WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) - The White House rejected a
Republican plan to reopen portions of the U.S. government on Tuesday as the
first shutdown in 17 years closed landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and
threw hundreds of thousands of federal employees out of work.
The quick dismissal offered no sign that President Barack Obama
and Republicans can soon end a standoff over health care that has sidelined
everything from trade negotiations to medical research and raised new concerns
about Congress's ability to perform its most basic duties. An even bigger
battle looms in coming weeks, when Congress must raise the debt limit or risk a
U.S. default that could roil global markets.
As Republicans in the House of Representatives huddled to consider
their next move, Obama accused them of taking the government hostage in order
to sabotage his signature health care law, the most ambitious U.S. social program
in five decades.
"They've shut down the government over an ideological crusade
to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans," Obama said
in the White House Rose Garden.
Republicans in the House of Representatives view the Affordable
Care Act as a dangerous extension of government power and have coupled their
efforts to undermine it with continued government funding. The
Democratic-controlled Senate has repeatedly rejected those efforts.
Spending authority for much of the government expired at midnight
on Monday (0400 GMT), but that did not prevent the Obama administration from
unveiling the health-insurance exchanges that form the centerpiece of the law.
Since the national government is currently dysfunctional, and since there is currently no means of holding a national referendum in the constitution, how would you feel about state governments coming together to hold a constitutional convention? They could either solve the problem directly, or create the means for a national referendum.
ReplyDeleteAlso, do you feel that the American citizenry is capable of making informed decisions in the best interest of the country should there be a national referendum?