According To Obama: Government Shutdown Won't Stop Obamacare

I didn't see this come up in the search results so forgive me if this has been already posted.

President Barack Obama said Saturday that his signature health care reform law will move forward next week even in the event of a government shutdown.

Obama, in his weekly Internet and radio address, said the so-called exchanges where Americans will be able to comparison shop for health insurance will open Tuesday as planned. Congressional Republicans have been trying to use the looming expiration of government funding to strip funding from and otherwise gut the law. But Obama reiterated that neither the threat of a government shutdown nor the looming need to increase the debt limit put the health care law up for debate again.


Read more: swampland.time.com...

If this is true, I have two questions-why shut down the government? I thought the reasoning behind the shutdown was to defund Obamacare.

How can Obamacare be stopped? It's opponents currently in charge made it clear that they aren't capable of stopping it.

Looks like he's sticking to his guns. This should be fun to watch. Republican or Democrat the American people always get screwed either way.

reply to post by technical difficulties


Very good read although I have not seen this before, but I have had knots in my stomach all day wondering what Obama would be capable of doing to show us Americans that he is the Almighty! "I think" he really believes that he is unstoppable.

reply to post by technical difficulties


To stop Obamacare republicans will need a majority in both the House and the Senate as well as a republican president. Then they could repeal it in both houses and actually get their president to sign and not veto the repeal. That's all I can think of that will work politically.

-or-

If all the younger folks refuse to sign up for it then it will collapse on it's own.

Of course it won't. That's why I've not taken this the least bit seriously and looked at it as reckless to an extreme. The damage will be real enough, but are the toads really saying, for once in their lives, they'll be Men for a change? They'll actually stand and see this to the end? They'd have to accept their own careers end in the ashes of what the end game would be, to play it all the way. I don't buy it... I just don't.

So, short of that, deals will have to be made eventually. Boehner will bend because Obama's personality doesn't allow for it. I think it's that simple. The GOP made a huge mistake in allowing Boehner another term as Speaker. He fights for what hurts most...to the nation. While he just watches major major crap float by because that benefits him and his buddies and so, why bother the status quo?

Weasels... Every last one...and you can bet, if this isn't a game (I'm still not sure) and they don't pull a midnight deal? They'll all have worked their own ways to spin and benefit from this by now, with little thought to us but eggs for the omelette.

Feel some cracking lately?

The shutdown won't stop it, but the debt ceiling fight will. Obamacare is not a prioritized spending measure. If the feds end up being forced to budget and stay within said budget for the first time in their careers, Obamacare will sit in the corner with zero tax payer dollars and zero chance of moving forward.

There will be a lot of pain involved... but elections have consequences and this is definitely a consequence of electing the asshats currently running DC.

reply to post by technical difficulties


It most likely will not stop it, however I still think the shutdown is a good thing. It will not stop it because 50% of the country gets some kind of handout and the Republicans ultimately will be too spineless to tell the country the truth - for now. The truth will come out soon whether they like it or not.

People need more awareness of why Obamacare sucks and should be stopped and the very fact Republicans are strongly opposed may get some people to research why. Also the fact that not raising the debt ceiling means things shutdown because we are dead broke should wake some up to that problem as well.

Any awareness of the sorry state of affairs this country is in is a good thing - because in my experience the vast vast majority have not got a clue economic disaster is imminent any day now.

burdman30ott6
The shutdown won't stop it, but the debt ceiling fight will. Obamacare is not a prioritized spending measure. If the feds end up being forced to budget and stay within said budget for the first time in their careers, Obamacare will sit in the corner with zero tax payer dollars and zero chance of moving forward.

There will be a lot of pain involved... but elections have consequences and this is definitely a consequence of electing the asshats currently running DC.

That's not true. Most of the funding for the ACA is already appropriated and set aside.

The government "shutting down" won't stop it from moving forward and neither will the debt ceiling. All the debt ceiling does is prevent the government from "borrowing" more money. The ACA already has it's money. So unless they keep the government shut down or delay a debt ceiling increase for a couple years, neither will do anything to it.

AlienScience
All the debt ceiling does is prevent the government from "borrowing" more money.

True in theory, but according to Obama the debt ceiling involves "paying our bills." Money allocated for other, non-essential programs and frivolities will be tapped first to ensure that debt payments and bonds are serviced. Then there are "mandatory expenditures" the government will be forced to cover. When the public begins to hear "Well, either we don't touch these ACA appropriations or we're going to need to reduce/stop granny's social security (another unfunded program that is supposedly already been allocated for) check" the public at large will demand a resolution.

Also, when was the last budget the nation passed? It predated the ACA. That means the ACA appropriations/budget for 2013 is unapproved by Congress. That also means that, in the absence of a raised debt ceiling, that money returns to Congress along with all other unused-on-the-ceiling-date monies to be reallocated towards necessities and external debts.

AlienScience

burdman30ott6
The shutdown won't stop it, but the debt ceiling fight will. Obamacare is not a prioritized spending measure. If the feds end up being forced to budget and stay within said budget for the first time in their careers, Obamacare will sit in the corner with zero tax payer dollars and zero chance of moving forward.

There will be a lot of pain involved... but elections have consequences and this is definitely a consequence of electing the asshats currently running DC.

That's not true. Most of the funding for the ACA is already appropriated and set aside.

The government "shutting down" won't stop it from moving forward and neither will the debt ceiling. All the debt ceiling does is prevent the government from "borrowing" more money. The ACA already has it's money. So unless they keep the government shut down or delay a debt ceiling increase for a couple years, neither will do anything to it.

Um - The ACA already has it's money? That is an incredibly stupid statement - nothing has its money - it takes borrowing/printing of 100 billion a month for the federal government to meet its obligations.

THERE IS ZERO dollars set aside for ANYTHING - absolutely NONE. Authorizing payment for some federal program is the same as me going to the lamborghini dealership and telling them I will buy a 300,000 car next month when I am in debt 17 million and going into another 100,000 dollars of debt each month. They will tell me to F off unless I can produce the cash.

This is what you and most every other liberal need to understand - promises to pay for something WILL be broken when the borrowing gets cut off. It does not matter how much you scream or throw fits - it does not matter how many times you were promised or how many contracts you have saying you are owed money - if there is NONE you get NONE. PERIOD.

reply to post by burdman30ott6

True in theory, but according to Obama the debt ceiling involves "paying our bills." Money allocated for other, non-essential programs and frivolities will be tapped first to ensure that debt payments and bonds are serviced. Then there are "mandatory expenditures" the government will be forced to cover.

One thing about what you are mentioning..... Am I going completely bonkers here, or did Obama in just recent days, tell everyone that raising the debt ceiling didn't necessarily equate to spending the money being allowed for? Now the spending is simply a given as mandatory.

I generally agree with the mandatory part, and it was the first round he wasn't being honest with. At least now he's being straight about what is being asked for and planned here. Still...it's kinda hard to forget that first part, when it was ...well? Last week, wasn't it?

The time compression on events is staggering ... even 10 years ago, much of what happens in a month took 6 to happen.

Do people really care? Right now, most Americans are too busy worrying about how they are going to pay for ACA, make up the difference of this "tax" being taken out of their checks, and how to stretch money for groceries, or if the SNAP ebt is going to last long enough for the month.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


You are not going bonkers. I was using Obama's own words to describe the situation. Obviously, if raising the debt ceiling doesn't impact spending and is only for "paying the bills" (kinda like using your Mastercard to pay Visa because you already tapped out the Capital One and American Express, but that seems to be the way this admin operates, so.) then by default, not raising the debt ceiling means they will have to take money tabbed for Obama's spending sprees and apply it towards the debt.

You know, way, way, way back (in the 90s) when I was a kid, I asked my dad "Hey dad, why can't we get cable TV?" The answer from him was something along the lines of "Do you have $50 a month? No? Do you enjoy eating? Yes? That's why we can't get cable TV." How sad to see that type of responsibility completely lacking in DC, especially in the office of the president. That office once meant something, something intrinsically tied in with "responsibility", now it is becoming synonimous with irresponsibility and worthlessness.

technical difficulties


How can Obamacare be stopped? It's opponents currently in charge made it clear that they aren't capable of stopping it.

It's not going to get stopped, unless the majority of Americans comes up against it, and that's going to take a lot of sacrifice on our part. It's going to take more than just refusing to enroll.

Taissa
Do people really care? Right now, most Americans are too busy worrying about how they are going to pay for ACA, make up the difference of this "tax" being taken out of their checks, and how to stretch money for groceries, or if the SNAP ebt is going to last long enough for the month.

They should care... shut the bastard down (the ACA) and that removes the worry of that particular boot from the throats of Americans. Not to say that there aren't a hundred other poorly thought out policies and issues which have arisen over the past decade to worry about, but you eat a whale the same as you eat a tiny fish, one bite at a time.

reply to post by burdman30ott6

Also, when was the last budget the nation passed? It predated the ACA. That means the ACA appropriations/budget for 2013 is unapproved by Congress. That also means that, in the absence of a raised debt ceiling, that money returns to Congress along with all other unused-on-the-ceiling-date monies to be reallocated towards necessities and external debts.

First off, the public can cry all they want about it...but they had their chance to voice their opinion and they voted Obama back in office...so that was their voice...and they approved Obama and his policies for another 4 years.

Second, the ACA doesn't need the budget or the CR...it's appropriations and funding is directly inside the bill. That is why the Republicans have to include specific legislation into the CR to "de-fund" it...because it is already funded. Otherwise, they wouldn't have to "de-fund" it, they could just let the government shut down and that would do the trick.

And from what I understand, it is well funded and for at least a decade. So for your scenario to happen, we would have to allow the government shutdown and the debt ceiling expiring to continue for a very long time...by that time we have bigger problems than the ACA...we would default on our credit and everything would go to hell.

The ACA is not, or should not, be an issue with this CR or the debt ceiling...the ACA doesn't effect or is it effected by either. For it to be, Congress has to pass legislation and Obama would have to sign it...that is the absolute only way the ACA can become "defunded" and/or have the funds re-appropriated. And that is not going to happen. Republicans need to understand this and move on, they lost, but they still need to do their job.

reply to post by proximo

Um - The ACA already has it's money? That is an incredibly stupid statement - nothing has its money - it takes borrowing/printing of 100 billion a month for the federal government to meet its obligations.

Yes, the ACA already has it's money...that is why you don't hear Republicans using this government shutdown as a way for the ACA to be stalled. It has it's money, it is continuing with or without a government shutdown.

You are speaking of two different things, you have fallen for the rhetoric that the government "prints" money to stay afloat.

THERE IS ZERO dollars set aside for ANYTHING - absolutely NONE. Authorizing payment for some federal program is the same as me going to the lamborghini dealership and telling them I will buy a 300,000 car next month when I am in debt 17 million and going into another 100,000 dollars of debt each month. They will tell me to F off unless I can produce the cash.

Again, this is just not true. I don't really have to prove anything...you can just watch and see. If the government shutdown happens, you will not hear anything about "Obamacare" being shutdown or delayed...it will continue on because it does in fact already have it's money set aside.

This is what you and most every other liberal need to understand - promises to pay for something WILL be broken when the borrowing gets cut off. It does not matter how much you scream or throw fits - it does not matter how many times you were promised or how many contracts you have saying you are owed money - if there is NONE you get NONE. PERIOD.

Yes, if the government shuts down some things will not get paid. The ACA is not one of them, not even on the table, the money for the ACA is already set aside and will not be affected.

reply to post by burdman30ott6


I couldn't agree more about the status and prestige, as one word for it, of the Office of the President. Whomever held it. I recall once in 1999 I believe it was, I was laid over in Las Vegas with Covenant Transport back then. They closed one side of the interstate but not the opposing side, and guess what came driving past as I was in the left lane bobtailing around? Clinton and the whole motorcade. That was impressive and despite not liking the man personally? Well.. It was 'The President' and really a neat memory.

These days after this President and the last one? I think I'd just consider the whole thing to be a pain in the butt and a 'why did they have to come to this town, today of all days?'. Times sure have changed.

reply to post by burdman30ott6


They can't just "take" money when it was appropriated for something else.

They would need legislation to do that, Obama and the Senate Democrats already said that isn't an option.

There is a clean option for the government not to shut down and for them to have the money to pay the bills already incurred, and that is to pass a clean CR without partisan legislation in it and to raise the debt ceiling like we have done 100s of times in history.

This is not a new and unique issue we are facing, we have always had to pass CRs and raise the debt ceiling. There is one thing different this time around, and that is we have a group of Republicans that are using these very common and simply procedures as a ransom tool.

Obama and the Senate Democrats are in the clear, they are willing and waiting to do their job...the job that has been done for decades by past competent Congress...it is the Republicans that are trying to operate out of the norm in an attempt to get their way. It's not going to happen, and no one is buying their attempt at blaming Obama for this.

No it won't stop Obamacare, but the fight is really about the debt ceiling. The media and Democrats are just cherry picking the Obamacare additions to the bill as talking points.

This same fight happened the last time when it came time to raise the debt ceiling. Defunding Obamacare will make the debt ceiling stretch a little bit further. For example, having to raise it again in a year instead of 6 months when the subsidies for the insurance companies kick in.

The Democrats have been spending recklessly for 5 years now and the republicans are finally having the guts to stand up to the Democrats now that Obama's approval ratings are in the tank and the fact a lot of people want Obamacare defunded repealed, or parts changed(the individual mandate).

While the media and Obama might want you to think it's the Replublican's holding up the show, the truth is America doesn't want the crap sandwich they are trying to force down our throats and for once our reps are doing what their constituents want.