Dancing On The Cieling

Some things going on in the coming days:

•  Government Shutdown Threat continues
• Threat to not lift the Debt Ceiling continues
• Opening of the 68th session of the UN General Assembly

Yesterday the House voted 230-189 (a party line vote) on a stopgap bill that would keep the government funded as long as all funding for The Affordable Care Act (otherwise known as Obama Care) was stripped. This now goes to the Senate where it will not pass as is, the language defunding The Affordable Care Act will be taken out of the CR (continuing resolution) and it will be sent back to the house. Oh, and if by some chance it did pass the Senate as is President Obama has said he will veto it. He is not going to undo his own health care act, which is already law and has been upheld by The Supreme Court. So where was I? Oh yes, it will go back to the House. If a deal isn't reached before October 1 the government will be shut down. A lot of things stop functioning but not paychecks for Congress. They still get paid. Here is an article with some info on what happens if the government shuts down.

There are those in the Republican Party who honestly do not want the government to shut down. So why did they vote with the far right, Tea Party branch? They are afraid they will get primaried and replaced by more of the Tea Party members of the party.

Who will be blamed if there is a shut down? The House republicans who passed the bill knowing it would get kicked back to them or the Senate for kicking it back?

Those calling out for the end of The Affordable Care Act say they are speaking for the American people. I see the poles saying it isn't popular but I truly believe that it is because the American people, the average Joe, don't fully understand the law. It is confusing. I think the rush to try and get rid of it before the majority of it goes into effect on October 1 is that because once it is in place and people get to see what it is really all about the fear and dislike of the act will stop and people will like it. People who would be un-insurable before will have coverage. Lifetime caps will be gone. There are about 30 million people who will now have insurance. It will take a burden off of hospitals because the ER's wont be used as primary care for people without coverage. Oh and you can opt out and pay a fine at tax time if you don't get insurance. Here are some myths about The Affordable Care Act and the actual truth.


Then there is the Debt Ceiling. It really is an unfortunate name because it doesn't give a clear picture of what it is. It sounds like a credit line increase, like it is for new spending. It isn't. Think of it like this. You go shopping all month. A new coat at Macy's, a fancy dinner out, theater tickets, gas up your car, grocery shopping. Then the bill comes at the end of the month giving you the option to pay the full balance, pay a stated minimum or pay any amount in between.  By paying this bill you aren't getting anything new, you are paying for all the stuff you already bought, with money loaned to you by the credit card company. If you don't pay your credit rating is lowered. Lowering of your credit rating has an impact on your ability to get credit in other places. That is what this is. Raising the Debt Ceiling allows us to make our loan payments, payments for spending already done. It isn't new spending.

There are concerns that having to raise it to pay our bills means we are indeed borrowing more, or spending more than we should and therefore need to keep raising it. That is a budget issue. It would be great if we could actually hammer out and pass a budget. If both sides could agree on some spending cuts; cut that don't further decimate the middle class, maybe if we could end wars that have been going on for over a decade we could recoup some of the money going into funding these wars. Then add in some increased revenue from those who can afford to contribute more than they do, the uber-wealthy who use so many loopholes to get around paying, or who can pay to support politicians who will fight any tax increases for them. If we could do this we may not need to keep having this vote to raise the Debt Ceiling.

And in the middle of all this, the UN General Assembly opens a new session. President Obama will be addressing the assembly on Tuesday. Iran's new president will be there. Will they meet? Nothing is scheduled as of this writing but it hasn't been ruled out.