Ahead of a likely U.S. House vote on a government funding bill, Yahoo asked conservative and Republican voters whether they'd prefer their representatives vote to fund the government or gut the Affordable Care Act. Here's one voter's perspective.
COMMENTARY | It's a safe assumption most Americans have grown weary of two particular issues: a government shutdown and Obamacare. It is extremely unfortunate, and incredibly aggravating, that Republicans are attempting to combine the two issues into one large headache.
The House is set to vote on a bill that would simultaneously fund the government to avert a partial shutdown and defund the Affordable Care Act.
Individually, both issues are noble goals. The federal government needs to continue to operate, and the Affordable Care Act should be repealed, but let's not misunderstand the true intentions of the House GOP members who put up this bill. This bill is more evidence our representatives care more about political posturing than they care about actually creating and implementing solutions to America's ongoing financial crisis.
The House wants to appear as though it is concerned with how the bill will impact federal employees, but there are swaths of Department of Defense workers who can speak to the contrary. Congress has already shown that its members are unsympathetic to government shutdowns and hack-and-slash budget cuts, as the price for their doctrinal constancy is pay cuts -- but not imposed on themselves for failing to perform their most basic function of passing a working budget. Rather, cuts are imposed on their constituents.
Although government shutdown does not directly affect me, it affects honest, hard-working Americans. A good friend has served the country faithfully in the U.S. Army both as an active member and a reserve. Because he works for the DoD when he is not on active duty, he took a pay cut in the form of furlough days. Congress asks Americans to believe they truly serve their constituents while their constituents bear the consequences of their inaction.
And now, they want to hinge a government shutdown on the fate of ACA. Republicans want to accomplish three things with a bill which they know will never pass the Senate: They want to appear sympathetic to Americans who would be directly affected by a partial shutdown; they want to demonstrate their unwavering commitment to repealing Obamacare; and they want to satisfy the constituents who still hold them to the distant memory of responsible budget cuts.
In my own congressional district in Columbus, Ohio, one can expect a party-line vote from Rep. Pat Tiberi, a Republican who has opposed Obamacare from the start. With this bill, congressmen like him will have the luxury of both planting the fate of a government shutdown in the hands of Democrats while simultaneously beating the anti-Obamacare war drums. Like many congressional districts, Ohio's 12th should probably expect to see more of the same.
This is what needs to happen: Congress needs to have a serious, constructive discussion about getting the budget under control and about how the Affordable Care Act may negatively impact Americans. What America does not need is more political grandstanding and ideological stagnation. The only way this will happen is if those responsible for the quagmire that is Congress are held accountable and voted out of office in 2014.
I know I will not be voting for Rep. Tiberi.
Jack Camwell is a U.S. Navy veteran and lives in central Ohio.
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