What happened? Why? What do I do about it?
Simple. Follow me just below the squiggledoodlethingey fold for my answers.
What happened?
The US Senate sent a Continuing Resolution to the House of Representatives to continue the ability of the United States government to operate for a few weeks.
The Tea Party Terrorists in the House of Representatives decided that this would be their Waterloo. They attempted to add something to the CR that would defund The Affordable Care Act, and required passage only on the CR IF it included passage of the Amendment.
The Senate, and the President, had many times prior to the Senate passing the CR told the Republicans that ONLY the CJ itself (a "clean" or amendment-free bill) would be signed by the President. The Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid D-NV advised his body, and the House Body that only a clean CR would be considered for passage by the Senate.
Three times, the Tea Party-led coup in the House told the House Leadership, Republicans and the American People that that could just go pound sand. Three times, their intentions to overturn The Affordable Care Act in a single swipe failed.
As a result of the attempted extortion (which failed three times) by the House Tea Party Terrorists, the Continuing Resolution failed. The government, without the necessary funding requirements to continue operation, had to cease operation.
Understand two things:
1. This is not about operational costs of the United States Government being authorized by the House of Representatives. While that is, in fact, their constitutional obligation, this action has NOTHING to do with that. Period.
2. This action IS an attempt by between 30 - 60 elected Representatives of the House of Representatives to complete a hostile takeover of the American Government, on their own, period. Using the issue of settled Law has NOTHING to do with this action.
While Rep. Steve King (R-IA) or Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) gleefully speak with World War II veterans who have traveled 1,800 miles from Mississippi to honor their fallen brothers could make a sound bite, those vets should be aware that both of these two traitors were significantly responsible for the shut down of the United States Government. This is not an action by the President, who has no place on the floor of the United States Congress. This is not an action by the United States Senate, other than protecting the only and single purpose of the Continuing Resolution: provide the Government with the funds necessary to do the will, provide the programs and services, and insure "domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare..." and those other nasty constitutional requirements of all congressional officials. Period.
These traitors, led by the likes of Senator Ted Cruz R-TX intend to not only re-litigate the 2010 election itself, but to immasculate it now. This is a continuing philosophy that began before President Obama was first inaugurated. The RNC, The Republican Congressional leadership, and the elected Senators and Representatives have unified around, and pledged to complete the necessary outcomes of this philosophy.
It is NOT about you, or I. It never was. It never will be.
What Can I Do About It?
Make it a point to let every single elected official you know feel your pain. Write letters. Make phone calls. Begin/sign petitions. Speak with your neighbors. Citizens can do that, still.
There are 800,000 American citizens today who, through absolutely no fault of their own, are not working today and who are not being paid for the labor they want to, and should be providing on our behalf. On average, each one of those positions directly impacts 8 other workers. 3.6 million americans today are hostages to the ideological insanity of 30-60 traitors. With every day, those numbers will necessarily grow.
To complete their plan for the takeover of American democracy, it is the stated intent of these traitors to continue this action to, and into the debt limit ceiling increase debate which is set to begin on October 17th, 2013.
That's seventeen days of not working, not being paid, and more and more American citizens being negatively impacted. Meanwhile, The Affordable Care Act is active, and millions of people are now looking at the http://healthcare.gov site today. For the first time, ever, many tens of millions of Americans are now looking at the possibility of providing, for themselves, reasonable and affordable healthcare for themselves, and their families. For some 50 million Americans, this is a never-before seen reality. Of couse, for those Governors who have refused to allow Exchanges in their states to permit this opportunity, while simply cutting their own state's Medicare/Medicaid funding, thereby throwing many more millions out of insurance, things couldn't be better. (Note they are still including those federal funds in their anticipated 2014 budgets. Why?)
The question is a simple one. Should the United States continue? Without a working government, that doesn't happen, by the way.)
Seventeen days is a very long time to increase the permanent damage to, and ineffective working of the greatest nation in the world today. 3 million citizens have, since midnite, signed into the healthcare marketplace so far today (1530 EST).
Selling their hatred in the form of allowing millions of Americans to potentially enjoy, at a significantly lower cost, the benefit of health insurance is, at best, a cynical and immoral stance--for anyone to take, but all the more so when that person is an elected federal official (who does NOT lose their pay during this drama, by the way). You should be all kinds of pissed, but not as a Tea Party Terrorist. Not as a Republican. Not as a Democrat.
You should be all kinds of pissed because 30-60 traitors are attempting to overthrow the government of the United States, dissolve the Constitution, take away the rights of all citizens, and institute the government THEY want. That should really piss you off.
At the moment.
PS:
My Rep and Senators just got some mail from me:
Dear ____:
You cannot spin your way out of this purposely created travesty. Your Tea Party Terrorists are taking away my democracy. You are MY Senator(Rep). I am YOUR elected. This is not about a Conference, and every one of your party clearly knows this.
Pass a clean CR, and realize that the American people are feeling YOUR arrogance.
Sincerely,
M. B. Fields, Jr. DMA
Columbia, Tennessee