Government Shutdowns, Debt Ceilings, Obamacare?

       News Flash: As of 12:01 last night the government has been shut down. Although it's cloudy this morning, the sun did rise. It's also important to note that my electric clock is still working. So what's the big deal? Well of course there are loads of people who were basically laid off, like nearly a million federal workers and a lot of employees of federal contractors. If you need any government services, you should crawl back into bed and set your clock for the reopening.
       In a few weeks though, there will be the Debt Ceiling talks. When that happens, the clocks will still work and the sun will still shine. Ya see, there's always a little squirming space built into these Washington crises. The idea is to make everyone on the other side too nervous to wait. But if there's no real danger, why is this happening? Both sides are jockeying for position. Nobody's gonna intentionally destroy America. Well except for maybe a few.
       Ya see, the whole point of these manufactured exercises in brinkmanship is to position each party for the next election cycle.  Unlike motorcycles, these election cycles are when we get to vote to elect the folks who will represent us, or more correctly, to misrepresent us, in Washington. So while politicians, media newscasters and political science majors like to call them election cycles, they're really just elections.
       The idea is to make the other side look bad enough so that you'll remember not to vote for them next year. So ya see, it's all just an elaborate scheme to scare you into voting for their guy or at least not voting for the other guy. Now usually this takes place a little closer to an election, but the opportunity was just too ripe to pass up. What with a near total lack of funding for government and a debt ceiling coming up for votes so close together, nobody in Washington wanted to pass up such a great opportunity. Let's face it, when the stars are aligned so perfectly, you've got to act or not.
       I know, I know, you're asking what's all this about Obamacare and what do these other things have to do with the Affordable Care Act? Well, of course, none of these manufactured crises and Obamacare have anything to do with each other. Except that some folks hate the idea of universal healthcare coverage, some folks don't think this particular coverage will work, some folks just hate the president and some folks like this law. But it is the law.