I am so fed up with this shutdown thing . . . I wasn’t going to post about it. We’re all tired of hearing about it already, aren’t we?
Like most of you, I woke up yesterday to find that the federal government shutdown has indeed happened; there were no late night agreements as we had secretly hoped.
I know our government is set up so that this can happen, but I’m really sick and tired of our families being pawns in the process. The fact is, the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) and voting to fund the government can and should be talked about separately. There’s no reason why Congress can’t submit a bill that funds our government, keeps it open and doesn’t even mention ACA. But that’s not what happened, because Congress wants to hold the American public hostage. That’s not right nor fair to hardworking families.
I do like Obamacare. I don’t think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread nor do I feel it’s the end-all, be-all perfect solution for all of America’s health care woes. But I think it’s a step in the right direction, a good start. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows and unicorns . . . it will have an adverse affect (mainly in the form of money) to some individuals who were currently playing roulette with their health care. i.e., choosing not to have it and taking the chance that nothing bad is going to happen.
But love it or hate it, you cannot deny the facts. The facts are that ACA is a piece of PASSED legislation. It was signed into law by the president. Any attempts to repeal it have failed. It has been challenged by the Supreme Court and they deemed it constitutional. Additionally, President Obama won re-election several years after it passed and his opponent who said he would try to repeal it, he did not win.
If you want to hate Obama and the ACA, fine. That’s your right. But fight your own battle on its own turf on its own merits. Just because the battle against Obamacare cannot be won on its own merits does not mean you hijack a country.
Tell your Representatives and Senators that this is not OK. Just because our democratic process allows for it does not mean it should be done.
It was not OK here in PA, when, last year our Special Ed Funding reform was hijacked with charter school legislation. It was not OK last year when the Senate was trying to pass the Disabilities Treaty and it was hijacked by dishonest people who lied and said it would affect homeschooling. I’m tired of being a pawn in the process. Aren’t you?
They know we want to keep the government open and people working, so they are using that to pass their own other agenda. Contact Congress to tell them it’s not OK.
It’s time to speak up. Say it with me: “Who does Congress work for? Me!”
Lisa Lightner is a Chester County, PA mom of two. This post was adapted from the blog A Day in Our Shoes, which she co-authors. It provides support, resources and advocacy services for parents of children with special needs. 
