Sweet Greggo wrote:
The debt ceiling doesn't have anything to with the ACA, the issues just happen to come up close to each other.
I'm no govt expert (failed it once in HS even) so I could be off, but I think it goes a little something like this:
The US's fiscal year begins Oct 1. Every year at this time congress passes a resolution to fund the government based on legislation that was passed the previous year. So like, everyone has already agreed on what the government will be paying for, now we just need to write the checks. This normally is a slam dunk deal because of course everything has already been debated in the Senate and House, voted on and passed in both the Senate and the House, signed into law by the President, and in some cases upheld by the Supreme Court. By this time everyone is usually happy because they either got their laws passed or they got something for allowing a law to pass that they didn't like. Everyone's a winner, right? Not this time. This time there are a few dozen members of Congress that were elected based on promises to get rid of the ACA by any means necessary. Normally this means doing things like working behind the scenes cutting deals, attaching legislation to a bill that has a good chance of passing anyway, etc. Hell, it can even be brought up FORTY-ONE times for a vote if you like. OR, you can watch the new laws fail (if they do) and use that to rally your base and get some more folks on your side in congress to vote it out.
So here's what's happening: A couple of weeks ago the Democratic controlled Senate passed a resolution to open the checkbook and fund the govt. This includes the military, contractors and new laws like the ACA. After the Senate passed the resolution it went to the Republican controlled House of Representatives to be passed. But instead of passing the CR (Clean Resolution, same exact thing the Senate passed with NO changes) they stripped out funding for the ACA. When the changed resolution went back to the Senate they shot it down. Then a line was drawn in the sand and no one is budging. A lot of people on the right (the far right) are applauding what's happening, but this is setting a very concerning precedent. This time the stalemate is the ACA but what's next? Abortion? Gay Rights? Civil Rights? What if a small fringe of people get elected based on promises that they will bring back segregation? Seems far fetched to us NOW.
But to your point: How do we pay for it? It can be done. Not spending a couple of trillion dollars in a decade fighting unnecessary wars would be a good start but I'm sure there are other things that can be trimmed. Everyone's taxes can be raised a little. It's a small price to pay to live in a healthy country. That's the way I see it. And for people griping about more taxes, hey that's great, but you've lived with FICA and Medicare taxes all your life. You'll adjust.
The ACA is NOT perfect. Personally I would like to see an actual Universal Healthcare system. But it's a step in the right direction. Hopefully in a couple of years when people realise there aren't really "death panels" and not everyone's premiums shot up 3000% they'll see that the ACA is doing some real good.
I'm no govt expert (failed it once in HS even) so I could be off, but I think it goes a little something like this:
The US's fiscal year begins Oct 1. Every year at this time congress passes a resolution to fund the government based on legislation that was passed the previous year. So like, everyone has already agreed on what the government will be paying for, now we just need to write the checks. This normally is a slam dunk deal because of course everything has already been debated in the Senate and House, voted on and passed in both the Senate and the House, signed into law by the President, and in some cases upheld by the Supreme Court. By this time everyone is usually happy because they either got their laws passed or they got something for allowing a law to pass that they didn't like. Everyone's a winner, right? Not this time. This time there are a few dozen members of Congress that were elected based on promises to get rid of the ACA by any means necessary. Normally this means doing things like working behind the scenes cutting deals, attaching legislation to a bill that has a good chance of passing anyway, etc. Hell, it can even be brought up FORTY-ONE times for a vote if you like. OR, you can watch the new laws fail (if they do) and use that to rally your base and get some more folks on your side in congress to vote it out.
So here's what's happening: A couple of weeks ago the Democratic controlled Senate passed a resolution to open the checkbook and fund the govt. This includes the military, contractors and new laws like the ACA. After the Senate passed the resolution it went to the Republican controlled House of Representatives to be passed. But instead of passing the CR (Clean Resolution, same exact thing the Senate passed with NO changes) they stripped out funding for the ACA. When the changed resolution went back to the Senate they shot it down. Then a line was drawn in the sand and no one is budging. A lot of people on the right (the far right) are applauding what's happening, but this is setting a very concerning precedent. This time the stalemate is the ACA but what's next? Abortion? Gay Rights? Civil Rights? What if a small fringe of people get elected based on promises that they will bring back segregation? Seems far fetched to us NOW.
But to your point: How do we pay for it? It can be done. Not spending a couple of trillion dollars in a decade fighting unnecessary wars would be a good start but I'm sure there are other things that can be trimmed. Everyone's taxes can be raised a little. It's a small price to pay to live in a healthy country. That's the way I see it. And for people griping about more taxes, hey that's great, but you've lived with FICA and Medicare taxes all your life. You'll adjust.
The ACA is NOT perfect. Personally I would like to see an actual Universal Healthcare system. But it's a step in the right direction. Hopefully in a couple of years when people realise there aren't really "death panels" and not everyone's premiums shot up 3000% they'll see that the ACA is doing some real good.
Sometime I can't tell if you are slow or genius.