The hot topic in Congress right now is the debate of passing
a conflict resolution that
would avert a national government shutdown. The current fiscal budget is set to expire at midnight this
coming Monday, so a new budget must be drafted and approved. Much conflict surrounding the budget is
whether or not to defund Obamacare and if so for how long. This morning the House chose to mark-up
the bill further and send it back to the Senate for a re-read (Dumain et al.
2013). Representative Leonard
Lance was one of the Republican House Reps that chose to send back the
continuing resolution of this potential government shutdown. The reasoning is that even with the
changed language by the Senate Democrats, there should be at least a one-year delay of the Obama Healthcare
Law.
Representative
Lance as well as other Republican Representatives of similar districts in New
Jersey have voted the same way and strongly agree with Lance. They don’t necessarily agree with the
potential action of a government shutdown, but they do believe Obamacare should
not be included in the resolution for now. They have strong reservations concerning Obamacare, but feel
that there are key government agencies and operations that would be negatively
effected in the event of a complete government shutdown. They feel that it would be highly
detrimental to many individuals and organizations, and the majority of the
citizens would be affected. Lance
is quoted on his view of the potential shutdown in the Daily Record, “The
government has essential tasks to perform. In particular, I want to make sure our military gets
paid.” I’m not sure if Lance’s
emphasis or mention specifically of the military were what his constituents
would most agree with. There is
about a less than 1% participation of the individuals in his district in the
military, which is very interesting.
I am not sure whose support he is trying to gain by specifically
mentioning the military rather than any other government-funded organizations.
Lance’s
decision and view of the resolution aligns with the views of his
constituents. His district
includes a majority of Hunterdon County, which is a very affluent (19th-highest
ranked per capita income of all the counties in the U.S.) area, most residents
would be opposed to Obamacare because of the extreme control of government and
little need for any type of social welfare programs. In addition, there are about 3% of residents who live below
the poverty line. There is also a
very low unemployment rate, or number of residents without health insurance
that they are receiving from their job.
Also, most residents have ties to or work for pharmaceutical companies
in the region including Merck&Co, J&J, Pfizer, etc. The top job industry in Hunterdon
County has been listed as specifically healthcare and social services (http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/lpa/pub/factbook/hunfct.pdf). Therefore, Obamacare would not be
significantly benefitting the district in any way. Obamacare would only be raising the already ridiculously
high taxes, which currently range from $10,000-$12,000 a year depending on the
property.
Overall,
it will be interesting to follow Lance and see if the budget is halted and
there is indeed a government shutdown.
The shutdown may not necessarily affect Lance’s constituents either way
because of the high number of jobs in private versus public sectors, yet Lance
is in opposition of it. Also,
if the CR is amended will Obamacare still be included in it, and if so, this is
something that would greatly affect his constituents.
*Sources:
Dumain, Emma, and Matt Fuller. Roll Call, "More
Shutdown Drama as House Sends CR Back to
Senate." Last modified September 29, 2013. Accessed September 29, 2013.
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