The most excellent shutdown piece ever.

[PeaceNikki]

I don't who this guy is, but he's explained it in the simplest of terms I've seen yet. It's going viral on FB and I am posting the whole thing here. Spread it far and wide:

https://www.facebook.com/farwent/posts/10151914750738606

Summary for anyone who is interested and who wants to more fully understand what is happening with our federal government right now:

1. This shutdown is not happening because both parties won't compromise. This shutdown is happening because Republicans in the House of Representatives have refused to pass a budget bill without a bunch of amendments tacked on to it, chiefly amendments nullifying Obamacare.

2. Obamacare is not directly tied to this budget bill in any way. It is a separate piece of legislation, already passed and signed into law back in 2010. The House Republicans are just saying, "We don't like this law, Obamacare, that was already passed, and because we do not have the votes to repeal it in the manner laid out in the Constitution" -- they don't; they've already tried to repeal it 42 times, yes, that is true, 42 times -- "we're going to instead DEMAND that the law be repealed or delayed, or else we won't pass this budget legislation necessary to keep the country running."

3. Again, Obamacare was signed into law, in the fashion laid out in the Constitution of the United States, in 2010. It was not, like, laid down by martial law, unless you think a bunch of congresspeople and senators voting for a bill counts as martial law.

4. Also, the president behind Obamacare was reelected in 2012. Also also, in 2012 the Democrats retained control of the Senate, and House Republicans actually lost the popular vote, but stayed in control of their chamber because of shrewd gerrymandering. All of which is to say: If Americans hate Obamacare so much, how come they reelected Obama and voted so strongly for Democrats.

5. Remember that in 2012, the Supreme Court, led by a conservative chief justice and majority, upheld Obamacare's constitutionality, except for one part. (And that part is kaput. The president is not trying to enforce it with UN troops and black helicopters. It's why we don't have a state-run health exchange here in Wisconsin.) So, to sum up: Obamacare was not only enacted according to the rule of law in this country, it also survived scrutiny by the highest judiciary body in the land, which is in the hands of the opposition party.

6. The point being: None of this is to say whether Obamacare will be good or bad for the country! It is only to say that it was passed according to the rules, and it's been legitimized by our top court and implicitly by citizens who voted to reelect the president whose name it bears. Socialist tyranny, it's just not.

7. What the House GOP is pulling right now -- "Get rid of Obamacare or we'll shut down important services and risk a global financial catastrophe by not raising the debt ceiling" -- this is not politics as usual. This is extortion. They are a minority; even plenty of other Republican legislators think that what these guys are doing is absurd and dangerous (and this will likely become more clear the longer the shutdown goes on). If these guys want to get rid of Obamacare, they should go out and campaign and get more senators and a president elected. That is how democracy works. AMERICA, Y'ALL.

8. A note on the debt ceiling: Voting to raise the debt ceiling is not voting to spend money that the U.S. doesn't have. Congress *already voted* to spend that money. The debt ceiling is a bizarre, redundant device, and we are basically the only country that has one. (Denmark has one, but it's just a formality and has never been a point of controversy or contention.) Essentially, it's like if your dad went out and bought a lot of stuff with his credit card, but then he had to ask your mom if it was OK for him to pay the credit card off. The money is already spent. If your mom says no, then your dad is failing to honor his obligations, and his credit rating (and your mom's!) is going to be trashed. The difference on the larger scale is that if the U.S.'s credit rating is trashed, the whole planet's economy could take a massive hit, because we are, you know, a global super-power.

9. Again, this is not about a lack of compromise on both sides. The House GOP is demanding that the president and congressional Democrats just undo their chief legislative victory. And it was a legitimate victory! And frankly, Obamacare is something that a lot of Americans *want*. Those Americans are real citizens, too. So this is like if your dad and your mom and you and your sister all vote to go to Olive Garden one Thursday evening, but your little brother wants to go to Applebee's, and so instead of just accepting that he won't always get his way and planning a stronger case for Applebee's for next Thursday, he flips out and runs outside and slashes all the tires on the car so you guys can't go anywhere. Except, again, much crazier, because instead of just one family it affects millions of people and could also set off an economic calamity of titanic proportions.

10. Let me be clear: I do not hate Republicans. My dad is a Republican! I am a small businessperson! I go to church! I LOVE CHRISTMAS. This is not about name-calling or hating on anyone, and frankly, I do not expect to change anyone's mind about any of the proceeding details. But I am tired of the notion that both parties are equally to blame for our troubles; it has surely been true in the past, but it's not right now. (And it is entirely possible for ALL POLITICIANS TO BE AWFUL and for ONE OF THE TWO PARTIES TO STILL BE CONSIDERABLY WORSE.) Believe me, I would love nothing more than to see a revitalized Republican party, with views that I might disagree with but which were not straight-up lunacy. IT WOULD MAKE MY DUMB INTERNET FIGHTS A LOT MORE INTERESTING.

I can't believe I'm posting this. I am a fool. I don't know if I will even respond to comments. I have a headache already. Maybe it would not be so bad if we all downloaded our consciousnesses into computers after all.

[Berlum]

1. Well said

k and r

[mindwalker_i]

2. Man, what a jerk, raining ALL OVER the Republican's parade

It's an example of trickle-down that I can support.

[NV Whino]

3. Perfect.

[bvar22]

4. Well Done.

DURec!

[Iliyah]

5. K & R

[Richardo]

6. Nice.

THanks for sharing that, PeaceNikki

[PeaceNikki]

18. My pleasure, R. It's lead to some interesting discussions on Facebook.

I continue to see these head-in-the-sand government hating selfish assholes.. just the type who vote for these pricks.

I think it's poetic that ACA exchanges started the same day as the shutdown. Putting numbers this way to the need for HC reform is really fascinating.

[Stuart G]

7. K and R thanks for posting nt

[Ohio Joe]

8. Wow... Excellent summary of things - K&R - nt

[el_bryanto]

9. Very well said. nt

[mojowork_n]

10. Charley Pierce had some good lines, as well, in this piece:

Titled, "The Reign of Morons is Here"

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/Shutdown_Blues

Excerpt:

We have elected an ungovernable collection of snake-handlers, Bible-bangers, ignorami, bagmen and outright frauds, a collection so ungovernable that it insists the nation be ungovernable, too. We have elected people to govern us who do not believe in government....

....This is what they came to Washington to do -- to break the government of the United States. It doesn't matter any more whether they're doing it out of pure crackpot ideology, or at the behest of the various sugar daddies that back their campaigns, or at the instigation of their party's mouthbreathing base. It may be any one of those reasons. It may be all of them. The government of the United States, in the first three words of its founding charter, belongs to all of us, and these people have broken it deliberately. The true hell of it, though, is that you could see this coming down through the years, all the way from Ronald Reagan's First Inaugural Address in which government "was" the problem, through Bill Clinton's ameliorative nonsense about the era of big government being "over," through the attempts to make a charlatan like Newt Gingrich into a scholar and an ambitious hack like Paul Ryan into a budget genius...

...Both sides did not do this. Both sides are not to blame. There is no compromise to be had here that will leave the current structure of the government intact. There can be no reward for this behavior. I am less sanguine than are many people that this whole thing will redound to the credit of the Democratic party. For that to happen, the country would have to make a nuanced judgment over who is to blame that, I believe, will be discouraged by the courtier press of the Beltway and that, in any case, the country has not shown itself capable of making....

[DLnyc]

28. Awesome!

Thanks!

[Rex]

11. Awesome!

nt.

[whttevrr]

12. shared

[malaise]

13. At what point will they be arrested for extortion?

Send in the Feds

[daleanime]

14. K&R....

[hue]

15. Thanks for posting this great synopsis PeaceNikki! I'll share this.

[BlueJazz]

16. I like it except for one omission. >>

People who DO NOT know how the ACA works "Don't like it"....Why?..."I don't know, I just don't like it".

People who DO know how the ACA works OVERWHELMINGLY like it.

[PeaceNikki]

19. Good point.

[BumRushDaShow]

17. Proud to have been rec 100 but would add -

4. Also, the president behind Obamacare was reelected in 2012. Also also, in 2012 the Democrats retained control of the Senate, and House Republicans actually lost the popular vote AND lost 8 seats, but stayed in control of their chamber because of shrewd gerrymandering. All of which is to say: If Americans hate Obamacare so much, how come they reelected Obama and voted so strongly for Democrats.

[yuiyoshida]

20. Most Excellent!

[a kennedy]

21. Sending this to all on my e-mail list.... (I don't do the twitter or facebook thing.)

[freshwest]

22. Wow! That is the best!

[kimbutgar]

23. Great points; I shared on my Facebook

I have been trying to not share political stuff as I have a few right wing friends. We don't talk politics but this shutdown scares me as it could lead to a constitutional crisis where the monied koch's could take over our government. And that crazy preacher who is hoping for a miltary coup. Bush getting picked by the supreme court in 2000, 9-11, and citizen's united could be the final nail in the coffin in the US as we know it.

[B Calm]

24. I straighten out a guy today when he said both parties are the fault

of the shut down.

[tavalon]

25. That teabagger has a really big ball

Why don't I call them by their hastily renamed Tea Party moniker? Well, if you don't have the smarts to figure out that your group's name is already in use as a sexual act, you don't deserve a do over, nor do you deserve to have any representation in our government. Because, well, you've already proven yourself stupid and out of touch.

[Cha]

26. Thank you, PN! Too bad the corporate media is too willfully lazy

to know this. With their stupid "who's fault is it" polls.

Boner won't even let it come up for a vote.

[NastyRiffraff]

27. K&R

Excellent summary. I'm very glad to see that more and more writers are kicking back the old "both sides are at fault." meme. Naturally, the TV/radio media are parroting that like robots.

[treestar]

29. Perfect!

[SheilaT]

30. Excellent!

I especially like #8, about the debt ceiling. It's like if your dad goes out and charges stuff to his credit card, then has to ask your mom for permission to pay the bill. Yeah.

[Amonester]

31. The best way to try to *explain* it to *them* but they can't understand written

words (most of *them* anyway).

[grantcart]

32. "I LOVE CHRISTMAS",

too funny.

[mountain grammy]

33. Excellent!

[chervilant]

34. To this excellent summation, I would add:

The rest of the world is flummoxed by this ridiculous, childish temper tantrum orchestrated by the party of "No!"

[Enthusiast]

35. K&R.....nt

[UCmeNdc]

36. K&R

[Arkansas Granny]

37. Great piece. Thanks for sharing.

[MichaelKelley]

38. Thanks

Thanks for sharing this information as it will clear everyone's doubt. I have explained this to many person. This gives a clear picture of the current situation.

[Snake Plissken]

39. Texas billionaires shut down the government because they lost the election in 2012

The Affordable Care Act is just an excuse, if it wasn't the ACA it would be something else

The Texas Billionaires who own and operate the Tea Party have been trying to destroy the government ever since Obama was elected in 2012

[gopiscrap]

41. Welcome to DU

[Petrushka]

42. K & R --- plus a FB "Share"

[WillyT]

43. K & R !!!

[ffr]

44. Very well thought out. Awesome find!