from ACA)

 

So i think ACA really helps the working poor that make to much for Medicaid and not enough to pay for their own private plan (if none is offerred by their employer).

Like Cdub said, im not arguing whats right or wrong or the effect of this program down the road as a whole. Just who may or may not benefit from the program.

Edited by 20thGix
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The little i did look into Medicaid requirments for my previous post (basically income levels) , i did see that there are a bunch of rules as to who can qualify. Assets, gifting money to family and other things that could get you denied for a certain period of time. <---Only skimmed over that stuff so take that for what its worth.  

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Unfortunately gix, the person I mentioned above does not currently qualify for medicaid. Which boggles my fucking mind. I might have to relook into that for sure.

 

...which is why Ohio should pass Medicaid expansion.  They won't because Kasich is an asshole that passed up federal funding before, but he should.

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...which is why Ohio should pass Medicaid expansion.  They won't because Kasich is an asshole that passed up federal funding before, but he should.

 

No no, that's un'merikan. jezis will heal you if you pray hard enough, you don't need no doctors pokin' around in you pulling out cancer cells.

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...which is why Ohio should pass Medicaid expansion.  They won't because Kasich is an asshole that passed up federal funding before, but he should.

iirc, Part of the expansion of Medicaid would allow people that make up to 138% of the poverty level to qualify in Ohio. Even though the Fed gives the state cash,  i believe the state has to cover 40% of the bill. Can the state afford the amount of people that Medicaid would open up to? Is it cheaper for them to enter the exchange (ACA)? I dont know the answer to these but i assume they are concerns of the state.

 

Edit- also im sure political reasons aswell.

Edited by 20thGix
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http://www.ohiolegalservices.org/public/legal_problem/health-care/medicaid/qandact_view

Here is where medicaid sucks ass.

Read point #2 in that link.

...which is why Ohio should pass Medicaid expansion. They won't because Kasich is an asshole that passed up federal funding before, but he should.

I agree that it needs expansion. To many people that actually need coverage go without.

This is where our politicians, together, fail at finding common ground.

Edited by Cdubyah
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