Government Dysfunction

I worry about my country.  I fear for our democracy.  We are nearing 2 weeks of a government shutdown which was initiated by a band of zealots within one party.  They decided to use this ploy to get their way on a law that they couldn’t defeat through any other legal means.  Defund “Obamacare” (the Affordable Care Act) or we will shut down the government!  This is a law passed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court.  Despite efforts to drag Obama down using this controversial law, he easily won re-election.  So what did the Republican led House do?  They voted 40 times to defund the Affordable Care Act knowing that it would never get through the Senate.  They did this instead of addressing important issues like the economy and jobs.  It was apparently more important to deny Americans healthcare.  They declared it was necessary to shut down the government to force the president to negotiate.  Some Republicans even stated that they needed to stop this law before citizens got a taste of it—millions began signing up for insurance online October 1, same day as the shutdown.  They were afraid that Americans might like having affordable healthcare!

The longer this shutdown lasts, the more damage is done.  On top of that, Congress must raise the debt ceiling by October 17 or the U.S. faces default on paying our bills.  Some foolish Republicans scoff at the seriousness of this.  However, it seems that economists agree that to not raise our debt ceiling would have serious consequences for our country and possibly the world.

Most Republican lawmakers seem oblivious to the pain that they have caused—or they just don’t care.  Furloughed government employees are scrambling to pay bills without a paycheck and some have been told to cancel doctor appointments because they are not insured.  At least they know they’ll eventually get paid.  Employees working for government contractors are not so lucky.  There will be no paycheck for them until they can actually go back to work.  Until she moved recently, my daughter was one of those people.  Her former coworkers at the Statue of Liberty were sent home and will be out of work until it reopens.  These young people only make $10 per hour, a poverty wage in New York City, so they have no reserves.  All of the businesses who provide services to government employees and to tourists who visit national parks have also been affected.  If there aren’t people to eat at the restaurants, workers are sent home.  The poor have been hit especially hard with services such as WIC and Head Start closed.  And then there are untold other consequences that cannot be reversed—scientific studies stopped, the projects ruined, data lost.  And the list goes on. . .

Perhaps even more distressing is the damage done to our democracy.  Polls show that the approval rate for Congress is at its lowest rate ever.  Trust in government is long gone.  Our representatives have forgotten who they are representing; instead of voting for the interests of the people they are following the almighty dollar and/or extreme ideologies.  The Tea Partiers are so intent on bringing down this black president and his health law that they would destroy this country to do it.  Their tactic is “give us what we want or we will make problems for you.”  This is really a form of extortion.  And they call themselves patriots!  In the meantime the country waits for these lawmakers to grow up, act responsibly, and do their jobs.