The United States Held Hostoage

Listening to Senator Mark Warner on a local radio station Wednesday morning blame the "small minority of Republican Tea Party members" for the Federal Government Shutdown. One can easily substitute the words "Democrat Senate Caucus" for "Tea Party" and have an accurate description  of who is responsible for the present fiscal showdown. We have 54 Senators and one President who have refused to sit down at a negotiating table. The issue: Obamacare or the Affordable Healthcare Act. One Senator has described Obamacare as a 'Train Wreck". Indeed, "King Barry" has waived a substantial portion of the population including himself and his family and staff, Congress and their staffs, several government departments and 1,200 labor unions from participating. Over the past months, "King Barry" has delayed important provisions of the law for various technical  reasons. On the first day of sign-up for us mere mortals, the system crashed repeatedly. It was not ready for prime time.

Bottom line, It is a bad piece of legislation. I am embarrassed for our elected officials to have voted for such a law fraught with the potential for political chicanery, unknowns and errors. It has invented a whole new industry of healthcare attorneys who will be needed to represent us citizens before the various Boards and Commissions. It is a boon for a black market healthcare industry. In Lawmaking 101, novice legislators are reminded " Better no law, than a bad law." Congress needs a year to fix it. Laws are amended and often repealed. What's to lose to fix their errors. We are reminded of Rep Pelosi's stampede remark: We need to pass it to know what's in it!" Well, we are finding out.

There are those loud voice who scream, "It's the law, appropriate the money!" That's why we have built in Constitutional safeguards to guard against the "Passions of the House."  In this case , the roles are reversed. The framers did empower "The People" with the decision on how their money would be raised and spent. Read the history of the Magna Carta. Do we have a Magna Carta Moment building? Let's hope we are a little more civilized than on how "The People" delivered the message the first time.