The Money Runs Out at the End of September - Will This Inept Republican Congress Really Allow A Government Shutdown?!

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Money Runs Out at the End of September:

Tea Party members, Obstructionists, Extremists, think that if even a single nickle to fund The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka "Obamacare," is appropriated, then the government of the United States of America should be shut down, REALLY?! Shut the government down? Many right wing conservatives follow these idiots because their worried that the Tea Party will run someone against them in a primary election. Other Republicans like House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH.) are trying to come up with something to get the obstructionist Tea Party to not close down the government. They remember how bad it was for them the last couple times they shut down the government. The House Republicans have actually taken the time, on a salary paid to them by taxpayers, to vote to repeal Obamacare forty times while doing little else but obstruct, try to appease their base, and do some fundraising for their next campaign. So, are we headed for yet another government shutdown and everything that comes with it?

In a post by the Center for American Progress "The Dirty Truth About Boehner’s ‘Clean’ Continuing Resolution" By Neera Tanden and Michael Linden http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/budget/report/2013/09/10/73749/the-dirty-truth-about-boehners-clean-continuing-resolution/  a number of actual facts are pointed out about the proposal of House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH.) He intended to press the House of Representatives, Thursday,  to pass what he calls a “clean” continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown and to give his caucus more time to force another round of deep cuts to critical programs, services, and investments.

But in fact, a continuing resolution at the levels Speaker Boehner proposed—totaling approximately $988 billion in overall discretionary funding—would already include another round of spending cuts. The speaker’s plan would have Congress endorse 100 percent of next year’s sequester spending cuts for nondefense programs and services and about 60 percent of the automatic defense spending cuts. It is easy to see why this approach would be attractive to Speaker Boehner and the Tea Party; it is much harder to understand why any progressive or centrist would support such an approach says the article. Both the Senate Budget Resolution and the president’s budget proposal reject the additional cuts that are embedded in the speaker’s plan. They both call for funding levels that are consistent with the original deal embodied by the Budget Control Act. Congress must resist unreasonable demands to make further damaging cuts to important investments in our economic future, such as education and scientific research; basic public safety protections, such as food and drug inspections and law enforcement; or services that help support struggling families. These services, programs, and investments have already suffered from enormous cuts—and we are likely to feel the ramifications for years. Yet even more cuts are embedded within Speaker Boehner’s continuing-resolution proposal. At the end of September, the spending authority that Congress gave the government for fiscal year 2013 will run out. At some point before that, Congress must pass new legislation that sets funding levels for FY 2014, which begins on October 1 of this year. If Congress does not pass such a measure before that date, the federal government will shut down, bringing serious consequences for the economy and the American people.

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Debt ceiling drama underway

During the debate, Republicans will be trying to please their base. A Politico.com article by Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan  http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/debt-ceiling-95826.html stated "House Republicans have no idea how they’re going to lift the debt ceiling this fall — top aides and lawmakers freely admit it." GOP leaders think that if they are able to lump the sequester and debt ceiling into one legislative fight, they will be able to extract some changes to entitlement programs from President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats. The article goes on to say Republicans will also aim to include other items to please the base, including the building of the Keystone XL pipeline, various energy policies and revising parts of Obamacare, including the individual mandate. A senior Obama administration official said there is nothing that will compel the White House to negotiate over the debt ceiling — including the sequester. The White House doesn’t believe the Republicans will push the nation into default if they don’t get their way. Over the next 90 days, government funding runs dry, the $16 trillion-plus debt ceiling needs to lifted, and elements of both parties will launch serious efforts to soften the blow of sequester cuts. In another Politico article by David Rogers and John Bresnahan http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/house-gop-spending-bill-96393.html it is stated that "As a new stopgap spending bill takes shape in the House, President Barack Obama is paying a price for having dropped his guard in negotiations last spring over top domestic priorities.The White House caved early to pressure then from Republicans, who cut hundreds of millions from Obama’s appropriations requests to implement health care and Wall Street reforms. Those reductions were compounded by sequestration in March, and the draft CR or continuing resolution in the House extends this pattern into the first months of fiscal 2014 beginning Oct. 1." The GOP leadership is still debating how to handle the pressure from conservatives for a vote on the CR to cut off all funding for health care reform. But the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which plays a major role in implementing the president’s initiative, is a prime example of the squeeze on Obama.

Photo by Eric Wolfson

Democrats Torn Over Strategy For Government Shutdown Fight 

In an article by Sam Stein in Huff Post Politics he points how House Republicans will target Obamacare. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/13/democrats-government-shutdown_n_3921034.html?1379092691 "As Democrats wait to see whether and how House Republicans will target the president's health care law during ongoing budget negotiations, a fissure has developed within their own ranks over how hard to push back." Democratic officials on the Hill say the current debate is less important than those that lie ahead, pointing to the bigger battles coming in a few months time the article goes on to say. The disagreement in the Republican Party is a big one. "GOP leadership has already had to pull a bill because conservative members didn't think it sufficiently threatened the Affordable Care Act." Sam Stein explains that "Understanding the dispute requires a bit of background. The Budget Control Act of 2011 established caps on how much the government could spend during a given fiscal year. In fiscal year 2013, that number was $1.043 trillion. In fiscal year 2014, which begins in October, that number will be $1.058 trillion. But sequestration effectively reduces those spending caps. In FY 2013, it lowered the $1.043 trillion spending cap to $988 billion. For FY 2014, it is set to decrease the $1.058 trillion spending cap to $967 billion. Since sequestration is unlikely to be replaced anytime soon, spending in the coming fiscal year will likely be capped at $967 billion. But if sequestration is canceled down the road, the baselines will become important once again." The article goes on to explain clearly, what each side is looking for but the problem is that the Republican party doesn't have a clue on what they want. Since the Republicans are so far apart within there own party they don't even know what they should discuss with the Democrats or the administration.

Possible Effects of a Government Shutdown  

From an article originally posted by The Huffington Post on June 5, 2011: 

• The last shutdown cost taxpayers $800 million, including $400 million in wages to federal workers who did not report to work, according to About.com. However, during the first shutdown in 1995 800,000 non-essential workers were furloughed without pay for five days, according to AOL News.

•  A shutdown could delay social security claims and social security card issuing. Last time the government shut down 800,000 toll-free calls went unanswered, according to About.com.

• A shutdown would delay newly eligible recipients from applying, according to About.com.

• The 1995-1996 shutdown caused delays in case processing, recruitment, testing and hiring, and reportedly suspended cases involving bankruptcy and child-suport, according to About.com.

• A shutdown would result in the stoppage of many government programs involving the environment. During the last shutdown toxic waste clean-up was even suspended, according to About.com.

•  A government shutdown will cause national parks to close, turning away millions of visitors and result in a loss of revenue, according to AOL News. In addition, federally funded museums would also close as a result of the shutdown.

• If the government shuts down passport and visa applications will be delayed with a detrimental impact on the U.S. tourist and airlines industries, according to AOL News.

•  Veterans services including health and welfare programs to finance could be cut short in the event of a shut down, according to About.com.

• While the exact impact is unclear, a government shutdown could result in the delay of FHA mortgage loans that low-and-moderate-income families often depend on, according to About.com.
   The fact is that a government shutdown, along with not raising the debt ceiling, lowering America's credit rating, and the numerous irreversible things that will happen in this fragile economy, may just be the last straw that breaks the camel's back. And the scariest thing is that the only thing we have is this incompetent Congress. The same Congress that has lived up to their original goal of obstructing EVERYTHING that President Obama wants or says he agrees is good. The fact that the Tea Party, the best at obstructing any of of legislating has the Republicans totally baffled. The Republicans have no idea of how to get them to "compromise" on anything since the Tea Party doesn't allow that word into their vocabulary. All we can hope for is that some of the Republicans will see the devastation that is about to be done and stand up against the extremist that don't care if the country, or for that matter the world economy collapses and total devastation is realized.
  
  PLEASE TAKE TIME TO CONTACT BY PHONE, E-MAIL, SNAIL MAIL, OR ANY OTHER MEANS OF COMMUNICATION, YOUR CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS AND TELL THEM THEY SHOULD FEAR YOU AND YOUR VOTE, NOT THE OBSTRUCTIONIST TEA PARTY!