After the fiscal cliff crisis talks in late 2012 to early 2013, another budget crisis is the last thing anyone wants to hear about as we near the end of 2013. Unfortunately, House representatives are talking of a partial government shutdown (again) that could happen in less than two weeks. This possible shutdown depends on one thing: stopping the new healthcare law, Obamacare.
House Republicans signed legislation on Friday that pulls funding from the healthcare law in order to keep the government funded from October 1 to December 15. This is yet another attempt by House Republicans to halt Obamacare. The House vote on the legislation was 230-189 in favor of keeping the government afloat as long as the healthcare funding is stripped. While the bill had majority support in the House, it is expected to be shot down in the Senate.
“In case there’s any shred of doubt in the minds of our House counterparts, I want to be absolutely crystal clear: Any bill that defunds Obamacare is dead, dead. It’s a waste of time,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said. However, Republican Senator Mike Lee says otherwise: “We have support in the Senate. All forty-five Republicans in the Senate in March voted to defund Obamacare. We’ll keep those and add a forty-sixth, Jeff Chiesa…I hope that a few Senate Democrats…will consider joining us. This is what the American people asked us to do.”
President Obama has also said that he will not consider any proposals to amend or remove funding from the healthcare reform law. “We’re hearing that a certain faction of Republicans, in the House of Representatives in particular, are arguing for government shutdown or even a default for the United States of America…if they don’t get 100 percent of what they want,” Obama said.
After Obama said he wouldn’t negotiate on healthcare law, Speaker John Boehner released a video on Thursday bashing Obama for being unwilling to negotiate with Republicans on the healthcare law while being willing to work with Russians regarding Syria:
Obama further said that House Republicans aren’t concerned about the people, but are instead obsessed with messing with him. “They’re not focused on you,” Obama said at a Ford plant in Liberty, Missouri. “They’re focused on politics. They’re focused on how to mess with me.”
A lot of people are critical of Republicans for continuing to pursue pulling funding from Obamacare. Discuss your opinions on the healthcare law issues below.
US budget bill defunds health law. How the Republicans hate the principal of universal health care! http://t.co/tVQ9EjpEtQ
— Graham Scambler (@GrahamScambler) September 21, 2013
@Alexwitt Republicans wasted millions in taxpayer money trying to repeal Healthcare law. Then have nerve to complain about government waste
— Sharon Jones (@sharblom) September 22, 2013
@foxnation @CNN no Obamacare, no abortions, let kids be born into poverty and starve to death; love them Republicans @chrislhayes @hardball
— Shadow Warrior (@seminolesteve) September 22, 2013
