The government has shutdown, so everyone should panic, right? Every news channel had a clock counting down until Oct. 1 at midnight when the new fiscal year for the federal government would begin and even CNN now has a counter that shows how long the shutdown has lasted. You would think a major catastrophic event just took place with some of the rhetoric that’s being used to describe the shutdown.
First, the federal government hasn’t fully shut down, not even close. You’ll still get your mail; the military is in place, air traffic control, food stamps, Social Security, Medicare, and the implementation of the “Obamacare” exchanges. This and about 75 percent of what the federal government does is still being funded because these functions are deemed “essential.” If anything this shutdown should challenge our assumptions as to what’s important for government to fund or not. Remember that sequester earlier this year that was supposed to be devastating as well?
Second, the idea that Republicans are solely to blame for this shutdown is ignorant. “The simple act of funding our government” really isn’t all that simple. Just because something exists doesn’t imply the government needs to fund it. There are several negative aspects to “Obamacare” I would suggest The Post take a look at as part of its coverage of this law. Here are a few of examples: Employers limiting workers’ hours to under 30 per week, like Ohio University is for some, to avoid the employer mandate; Americans not being able to keep their current coverage, like in the cases of Walgreens and Darden Restaurants forcing more people into the exchanges which costs consumers more out of pocket for coverage; This law is also dependent on young people signing up for plans but it’s expected that most young people will pay the penalty because it’s hundreds of dollars cheaper than buying a plan.
Remember, you’re being forced by the government to buy a product or pay a penalty, which the Supreme Court had to rewrite as a tax in order for it to be deemed constitutional. This law has also been edited dozens of times by President Obama with executive orders exempting certain groups of people from the law. Congress and its staffs are also exempt from this law we’re all bound to. This doesn’t sound like a natural right to me.
This law was enacted in 2010 without a single Republican in the House or Senate at the time voting for it because Democrats had supermajorities and had no need to compromise with Republicans. Now we’re expected to get behind “Obamacare” because “it’s the law of the land” now? Laws have been passed, amended and repealed over time. “Obamacare” is a bad law and Republicans have been called anarchists, crazy, terrorists, as well as many other terms just because they don’t support it. We want solutions that empower the consumer to make their own health care choices. It’s time we ask ourselves what role the government should have in our lives.
Dylan Gustafson is a senior studying finance and the communications chair for Ohio University College Republicans.
