Last Monday marked another sad day for American politics. It was the end of the fiscal year, and the federal government’s budget was set to expire. The United States Congress faced a choice: pass a budget and have the government continue running or not act at all and have the government shut down. As a double major in political science and economics, this was right up my alley. The world of politics and debates was colliding with the world of economics and fiscal policies. I was extremely intrigued to see what members of Congress would decide was best for America.
So what did the members of Congress decide to do? They decided to stay true to their parties’ beliefs, and failed to pass a budget to keep the government running. As a result of this inaction, millions of Americans are affected negatively. Government workers have been furloughed without pay. National parks are closed to the public. Businesses are unable to get government loans. All of this negativity in effect for millions of Americans because 535 members of Congress could not reach an agreement to keep the government open. I was personally infuriated with this solution. America is the beacon of democracy. Yet on Monday night, the American government failed to stay open.
Many veterans depend on the federal government for checks they have earned, and with the government shutdown these checks will be delayed. It is not okay to make the men and women who have risked their lives fighting for our country suffer because of the Republicans’ stubbornness and inability to pass a budget. To add insult to injury, while some veterans are wondering how they will pay their rent this month, members of Congress are still receiving their paychecks. This is absolutely sickening.
There are two main issues I find very concerning about the government shutdown. The first is Congress’ inability to pass a full budget. Even if Congress had passed a bill last Monday night to keep the government funded, it would not have been a full budget. Rather the bill would have been a continuing resolution, which would have funded the government for only a few months. In fact, Congress has not passed an actual yearly budget since 2009 and has passed a series of continuing resolutions to keep the government running.
This represents an alarming trend for Americans because continuing resolutions are essentially a punt by lawmakers. These continuing resolutions allow the lawmakers to say they have done something, and no one has to take blame for shutting down the government. In reality, a continuing resolution is just a patchwork remedy that only lasts a few months until Congress has to begin the entire process again.
Second of all, this shutdown is much different than previous shutdowns. In previous shutdowns, the debate was over the budget itself. Never has there been a shutdown over a single piece of legislation that was passed three years ago. The central issue of this entire debate was funding of the Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare” as it has been labelled. This law allows greater access to healthcare for many Americans, and it has been the crowning achievement of the Obama administration. Democrats love it and want to fund it, and Republicans despise it and want to defund it.
Over three years and countless legal and legislative challenges since it was passed, The Affordable Care Act was set to begin on Tuesday. It is terribly concerning that this bill was used as a bargaining chip to avoid a government shutdown. The Republicans say a compromise by Democrats was needed. How were the Democrats supposed to reasonably negotiate a compromise when the Republicans were playing political games and threatening to shut down the government? That is simply not how the government is supposed to work, and it is unbelievably irresponsible to tie the funding of the whole U.S. government to a single piece of legislation.
The irony of the entire situation is the Republicans’ demand for a delay of the Affordable Care Act would not have made much difference at all. Regardless of what happened in Washington, D.C. last Monday, a large portion of Obamacare, including health insurance marketplaces where consumers can shop for affordable insurance, was still going to go into effect Tuesday. It did not matter if a continuing resolution was passed defunding the legislation. So what was the purpose of the whole ordeal? The only point was to take a political stance. Not only has this asinine strategy cost America millions of dollars, it has taken Americans hostage to the politics of Washington D.C. For America’s sake, lets hope this strategy is never employed again. America is supposed to be a shining example of how democracy works, and last Monday, Congress fell short of our country’s prestigious reputation.
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