TODAY A NEEDLESS AND RECKLESS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CONTINUES. There is no reason for us to be in this situation. Our government is closed because 40 or so radical tea party Republicans refuse to vote for any funding bill that doesn’t delay or defund the Affordable Care Act. This is a fight they’ve lost nearly 50 times in Congress, in a national election, and in the United States Supreme Court. Keeping the government shut down because Democrats want to make sure people can buy affordable health insurance is a thoughtless disregard for responsible governance and the people we serve.
Democrats have compromised. I agreed to support a measure that included $72 billion in annualized across-the-board spending cuts to keep the government open. The Senate passed this legislation multiple times before the government closed, but this wasn’t enough for the tea party wing of the House Majority — for them to vote for any measure, the Affordable Care Act had to be defunded or delayed.
Their refusal to compromise is hurting our economy and country. It’s putting 800,000 federal employees out of work and delaying paychecks for 2 million more, cutting off food-safety operations and infectious disease surveillance, stopping important medical research, halting the disbursement of new small business loans and costing the taxpayers $150 million a day.
Now the House Majority is trying to pass piecemeal funding measures to fund things like our national parks and the Department of Veterans Affairs. These bills are nothing more than cynical political ploys designed to lessen the outrage the House Majority is facing for shutting down the government. By passing these piecemeal measures, the House Majority is choosing which people the government works for and which people it ignores. That’s not the way government works. It’s irresponsible. And while it might be good for politics, it’s terrible for our country.
The right thing to do for our nation would be to pass the Senate’s compromise government funding legislation that protects health care reform and reduces spending. I stand ready to support such a bill. Democrats stand ready to support such a bill. And many responsible members of the Republican Party in the House stand ready to pass such a bill. If it were put on the floor of the House today it would be passed and our government would be open tomorrow.
It’s important for everyone in our nation that the institution of representative government works. Right now this important institution is being held hostage by a small fraction of extremists in the House Majority who are obsessed with sabotaging health care reform. It’s time for the House Majority to put the interests of our nation ahead of the interest of the tea party, pass the Senate’s compromise bill and reopen our government.
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson represents California’s 5th District, which includes Benicia.
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This is the 18th government shutdown since 1976. This is hardly a new or “radical” occurrence.
Really? When is the last time you clowns passed a budget? Why is congress excluded from the health care you morons mandate for the rest of us? You sir are a joke, please resign from congress now.
http://mediamatters.org/mobile/research/2013/09/17/right-wing-medias-latest-zombie-myth-congress-i/195925
Love our excellent congressman. Thanks Mike!
The GOP needs to quit fighting O’Bama care. All they’re doing is digging themselves into a deeper hole for future elections, especially the White House. Let O’Bama care go forward and if it is so bad they should have no problem in future elections.
Good point RKJ. The R’s should just let it go, let it go and let people realize how bad this is going to be for the coming months/years.
It is a disgrace though what Obama has done regarding the WWII vets
“Fox Accuses Obama Of Hurting Elderly WWII Vets With Shutdown Fox Hosts Praised”:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/10/02/fox-accuses-obama-of-hurting-elderly-wwii-vets/196243
weak and pathetic. Total lack of empathy for elderly Vets
Man Republicans are getting desperate for good press. WWII vets make great props
Talk about bizarro world:
“Republican Congressman Castigates Park Ranger For The Memorial Closure He Voted For”:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/03/congressman-park-ranger-memorial_n_4037524.html
Yes DDL , the proof would be in the so called pudding, if Obama care is a failure it should be a great recruiting point for the GOP. The present act, resulting in Govt. shutdown is absurd and doing nobody any good.
We should not just let it go. Its time to take a stand. How can O’bama change the law giving congress, unions etc exemptions without congress voting, Get serious people. Put down the kool aid.
“From Politico to ‘Hannity’: The trajectory of Congress’s Obamacare ‘exemption’ myth”:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2013/10/02/from-politico-to-hannity-the-trajectory-of-congresss-obamacare-exemption-myth/
The Democrats are holding the government hostage to get funding for Obamacare. Either do things their way with no discussion or compromise, or no Government services. The Republicans fully funded all government services EXCEPT Obamacare.
It looks like the Herald is broadcasting radio waves from bizarro world again.
It’s not Obamacare OMG get it right, it’s the Affordable Health Care for America Act and its the law now. the Republicans DID NOT fund all of the government it pick parts to fund, that is the problem. I guess some people are just not getting it. If the republicans would just tell the TEA PARTY to go home and do there job we would have been running all long but NO they have to do it there way. Well thank you REPUBLICANS for NOT doing your job. We should vote them OUT next time.
Gary said:Well thank you REPUBLICANS for NOT doing your job. We should vote them OUT
If all Republicans were voted out of office, who would Democrats have left to blame their failures on?
I think you have a severe misunderstanding of the Constitution. All revenue and spending bills originate in the House of Representatives. The Republicans, who took the House with a tidal wave election in 2010 and held that House in the 2012 election are doing what they were elected to do, defund “Obamacare”. You do remember how the Democrats passed the bill, I hope. Not a single Republican vote. One last point, Democrats used the “it.s the law” argument to defend slavery, the Dred Scott Decision, interning the Japanese during WWII and segregating the military under FDR.
Good point John. John he also tryed to increase THE size of SCOTUS..
None of the members of Congress took the economics course I taught to business majors who were juniors and seniors. If they had taken my course, they would know better than to play with this economy. A prolonged shutdown of the government will cause the economy to suffer. The “multiplier effect” exaggerates the effect of a slow down by a multiple of the amount withdrawn from the economy. Putting a million people out of work creates a ripple effect that will put many more people out of work. The economy was already slowing down due to the sequester. The Republicans can expect, and may, in fact, want the economy to do poorly so that they can hope to blame the President, the Democrats or someone else for the poor state of our economy. It is a fool’s errand to create pain for the American people through fiscal policy, hoping to deflect the blame. We can expect that 4th quarter results will be negatively affected by the Tea Party’s act of incredible irresponsibility. The only question is whether the negative impact of the Republican shutdown will be slight or catastrophic (if the shutdown last a long time.)
Much more serious and by far, the most irresponsible action which could be taken by the GOP would be the failure to pay the creditors of the United States by defaulting on our debt. The cavalier voices of the leadership of the GOP and the rank and file suggest that they have no idea how powerful a weapon they are brandish. The GOP reminds me of Disney’s “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” Mickey Mouse donned the sorcerer’s cap and attempted to control the tides and the clouds. It went badly, and he quickly saw that he underestimated the forces he wanted to control. The GOP is playing sorcerer without understanding the danger to the nation and the world: HINT: No one controls an economy exceeding$16 Trillion, which represents a quarter of the world GDP.
The United States owes a lot of money. This country pays the lowest rate of interest on massive borrowing because every purchaser of debt instruments issued by the United States believes that there is virtually no risk that their investment will not be repaid. We have held steadfast to our commitment to pay our debts
since the first day this nation came into being. The GOP in recent years has held the threat of non-payment of debts as a bargaining tool. Again, the GOP is playing a dangerous game with a powerful weapon. The perception that the United States COULD default can be enough to create uncertainty for investors. Uncertainty creates a risk premium. Currently, we pay no risk premium, because our debts have been considered risk free. A risk premium of even a few fractions of a percentage point will explode our deficit problems. An increase in the risk premium by 1% will cost Americans $160 billion dollars in interest expense for every year the debt remains at current levels. If the risk premium reached 3%, the spending on public debt interest would wipe out much of our ability to defend the nation. And for what? The Tea Party would doom our country for decades to make some petty point about a law that was passed years ago by a majority in Congress.
Thank you for taking it back on point.
Pure Liberal acadamia point.
Mathematics is neither liberal nor conservative.
Then why are you blaming the Republicans and not the Dems. I thought what you said was very biased. Math or no Math. Congress is represented by both parties. Try spreading the blame. That is how I read your comment. Biased
James stated: the most irresponsible action which could be taken by the GOP would be the failure to pay the creditors of the United States by defaulting on our debt.
The GOP does not pay the bills of the US Government, the executive branch does, specifically the US Treasury Department. I assume you know that and that the sentence was meant to convey a different message, specifically:
the most irresponsible action which could result from the action taken by the GOP would be the failure of the Obama Administration to pay the creditors of the United States by defaulting on our debt.
Since it is the Executive Branch that pays the bills and disperses funds authorized by the House, it is the EB that selects where to cut first. Thus we see superficial cuts made which either cause the greatest inconvenience, or are the most visible, while also offering little in the way of savings (WH Tours, WWII Memorial, TSA).
This aspect of the shut down indicates that the WH has an equal level of interest in impacting the American people to further their own agenda.
Several issues are clear:
1) The majority of people in nation now do not want ObamaCare, as currently structured.
2) If put up for a vote on it’s own merit OC would fail in the House and likely the Senate.
3) The government was not ready for the launch of OC.
4) The costs are far higher than promised.
5) The number of people signing up has not been stated, likely because the numbers are far lower than expected.
Given the above, the GOP offered a compromise: Delay implementation for 12 months, an offer that was rejected. Obama has delayed, through executive actions, some aspects of OC already. The acceptance of a delay, even if only six months, would have ended this stalemate.
The Executive Branch does not nhay bills. That is the function of the Legislative Branch. See Article 1, Section 1 of the United States Constitution. If you were under the impression that the Executive Branch pays our bills, I can understand why you would want to blame the President. All appropriations are decided by the Congress. The Senate and the House each pass bills to fund the government. The differences between the House and the Senate are reconciled. A final version must pass both houses for the measure to become a law. When either chamber fails to cooperate with the other, there is no law. The House
has passed bills which do not fund all the government, and the Senate has rejected the offer by the House. Because there is no law continuing the funding of the government as of Oct 1, the government is shut down. The shutdown was caused by the failure of Congress to agree to how the government will be funded.
You may have heard about the “continuing resolutions.” In lieu of passing a year-by-year bill or budget, the Congress, because neither house will agree on a course for the country, has been passing temporary budgets which fund the government for less than a year. These are “continuing resolutions.” The primary job of the legislatures, both federal and state, is to decide who and how much to tax and where the money is spent. The executive branch is merely advisory. As to the debt ceiling, again, the power to expand the debt limit has been in the Congress, since Congress decides how much to spend.
James said: The Executive Branch does not (pay the) bills. That is the function of the Legislative Branch. See Article 1, Section 1
I do hope this conversation does not deteriorate, as it is not my intention for it to do so, but to continue we must first have an agreement on the very basic functions of government. Article One Section one has nothing to do with the payment of monies by the US Government. That section is short and specific:
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Simply stated: Congress makes the laws.
I was referring to the actually process of disbursement of government funds when I said “pays the bills”
Duties & Functions of the U.S. Department of the Treasury:
The Treasury Department is the executive agency responsible … such as the production of coin and currency, the disbursement of payments to the American public, revenue collection, and the borrowing of funds necessary to run the federal government.
Your original statement:
the most irresponsible action which could be taken by the GOP would be the failure to pay the creditors of the United States by defaulting on our debt.
Is directly at odds with the functions of the government as the GOP is a political party with no authority to disburse government funds.
My statement is valid: Once money has been authorized it is the Executive Branch that can establish the priorities on who gets paid and by what method (from allocated funds or borrowed funds).
While you are correct that the Treasury has Administrative authority to disburse funds which have been allocated. The Executive Branch has no authority to raise taxes or to set budget priorities. The Executive Branch is administrative only, not legislative. The Legislature must set priorities and pass a Budget or, in this instance, a Continuing Resolution. It is also absolutely true that the GOP has no Constitutional authority to do anything as political parties are not a branch of government. Members of Congress are not even required to be members of any political party. But it is not true that the Executive exercises any Constitutional authority over the budget process. The Executive is advisory only. The Executive does not decide who gets paid and who does – not in the sense that it makes decisions about how much money is allocated to the Department of Defense or the Department of Interior. That is the exclusive province of Congress. The amount of money allocated to debt payment is set by the Congress in the budget. Also the maximum amount of money the United States borrows is fixed as a debt ceiling by the Congress.
If the Congress decides not to increase the debt ceiling AFTER Congress has allocated funds which exceed the debt ceiling, the United States defaults on the debts and cannot borrow to continue operations. It is a huge deal to default on debt. In the corporate world, when a business defaults, it usually seeks protection on the bankruptcy laws. The Executive has no authority to authorize borrowing, neither does the Treasury. Only Congress can pass a law to allow the borrowing. The continuing resolutions have been approved in the Senate by a majority vote. Also the Senate will not advocate defaulting on our debts. They will authorize an increase in the debt ceiling. The House, by Party- line votes, shut down the government this week when it failed to pass a budget, and it is threatening to default on the debts when they come due later this month.
These facts are not in dispute. The GOP has shut down the government, and the GOP is threatening to
default on our debts.
The Executive and Treasury do not have the money or the power to raise the money. They do not have to power to tax or spend. That is a basic concept – the three co-equal branches of government. Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States provides the legislative authority to Congress to create laws. Budgets are bills that become laws when both Houses of Congress vote to pass them.
While you are correct that the Treasury has Administrative authority to disburse funds which have been allocated. The Executive Branch has no authority to raise taxes or to set budget priorities. The Executive Branch is administrative only, not legislative. The Legislature must set priorities and pass a Budget or, in this instance, a Continuing Resolution. It is also absolutely true that the GOP has no Constitutional authority to do anything as political parties are not a branch of government. Members of Congress are not even required to be members of any political party. But it is not true that the Executive exercises any Constitutional authority over the budget process. The Executive is advisory only. The Executive does not decide who gets paid and who does not – at least in the sense that it makes decisions about how much money is allocated to the Department of Defense or the Department of Interior. That is the exclusive province of Congress. The amount of money allocated to debt payment is set by the Congress in the budget. Also the maximum amount of money the United States borrows is fixed as a debt ceiling by the Congress.
If the Congress decides not to increase the debt ceiling AFTER Congress has allocated funds which exceed the debt ceiling, the United States defaults on the debts and cannot borrow to continue operations. It is a huge deal to default on debt. In the corporate world, when a business defaults, it usually seeks protection on the bankruptcy laws. The Executive has no authority to authorize borrowing, neither does the Treasury. Only Congress can pass a law to allow more borrowing. The continuing resolutions have been approved in the Senate by a majority vote. Also the Senate will not advocate defaulting on our debts. They will authorize an increase in the debt ceiling. The House, by Party- line votes, shut down the government this week when it failed to pass a budget, and it is threatening to default on the debts when they come due later this month.
These facts are not in dispute. The GOP has shut down the government, and the GOP is threatening to
default on our debts.
The Executive and Treasury do not have the money or the power to raise the money. They do not have to power to tax or spend. That is a basic concept – the three co-equal branches of government. Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States provides the legislative authority to Congress to create laws. Budgets are bills that become laws when both Houses of Congress vote to pass them.