Is the Republican party helped or hurt by their role in the 2013 government shut

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   ecogginsposted 11 years ago

   Is the Republican party helped or hurt by their role in the 2013 government shutdown?
   
   The Republican members of Congress forced a government shutdown due to their objections to The Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare). Do you think this action will help or hurt their chances in the 2014 mid-term elections and the 2016 presidential election?
   
   It seems to me that if The Affordable Care Act was that bad for the American people then the best thing Republicans can do to insure gains in the next two election cycles is to let it go into law. But, by playing hardball now they may be drawing the blame for hard times to themselves which will jeopardize their chances to win in the future.

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   The Frog Princeposted 11 years ago

   Been writing a little about this but the bottom line is the demonization of people who don't agree with Obama is a little off the cliff.  The opinions regarding your question are all over the place but most people I meet face-to-face don't like the fact that Obama and Reid say they won't negotiate.  This country is a mess and it will take us all to straighten out what they have done.

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      gmwilliamsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Totally agree with this premise!

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      ecogginsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you Frog Prince I appreciate your comment.

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   junksellerposted 11 years ago

   The Republicans have existed in a state of delusion for some time now. They really have no grasp of what ordinary average Americans want or care about and have been surviving largely off of the energy arising out of the extreme right.
   
   It was amazing watching them throughout the 2012 election constantly and consistently pandering to the far right despite the fact that it meant they really had no chance in the election. Even up to the election you had clueless pundits talking about the lies of liberal polling and liberal media, and Romney would win easy, blah, blah, blah.
   
   For the most part they have gotten away with it, because most Americans just roll their eyes at their grand delusions. Their Benghazi's and Fast and Furious's and Birtherism. Most Americans really don't care too much about that sort of silliness.
   
   But the Affordable Care Act is different. It is the first thing that has come along in a long time that is likely to do a lot of good for people who are struggling and I think it is going to be successful. The number of people going to sign-up is a good sign of the strong interest and it is interest which wasn't expected.
   
   The miscalculation is not understanding what this means to people. And it's going to mean a lot to people who in many cases are probably apathetic (because normally no one does anything for them).
   
   Once people start signing up on mass and reaping the benefits of healthcare, they are going to be pissed at the Republicans for attacking it. This anger is going to be in the millions. And they're going to be especially pissed that the Republicans would shut down the government to fight against it. Especially if the shut-down goes on for awhile. I don't think many people are, or will be, confused as to who is to blame for the shut-down.
   
   I don't know if this will kill the Tea Party. But it should and hopefully will. It is long past time to excise their dead weight.

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      ecogginsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you junkseller I appreciate your detailed comment. We will have to see if the prices pan out and the health providers actually provide the services they promise for the quoted prices. I checked them in CA and for my family the prices look good.

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      junksellerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Prices look good for us too. What is encouraging to me is the apparent large interest. The more that sign up, the better the prices should be.

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      tbHistorianposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I for one do not wish to reap healthcare. For, if I need to reap it, then I did not live correctly. By the way-prior to the ACA, everyone did have healthcare. I have 2 family members that received it for years without health insurance. Nothing-New

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      junksellerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      The ACA brings healthcare to a point of affordability that it wasn't at before for a lot of people. Not really sure what you are trying to say.

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      tbHistorianposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Sorry for confusing you - but healthcare was already affordable. My relatives did not pay a single dime for their provided healthcare, therefore, it was much better than what the ACA will provide.  The ACA also punishes the hard working American.

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      junksellerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      That's wonderful that your relatives had some sort of free mystery healthcare. Most of us have to pay for it and for many of us it wasn't very affordable before.

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   mbuggiehposted 11 years ago

   I think the Tea Party faction of the Republican Party, if it is not corralled soon, is going to cost the GOP a lot more harm than good.
   
   The shut-down is hurting the people; the people are blaming the GOP.
   
   And if this is not settled and soon, any failure to raise the debt ceiling coupled with a default on American debts could push the US and its trading partners into deep economic trouble.

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      ecogginsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you mbuggish. Apparently there was an interesting piece in the New York Times yesterday about who is cracking the whip to make Republicans stick to the agenda or lose funding for the next election. Money may be the ruin of Democracy in the USA.

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      mbuggiehposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      To "ecoggins": Yes I saw that article. I also just read a very interesting article from stratfor.com (national security company) and they too agree that money is running the GOP show and threatening the fabric of our democracy as "reform" gone awry.

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   tbHistorianposted 11 years ago

   The republicans are helped by their stand to help the working class. Soon those who work hard will see that their personal wealth has been reduced, their health insurance costs will rise tremendously or be eliminated, and that the ACA will result in large copays and high deductibles that they must pay.
   And, I can hardly wait for my 89 year old grandmother to get her birth-control pills so she can party-party-party.
   And, since she has already had both breasts removed due to cancer, it sure is a blessing that she will get those required mammograms yearly.  Of course, she got hers the old fashioned way before - she worked and bought her own insurance.
   And just think, those 27 to 40 years of age will be paying for all that good healthcare.  With the 200 to 300 percent increase in insurance being paid by those who are healthy, it sure will be nice for those who do not work, take illegal drugs, and otherwise game the welfare system.
   Course as somebody said not too long ago - "that could have been me at that age".  And, it probably was.
   A wise man once said, "the only way you can get something for nothing is for you to believe that nothing is something."
   The blame game is really lame - and that is why the USA is suffering, because the blame-game leader has no clue about how to run a nation of achievers because he only knows how to be a deceiver. 
   The deception has now been confronted by the truth. Soon the nation will restore itself by eliminating the flagrant lying leadership.
   Republicans will still be standing tall while all the blame-game shame fades away.
   Adults

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      mbuggiehposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      To tbHistorian:  Exactly where and how did your "relatives" get this free (and as someone has noted "mystery") health insurance coverage?

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   lburmasterposted 11 years ago

   I'm not sure. Haven't heard anything about the Republicans since the shutdown. Just a bunch of news about what has been shutdown because of the shutdown. Private owned property? Memorials? Who is in charge of this shutdown? Only 17% of the government is actually shutdown. Also, the Affordable Care Act is not affordable in any way. And most of us blame Obama when it was written by a health care company to get rid of competition. Last I heard of the Republican party, they claimed they were going to let the Care Act continue to see how it would work then go against it later when too many problems had blown up.

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      gmwilliamsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Excellent answer!

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   jstfishinmanposted 11 years ago

   As an American, it is stupid to let bad law go through for two reasons:1. Laws are hard to get rid of regardless of how bad they are. 2. The people are not supposed to be guienni pigs for the government's  experiment..
   Most of the acreage in the U.S. is  conservative in their voting. Liberals tend to live around water, on the coasts and great lakes.
   Finally, I believe both parties are irresponsible with our countries money and are selling us out to foreign governments. The only way to fix the problem is fewer people on the dole and fewer hand outs.
   Our government needs to spend less and leave everyone with more money to spend on U.S. goods. We currently have over 200 taxes that have been imposed on the citizens of this country in the last hundred years. Before that the country had no taxes and survived.
   Vote them all out and start over!

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