FYI - PREVIOUS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS

We are in very trying times right now and as I write this we are in the 10th day of the government shutdown.  Realizing that the following information may not be of much comfort to you, it is still important to know that this is not, by far, the first time the government has been in this situation which only serves to tell you  that we've made it through before and, with God's help, we will make it through again.

BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC

 

BECAUSE I THINK WE NEED TO BE REMINDED; BECAUSE I THINK WE CAN'T BE REMINDED ENOUGH, I AM POSTING THIS TO MY BLOG TODAY ALONG WITH THIS PRAYER:

 

Lord, You say, "If My people repent," not "If those people repent."  And so Father God, today we repent and we cry out for mercy, dear Lord.  Your Word says:  "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

DEFUNDING HEALTHCARE ACT FALLOUT/ PART II



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: