Shut em down!

There have been a lot of talks lately about government shutdown.  Everywhere you turn it’s “will the government shutdown” or “countdown to shutdown”.  Everyone has got everybody creating a big hoopla about this thing so what I have tried to do is simplify this whole issue to provide a better understanding about what the shutdown is and how it will affect you.

Ok, each year a budget has to be approved before the government can be functional.  Now, as I stated before, the budget is nothing more than what the federal government expects to receive and pay out each year.  Normally we end up as a country over budget but the issue isn’t that, its how much money the government pays out to certain programs and there was amendment after amendment trying to cut money from programs in that budget.  Amendments ranging from cutting Planned Parenthood to defunding the healthcare law (now tell me that wasn’t a straight political move).  The issue is the Republicans wants cuts in programs that The Senate and the White House simply will not do.  And when the federal government cannot decide on how they spend “our” money, the government shuts down.

So, what happens when the government shuts down?  The “real” answer is no one knows.  “But wait, I have been hearing things like they are cutting parks and recreation and federal employees will not be able to work and all of that so what do you mean no one knows?”  Well, the reason why we don’t know is because every government has their own “shutdown” plan.  This is a plan that is devised by the current president and his officials in the event that the government does shut down.  What people are talking about now is what happened when the government shutdown in 1995.  Here is the rundown:

In 1995, Congress sent a bill to Bill Clinton that he refused to sign and the government shut down.  When that happened:

·  no new patients were accepted into clinical research trials at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

·  NIH disease hotlines were closed

·  the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) stopped disease surveillance

·  toxic waste clean-up work at more than 600 sites was stopped

·  delays in processing of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives applications by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF)

·  work on more than 3,500 bankruptcy cases was suspended

·  cancellation of the recruitment and testing of federal law-enforcement officials, including the hiring of 400 border patrol agents

·  delay in the processing of delinquent child-support cases

·  closure of 368 National Park Service sites, with an estimated loss of 7 million visitors and accompanying tourism revenues to local communities

·  closure of national museums and monuments, with an estimated loss of 2 million visitors

·  approximately 20,000-30,000 visa applications by foreigners unprocessed each day

Also, federal employees were sent home without pay.  So, people are now assuming the same things will happen again which is a safe assumption but realistically, no one really knows what will happen if/when the government shuts down.

So, how does this affect you?  Well, you have to understand that “assuming” all of these things that happened in 1995 happen again, just reading above will answer that question, but you really won’t know until it happens.  Is there anything you can do right now to prevent issues related to this?  I wish I could say yes but right now, the fate of the shutdown lies within two parties that are nowhere near eye to eye about money.  I wish I had a positive ending about this one but I don’t.  All you can do now is hope somehow they agree which judging by the amendments they put in the spending bill, you would be better off expecting the worse.

Read more at Suite101: Government Shutdown of 1995: What happened and why? http://www.suite101.com/content/government-shutdown-of-1995-what-happened-and-why-a349787#ixzz1Ek7zjiNi

My health, My law!

OK, there has been much talk about this healthcare law and whether or not it is legal.  I have spent many hours trying to dig up as much information as I can and I promise you, I am not AS confused as I was when I first started but I will say that there are some aspects of these court cases that are still confusing.  I will try my best in this blog to fully explain what all this mess is about:

First, ever since the healthcare bill has been signed into law, there have been lawsuits filed stating that the law is unconstitutional.  Now, I am sure that someone will ask: How can you file a lawsuit against a signed law?  You can’t fight a law can you?  Well, the fight isn’t necessarily against the law but the interpretation of the law.  Let me explain:

There are three different branches of the government.  Congress makes up the legislative branch.  They write the laws.  The president and his cabinet make up the Executive Branch.  They enforce the law.  The judiciary branch is the Judges.  They interpret the law.  So, essentially how the law is enforced will be based on its interpretation.  That’s why you sue because if a judge thinks there is an issue with the law; or if he thinks that the law is being interpreted incorrectly, he can rule in a matter where he feels the law should be followed.  He can also decide if the law should be followed at all.  So let’s see how judges have been interpreting the law:

A U.S judge in Michigan said that the law is constitutional.  I believe a 2^nd one did as well.  A federal judge in Virginia has deemed a part of the law that mandates people to have health insurance as unconstitutional.  I wanted to spend a little more time on the Florida ruling because it had an interesting twist.  It brings up severability.  Severability is usually a clause that states if one part of a law or contract is illegal; the rest of the law or contract is still in effect.  So if 25% of a contract is illegal, with severability, the other 75% still has to be followed.  The Florida judge has stated that since the healthcare law had no severability, the ENTIRE law is unconstitutional.  I think that is interesting that no one thought to add one simple clause to make sure the entire law doesn’t get scrapped.  Here is my opinion on the whole thing:

The federal government has stated that all automobile drivers have minimal coverage in order to drive.  Most states have deemed minimal coverage to be liability to protect any others who are injured in an accident that is your fault.  So, if you don’t want to pay for automobile insurance, you don’t drive.  And if you do drive a car without insurance, you will be punished.  I think the same thing should be for healthcare, especially if you have the option to get insurance and choose not to do so.  You don’t want to pay for health insurance, fine.  But don’t expect care if you don’t.  And if you do want healthcare and you choose not to have insurance, providers should have the right to decide if they treat you or not.  Emergency rooms do not have that luxury.  Yes, it’s cruel but how do you combat someone who says “I’m not paying for health insurance, I am sick, and I want you to take care of me”?  What if they keep coming back for more help and didn’t pay the last bill they ran up?  Tell me what would you do? This sounds crazy but just think about it:

“Not having car insurance is risky unless you don’t drive.  So, not having health insurance should be risky unless you don’t live”

In closing, the lawsuits have served their purpose which is to force the Supreme Court to rule on this case.  Whatever they say, will be final.  There is now a major issue though because an unconstitutional part of the law with no severability has the chance of having the entire law killed.  That would be a BIG problem.  They are estimating that it will be next year before they rule.  There are some Congressmen who want them to rule early before this gets too out of hand but I think they will wait.  They really have no reason to rush because as long as appeals are going on, the law is still in effect and will remain so until the Supreme Court says otherwise.  So for now, don’t be too concerned, it’s just business as usual as far as your healthcare is concerned.  Please look at my old blogs to see which laws are in effect right now.