so I've been writing the congressman a lot of late.
it started by signing a dailykos action alert petition.
I got this reply:
, U.S. Rep Richard Hudson (NC-08) voted to fund the government for Fiscal Year 2014 while permanently and fully defunding Obamacare.
“Today we stood up for hardworking North Carolinians by shutting down Obamacare and keeping our government open to serve. Defunding an intrusive and expensive government takeover of health care that has and will continue to burden small businesses and families is critical if we are ever going to create more jobs in our communities. Today the House passed legislation that controls spending, defunds Obamacare, and prevents a government shutdown. I have stood by my commitment to my constituents to defund, delay, and dismantle the President’s unworkable health care law, and I look forward to my conservative colleagues in the Senate continuing this fight.”
The Continuing Resolution (CR) prevents a government shutdown and funds the government through December 15. It is a straight extension of current spending levels ($986.3 billion), and permanently and fully defunds Obamacare spending through prohibiting discretionary and mandatory spending and rescinding all unobligated balances.
so then I wrote a short note & got this reply;
Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns on the President’s health care law, the Continuing Resolution and the government shutdown. I appreciate hearing from you on this issue and agree that Congress should work together in order to fund our priorities and reopen the government.
Under the Constitution, Congress must pass laws to fund federal agencies like the Department of Defense or the Department of Transportation. This is typically done through the appropriations and budget process where Congress votes for a budget that sets overall spending levels and then passes a series of appropriations bills. In recent years, Congress has failed to pass the necessary appropriations bills, forcing passage of what is called a continuing resolution, or CR, that maintains spending levels for all or part of the year. If Congress cannot agree on this stopgap spending bill, the government does not have the legal authority to spend money and is effectively “shut down,” which is where we find ourselves now.
Despite the President’s repeated assertion that the United States is in unprecedented situation, the position we find ourselves in is not a new one. Since 1977, the United States has found itself in some sort of partial government shutdown 17 times. Some of these have been rooted in ideological battles, some in the details of individual pieces of legislation, and others in the funding levels of budgets, but the unifying factor among each of these battles is that every single occurrence was resolved through negotiation.
The motivating factors behind the current shutdown are hardly different than those that have come before it. My conservative colleagues and I in the House of Representatives passed a CR that appropriates the necessary funds to keep all government activities going – except for Obamacare. As I have outlined before, Obamacare is a disastrous law that has already proven to be detrimental across our communities and our nation. I am firmly committed to repealing, replacing, defunding, and delaying this law. In fact, more than half of Americans share the same sentiment, according to a September 2013 USA Today/Pew poll. According to a recent Manhattan Institute study, most North Carolinians are likely to see their premium rates quadruple for younger men, and triple for younger women.
Unfortunately, President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid seem intent on taking our country down a path many oppose. From the outset of the current budget debate, they have refused to even consider any alterations to Obamacare for the average American family. However, as recently as last week, the President granted exemptions and delays to special interests, including a one-year delay for big business and special subsidies for members of Congress.
I believe all Americans should be treated the same, and this is exactly what House Republicans have proposed. Most recently, the House passed a reasonable CR that delays Obamacare’s individual mandate for one year and ends the subsidies for members of Congress. If the law is not good enough for big business and the politically-connected, it should not be forced upon the American people. The Senate rejected the bill and also rejected a bill to form a committee to hammer out the differences between the House and Senate and get the government running again.
Over the past few days, the House has taken a series of steps to ensure that critical government operations stay open. We have voted to fund veterans’ benefits, ensure our National Guard and reservists are paid, fund the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), reopen the National Institute of Health to ensure that all patients have access to clinical trials, and reopen our national parks. I urge the Senate to take up these bipartisan measures swiftly and decisively.
In the coming days, my hope is that the President and Senate Democrats will follow in the steps of their predecessors and engage in meaningful negotiations to resolve this impasse. Until then, the House will continue to act to open as much of the government as possible and eagerly await action by the President and Senate Democrats. We are here waiting and so are the American people.
I watched the President's news conference yesterday.
I stand behind him 100%
I woke up this morning & wondered what will happen to my life.
So I sent this note the Rep Hudson:
I wrote you last week & received a reply.
Thank You for the reply.
You keep saying how bad the ACA Health law is.
But I reality it's good for me. I'm 59 with a couple of pre existing conditions.
So. Your stand on the Health Law & the Debt Ceiling is going to take me from a tax paying citizen that in January would have been able to buy insurance to an unemployed Homeless American.
back in 1974 I worked in the elevator industry, during the recession everyone told me to go collect unemployment, I did, it is something I regret to this day doing. I've never asked for government direct assistance since.
If you & the rest of the GOP put us in default I'll be on the street, I'm 59 years old. I will never be able to find a job to support myself again. I'm very lucky I have the job I got now.
I would like to know If I can camp out in your back yard if this happens?
I would like to be able to continue life the way I'm living it now. Working & paying my way. That depends on you voting to leave this healthcare killing & debt ceiling default crusade.
I want my freedom to live my life the way it is NOW, I can pay my way, I'll be able to buy insurance in January ! I pay taxes now.
I won't be if you keep holding up this ridiculous crusade against the healthcare law.
I'm pretty pissed off at the moment !
I need to get to work so I get out of this mood.
Thanks for reading
:=)