The House of Representatives passed a bill that funds the government, but removes all funding for Obamacare. Essentially, they hope to repeal Obamacare without literally repealing Obamacare.
In the Senate, passed a "clean" funding bill, which does not defund Obamacare. This was an expected outcome because the Democrats clearly had the votes and clearly would not defund Obamacare, but that didn't stop Republican Senator Ted Cruz from dominating headlines over a "faux" filibuster protest against the passage.
This is a classic showdown in which both sides are hoping to win the political battle, but -- presumably -- neither side really wants the battle to end in a government shutdown. Its basically a game of political chicken.
Consider the potential result if a government shutdown really does occur. The Washington Post has an overview of previous shutdowns that actually happened. AP speculates what it might look like this time around:
Read up about the battle online (if this is news to you, I recommend starting here) and decide for yourself:
- Are the Republicans out of line to attach a defunding Obamacare demand to a crucial spending bill, or should the Democrats take up the bill as the House passed it?
- What other motives do you see in this political fight?
- What should current Congressmen have learned for past government shutdown battles?
- Do you think the shutdown will actually occur? Why or why not?
1. I think the Republicans are definitely stepping out of line here. The president can't really do all that much during their respective presidency and now the house is trying to undermine Obama's flagship policy. That's just not right. Plus what is the point in trying to repeal obamacare once again, it has been tried 41 other times by various Republicans and failed.
ReplyDelete2. This political battle is about much more than continuing resolutions and debt limits. Everyone knows both these will eventually need to be raised. This is a just a Republican attempt to indirectly say to Obama that they don't like the way his presidency is going.
3. Current congressmen should realize a government shutdown will only hurt both parties. And personally, I think, raising debt limits is a stupid issue to fight obamacare with since all policies (not just Democratic ones) require funding.
4. No, I don't think the shutdown will happen. Nine out of ten of these shutdown attempts ultimately fall through and one side backs down. This is political chicken at its finest.
I do not think Republicans are out of line; the Constitution clearly states in Article 1, Section 7 that "All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Represenatatives." I assume that the bill proposed by the house to pay military workers in the event of a shutdown makes it pretty evident that a shutdown is entirely possible. I don't know that a shutdown will be very effective, however, since apparently Obamacare can still be put into effect without government programs.
ReplyDelete1. I feel that the Republicans are not out of line with trying to defund Obamacare. This nation is in a great debt because of all of the spending. To keep this nation alive, we will have to stop earning so much in benefits and programs like Obamacare. The Democrats should take up the bill as it was passed.
ReplyDelete2. The main motive behind all of this is for each side to get their opinion across. The Republicans are trying to prove that Obamacare isn't a smart idea. Democrats are trying to continue what they have been doing, and hoping that it will all work out in the end.
3. A shutdown won't do anything. If anything, it will only make this nation go into further debt. Both sides should stop arguing. It is childish, and overall, stupid.
4. Hopefully not. As I mentioned earlier, it will only hurt out nation more. We have to agree on something, or both sides will suffer.
1. I don't think the Republicans are stepping out of line. In a way I think its both the Democrats and Republican's faults for not resolving this issue sooner instead of arguing about it and playing chicken a couple days before a resolution is needed. I think that our country is in a big enough debt that we don't need to improve our health care system and that the democrats should have passed the bill when they had the opportunity.
ReplyDelete2. Other motives that I see are that our nation is more divided then it ever was. I think that Republicans and Democrats are going to keep fighting about almost everything until one party wins. I believe that one party wants to have the upper hand in our government.
3. Our congressmen should have learned that shutdowns only lead to chaos and if anything makes our nation go backwards in a way. A shutdown would only lead to more unemployment.
4. I think that one side will have no choice but to give in or to come to some sort of compromise in the middle.
1. The republicans are out of line. They shouldn't try to cut the program by piggybacking on the back of a very important bill. It seems like a desperate ploy to get their way.
ReplyDelete2. The motivation behind this fight is power. If the republicans win this they prove that they can control policies. If the democrats win they get the power.
3. A shutdown won;t get anything done; it will just hurt everyone.
4. I don't think the shutdown will occur. One side will back down before the serious damage starts to happen.
1. I wouldn't say the Republicans are out of line trying to get rid of Obmama care. They are just doing what they think is best, but risking a government shutdown is taking it too far. This is over the fortieth attempt at trying to get rid of Obamacare. I feel the Republicans are just tired of being overlooked that they are doing something big so people know they are serious about getting rid of Obamacare.
ReplyDelete2. Politics have many unclear motives, but for the Republicans it is obvious that they don't like Obama or how he runs the United States so they are trying to make an impression on him. The Democrats just want to keep going as planned, but they don't want to give into the Republicans because they don't want to look weak.
3. They should have learned that that no one wins in this scenario. They either compromise and move on or our nation will go further into debt. Sooner or later we'll get so far into debt that we won't be able to rebuild our nation back up because of all the debt.
4. I hope not, but seeing how both sides are hard headed it is highly possible. They need to realize that playing chicken is childish and that they need to step up and help lead this country. This is only going to hurt both sides and the nation. Hopefully they will realize that compromise isn't both sides looking weak, but a conciliatory gesture meaning both sides don't want a government shut down and put our nation first.
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DeleteI don't know about out of line, but...
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans didn't feel like they could get what they wanted by recalling Obamacare (did they even try to compromise?), so they did this. They hoped that it would force the Democrats to accept their demands. Meanwhile, the Democrats hope the Republicans will back down first. As neither side does anything, the government shutdown gets closer and no one tries for middle ground. To me, it seems like the point of a two-party system is to force compromises, not play chicken with huge consequences.
What these Congressmen need to learn from the others that tried this is that there needs to be an alternative. If there is no alternative, the only choices available are back down or shut down. If an alternative is drafted, there's another choice.
With regards as to what will happen, I think either both sides won't back down, and then they'll have to reach an agreement after the shutdown, or one side will back down or propose a compromise at or very near the last second possible. There's a reason it's called chicken.
I think this whole situation is just childish. I think the Republicans are out of line for attaching this defunding of Obamacare demand to the crucial spending bill. They have tried many, many times to get rid of Obamacare, and it hasn't worked. They should realize that concurrence between these two opinions of keeping or repealing Obamacare will not come easily, so placing it in such an important bill is not appropriate at this time. I feel like the Republicans are just using this situation to prove a point that they can and/or will get their way eventually. They need to realize that the people choose who is in the Senate and House and the decisions made in Congress need to respected for the government to run the way it was intended to run. I think both sides just want to be right, but what really needs to happen is a compromise or one side to be the better "person" and just go along with the other side to do what's best for the country as a whole.
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ReplyDeleteI think the republicans are overreaching their boundaries. Perhaps the democrats are being too bullheaded by sticking with Obamacare and allowing the game of chicken to continue, but it is the main policy of his presidency and Obama is not likely to budge. Already our country has been given a lower credit rating over stand-offs between the two parties from the threat of defaulting on our tremendous debt. Obamacare is such a small part of the budget, the republicans should not threaten to damage the whole country over it. I feel like the republicans are trying to prove their power in Washington, but not for the public good at all. Their extreme views on lowering the deficit are proving detrimental. I think the congressmen should have learned that a government shut down is not to be toyed with. Sometimes chicken does end with someone getting seriously injured and in this case it'll be the whole nation. I doubt the shutdown will actually occur. If Obamacare hasn't been taken down with the past 41 attempts, it's not likely to be now. The republicans will have to step down.
Since the majority of Americans are against the Affordable Care Act, I wouldn't say Republicans are going against the public good
DeleteThe bill doesn't defund Obamacare anymore, it just delays it a year and gets rid of the medical-device tax. They are compromising or at least they are trying to.
ReplyDelete1. I believe the Republicans aren't out of line. Obamacare is nice because it helps the people, but the debt is large enough without other programs making it worse. This issue should have been resolved before in order to prevent all of this controversy at this time. So it's kind of both of their faults.
ReplyDelete2. The motives in this issue is power. Each party wants control over the government to have it their way. Republicans want Obama to look bad by showing that his program is bad. Democrats want the program to be successful and have the love of the people.
3. A shut down will only lead to disaster. Greater debt, angrier people, and weakened government. In the end, it is the worst conclusion. they just need to make a choice and deal with it.
4. I don't think a shut down will happen. It can only be bad, so one side will be forced to give in and agree with the other.
Personally I think the republicans are out of line. Obama was elected fair and square, and with him comes Obamacare. Republicans are just using a loophole to try and get rid of something that they couldn't get their way on (like a 5 year old throwing a temper tantrum). One side or the other definitely needs to step down because a government shut down isn't going to do any good; all it will do is set people behind and cause more problems. I doubt that the shut down will happen because neither side wants it to, and in the past most shut down attempts failed, but what really needs to happen is a compromise. (haha like that will happen.)
ReplyDeleteI do not think that the Republicans were out of line to attach their demand to the spending bill. However, I don’t think that it was a worthwhile move because I do not think that the Senate or the President will allow the bill to pass as it is and it is causing the risk of a government shutdown. It also seems that the Republicans would get more blame if a shutdown did occur because they were the ones who brought the Obamacare issue into such a vital bill in the first place knowing that the Senate and the President would be unlikely to pass it.
ReplyDeleteThere are several motives at work in this case. Each side is reluctant to back down because they do not want to look weak. Each side also wants things to have things their way but does not want to cause a government shutdown.
I think that it is unlikely that a government shutdown will occur. I do not think that either side wants their way that much and they do not want the blame of causing it. However I am not sure that they will be able to reach an agreement that is acceptable to both sides before it occurs. I think that it was unlikely but not impossible that the shutdown could occur also because shutdown attempts in the past have failed.
I do not think that Obamacare will be defunded because the Republicans having tried and failed to repeal this law many times before should not think that this time will be any different. The Senate and the Presidential Office are also both Democrat controlled.
Wow, Overall, i don't know what to think. On one point it does seam like the Republicans are trying to take away obama care due to the fact that they do not want it, but to contradict, it also seams like the president is not allowing the government to equally find a solution and create a compromise. I am going to watch the news so i can try and piece out what the problems are.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing is the Gov. Shutdown. If they really wanted to compromise, would they have allowed themselves to still be paid for not having to do anything about it? Why not make today the due date or create a bill that would give them more time to fix the real problem instead of avoiding it. I fear that this is just a tipping point to a bigger issue that will become of this.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the Republicans were out of line initially adding the element that would defund Obamacare to the crucial bill. However, if it ends up causing a government shutdown, they will go down as being "the party that caused a government shutdown." Naturally, this isn't the best way to bring in undecided voters. If they do drop the Obamacare element, however, the current representatives will most likely lose the conservative votes and thus their seats. Taking this into consideration, the only way that the Republican representatives could possibly win would be if the Democrats dropped Obamacare, but even if they did do this, there would be so much anti-Republican propaganda sent out regarding the issue that it could cripple what political advantage was gained. In short, the element to defund Obamacare was not necessarily out of line, but was politically unwise.
ReplyDeleteThe main motives are, of course, the Republicans attempting to defund Obamacare, and the Democrats trying to save it. I do not believe that either party wants a government shutdown, therefore there is certain motive to just get any bill passed. Dominant to keep the government from shutting down, however are political pride and the future. Neither side is willing to backdown because they believe in their issue, and they want to put their own party ahead of the other for the future.
Really, I believe that the congresspeople learned that government shutdowns really aren't as bad as they're made out to be. The government never truly shuts down, it just temporarily drops non-essential programs. I feel that the media coverage mainly partial, and makes the shutdown out to be exaggerated in order to pressure the other side to give in.
I don't think the government will be shutdown simply because of all the negative publicity that would come out of it. It is my opinion that politicians put their public image before their public policy, so there will probably be a compromise, the Republicans and Democrats will shake eachothers' hands, and each party will immediately start making political ads about how difficult the other party was in getting the bill passed!
(Before I end this, this comment will likely be EXTREMELY difficult to read simply because I can only see two lines in this type-box and it's really screwing with my writing!)
I personally think that what the republicans are doing is good. They needs to be repealed because it drags the US Into more debt. They need to fight for what they think. The government wont totally shut dowm.,just some of the funding. So personally this is somewhat good. I think the media is dragging this out and making it look worse than what it actually is.
ReplyDeleteIt needs to be repealed* auto correct...
DeleteI don't agree with the republicans in what they're doing. If the country is already in debt then why make it worse. Also the government will probably shut down but only for a little while. It defientley won't shut down for more than a few days because that would put our whole country in trouble and be really dumb or pointless. I do think the Republicans are going to look pretty bad by the end of this though. Yes, Obamacare is a nice plus but not when the US is already in debt, then it's just extra problems. Like this whole situation.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe the Republicans are out of line. I do not agree with the way the situation has occurred though. If the republicans were planning on not wanting Obamacare to actually start, then why wait until this deadline to bring it up. Obamacare has been a topic in government for the past five years. The idea of passing it, but then not supporting it the day it is going to start is crazy to me. Even though Obamacare is a very controversial subject, its idea is to help people which is why so many want it. The Republicans are thinking of a different "Big Picture" here, by trying to reduce our spending. Our country's debt is enormously high, and not supporting Obamacare is a huge money saver. I do believe the shutdown will occur. Both sides are sticking to their ideas of "the right thing" for now. But what we need from our government is to decide what is best for our country and stop playing this chicken game. Our country can not afford to have its government shut down for a long period of time, so the Republicans and Democrats need to get this figured out and fast.
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