As you know, on Friday, September 20, 2013, the House passed a bill funding the Government to keep it open through mid-December but also stripping funding from Obamacare. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid stated any bill defunding the healthcare law is dead when it reaches that chamber - a foregone conclusion. With that in mind, the bill was delivered to the Senate.
A small but fervant core of Senate Republicans led by Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee vowed to take up the House's lead and do all within their power to see that the healthcare law wasn't funded. To that end, Senator Cruz took to the Senate floor at approximately 2:20 p.m. Wednesday, September 25th and began what turned into a 21 hour 'talkathon' ending at Noon, September 26th.
The purpose of this 'talkathon' was two-fold - (1) give the Senate and the public more information on the healthcare law and (2) convince other Senate GOP members NOT to vote in the affirmative for cloture. Cloture = end debate. If Senator Reid was able to get enough GOP Senators to vote for cloture that would mean he would only need a simple majority to then pass an amendment to strip the defunding from the bill and send it back to the House. It was a good try but met with failure as the vote to end cloture was 79-18. After voting on the amendment, the Senate passed the Democratic bill along party lines with a 54-44 vote and sent it back to the Republican controlled house.
Thus began a series of proposals by the House:
Three on Sun. morning, Sept. 29th
* - House GOP proposes funding the entire government but delaying Obamacare for one year plus a provision that prohibited the administration from violating the First Amendment by forcing people to buy insurance coverage for items where they have a moral or religious objection; passes the House by 231 - 192 with 2 Dems voting with the GOP
* - House GOP proposes to provide money to pay active duty and reserve members of the Armed Forces and pay civilian personnel and contractors of the Dept. of Defense. Democratic leadership decided not to block this one so it passed 423 - 0, was approved by the Senate and signed by the President on Sept. 30th
*- House proposes to authorize spending for the State Dept. and embassy security and also authorized giving the President authority to increase security at U.S. diplomatic facilities abroad including increasing the U.S. Marine presence at those facilities. This bill needed a 2/3 majority vote as it was being moved outside the normal House rules and was approved 384 - 37. It was assigned to committee when it reached the Senate and didn't get a vote
Three on Mon., Oct. 1st:
*- the CR having expired at midnight the 30th, the House GOP put up another CR that didn't delay Obamacare or protect religious liberty by preventing the administration from forcing people to buy coverage for sterilization, contraceptive and abortion inducing drugs but did suspend for one year the Obamacare mandate forcing individuals to buy insurance and nullified a regulation issued by the Office of Personnel Management that allowed members of Congress and their staff to get a special subsidy to buy health insurance in the Obamacare exchanges. The bill passed 228-199 picking up 7 Democrat votes while losing 9 Republican votes; it was immediately tabled in the Senate automatically killing it
*- the House voted on a bill to fund veterans' benefits and the operations of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs which passed 264 - 164 which included 33 House Dems; this was immediately tabled by the Senate
* - the House voted on and passed a bill to let the District of Columbia use local funds to carry on its operations by 265 - 163, with 34 House Dems joining in favor; Senate hasn't voted on it yet
Two on Wed., Oct. 2nd:
* - House voted 252 - 173 for a bill to fund the National Park Service, the Smithsonian, the National Gallery of Art and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial with 23 Dems voting in the affirmative; Senate hasn't voted on it
* - House voted 254 -171 to fund the National Institutes of Health; 25 Dems voted with them; Senate hasn't voted on this bill
Two on Thurs., Oct. 3rd:
* - House voted 265 - 160 for a bill to fund the pay that would go to members of the National Guard in active duty training, 36 Dems joined in this bill; Senate hasn't taken this bill up yet
* - House again took up a bill to fund veterans benefits and operations of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs which passed 259 - 157 with 35 Dems joining in; Senate hasn't taken up this bill
We have now been in 'government shutdown' for approximately 7 days at this writing and it doesn't look like it's going to get any better anytime soon. I suppose that it would be fair to say that all parties, the President, the Senate and the House all bear some blame for this but, the reality is the man presently in the White House has for reasons of his own, every intention of bringing this country and these people to their knees and he is fast accomplishing just that.
I don't know about anybody else but the only one who will ever bring me to my knees will be GOD. "If My people who are called by My name shall humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7-14
The purpose of this 'talkathon' was two-fold - (1) give the Senate and the public more information on the healthcare law and (2) convince other Senate GOP members NOT to vote in the affirmative for cloture. Cloture = end debate. If Senator Reid was able to get enough GOP Senators to vote for cloture that would mean he would only need a simple majority to then pass an amendment to strip the defunding from the bill and send it back to the House. It was a good try but met with failure as the vote to end cloture was 79-18. After voting on the amendment, the Senate passed the Democratic bill along party lines with a 54-44 vote and sent it back to the Republican controlled house.
Thus began a series of proposals by the House:
Three on Sun. morning, Sept. 29th
* - House GOP proposes funding the entire government but delaying Obamacare for one year plus a provision that prohibited the administration from violating the First Amendment by forcing people to buy insurance coverage for items where they have a moral or religious objection; passes the House by 231 - 192 with 2 Dems voting with the GOP
* - House GOP proposes to provide money to pay active duty and reserve members of the Armed Forces and pay civilian personnel and contractors of the Dept. of Defense. Democratic leadership decided not to block this one so it passed 423 - 0, was approved by the Senate and signed by the President on Sept. 30th
*- House proposes to authorize spending for the State Dept. and embassy security and also authorized giving the President authority to increase security at U.S. diplomatic facilities abroad including increasing the U.S. Marine presence at those facilities. This bill needed a 2/3 majority vote as it was being moved outside the normal House rules and was approved 384 - 37. It was assigned to committee when it reached the Senate and didn't get a vote
Three on Mon., Oct. 1st:
*- the CR having expired at midnight the 30th, the House GOP put up another CR that didn't delay Obamacare or protect religious liberty by preventing the administration from forcing people to buy coverage for sterilization, contraceptive and abortion inducing drugs but did suspend for one year the Obamacare mandate forcing individuals to buy insurance and nullified a regulation issued by the Office of Personnel Management that allowed members of Congress and their staff to get a special subsidy to buy health insurance in the Obamacare exchanges. The bill passed 228-199 picking up 7 Democrat votes while losing 9 Republican votes; it was immediately tabled in the Senate automatically killing it
*- the House voted on a bill to fund veterans' benefits and the operations of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs which passed 264 - 164 which included 33 House Dems; this was immediately tabled by the Senate
* - the House voted on and passed a bill to let the District of Columbia use local funds to carry on its operations by 265 - 163, with 34 House Dems joining in favor; Senate hasn't voted on it yet
Two on Wed., Oct. 2nd:
* - House voted 252 - 173 for a bill to fund the National Park Service, the Smithsonian, the National Gallery of Art and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial with 23 Dems voting in the affirmative; Senate hasn't voted on it
* - House voted 254 -171 to fund the National Institutes of Health; 25 Dems voted with them; Senate hasn't voted on this bill
Two on Thurs., Oct. 3rd:
* - House voted 265 - 160 for a bill to fund the pay that would go to members of the National Guard in active duty training, 36 Dems joined in this bill; Senate hasn't taken this bill up yet
* - House again took up a bill to fund veterans benefits and operations of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs which passed 259 - 157 with 35 Dems joining in; Senate hasn't taken up this bill
We have now been in 'government shutdown' for approximately 7 days at this writing and it doesn't look like it's going to get any better anytime soon. I suppose that it would be fair to say that all parties, the President, the Senate and the House all bear some blame for this but, the reality is the man presently in the White House has for reasons of his own, every intention of bringing this country and these people to their knees and he is fast accomplishing just that.
I don't know about anybody else but the only one who will ever bring me to my knees will be GOD. "If My people who are called by My name shall humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7-14
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