As the House of Representatives and Congress continue to feud, The United States suffer the consequences of a federal government shutdown.
October: the time of falling leaves, chilly winds and a federal government shutdown.
It’s no secret that the House of Representatives, the Senate and President Barack Obama have a difficult time agreeing on things from time to time.
But on October 1, this matter of disagreeing resulted in the unpaid furlough of 800,000 federal government employees, as well as the indefinite suspension of social programs provided by the federal government.
There are several reasons government officials have come to this conclusion, but the most prominent topic it resulted from was the bickering surrounding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as Obamacare.)
The bill, which was signed into law by Obama in the spring of 2010, was designed to ensure that every American would be presented with the opportunity to purchase health insurance.
Since it was first brought to light, the Affordable Care Act has been the hottest topic of debate amongst the Republican-led House and the Democratic-driven Senate.
During the most recent congressional meeting, the House passed the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2014, which called for Americans to pay approximately $7,200 more during the fiscal year of 2014, in order to help the United States out of its recession, according to an article written by Jim Harper of WashingtonWatch.com.
The last 10 days of September were spent fighting over this bill, with the Senate taking out the measures related to the Affordable Care Act, and the House putting these measures right back in.
Due to the inability to compromise on the issue and get the bill passed by midnight on Sept. 30, the federal government shut down, due to a lack of appropriated funds.
Yes, the House of Representatives have a reason to encourage the passing of this bill.
None of the American people want to hear about the debt ceiling anymore than we want to hear that even more money will be coming out of our pockets to pay for said debt ceiling.
However, the passing of Obamacare should not be the sole reason that the Republicans of the House choose to not pass the bill as a whole.
Since the shutdown, which took effect on the first day of October (also when the Affordable Care Act’s measures took effect), several government-funded programs, including the suspension of routine food safety inspections conducted by the Food and Drug Administration, the ceasing of FCC regulations, the closing of all 401 units of the National Park Service and the furlough of 97 percent of NASA employees.
This shutdown is indefinite, and is ultimately due to a childish game of tug-of-war between the ever-bickering House of Representatives and the Senate.
For the rest of the country’s sake, let’s hope the American people aren’t the ones that end up in the mud.
