One
might hope that in the wake of the recent government shutdown, partisan
politics would slow down a bit and that the American people might have a chance
to see a good faith effort to tackle the issues facing our country.
Unfortunately, that is not the case, and the Affordable Care Act is still an
extremely contentious issue that has the Democrats and Republicans as far apart
as they were in October. In this past week, Republicans summoned a panel of
expert witnesses on web security to discuss healthcare.gov, specifically in
regard to the safety of those who have enrolled for health insurance on the
website.
On
Wednesday 11/20, the House Science, Space and Technology committee hosted a
hearing on security concerns regarding the healthcare.gov website. David
Kennedy, the CEO of the information security firm TrustedSEC, suggested that an
analysis by his company reveals that the healthcare.gov website has already
encountered a significant amount of hacking attempts.[1]
Furthermore, he claims that the website would not provide much of a challenge
to a hacker. He also said, “there’s not a lot of security built into the site.”
He also commented that though the site doesn’t house medical records, it
“integrates deeply with other sites, includes ecommerce information, and houses
a vast array of data that presents a very salient target. It’s not only social
security numbers…it’s one of the largest collections of personal data, social
security, and everything else, that we’ve ever seen.”[2]
Whether or not Republicans actually care about the problems with the website in
and of itself is not very important. What seems clear is that Republicans in
Congress are intent on bringing information to the public that would damage the
reputation of both Obamacare and President Obama himself. This is just one step
in the whole process of getting support to eliminate Obamacare in its entirety.
This
issue was not this week’s only reflection of polarized partisan politics on the
house floor. Democrats and Republicans in recent years have debated the merits
of being environmentally friendly at the cost of benefits to economic growth.
Republicans have always advocated for the interests of corporations. H.R 1900,
which passed the House this week, demonstrates the loyalty Republicans have to
corporations, particularly within the oil and gas industry. This bill would
direct the FERC to approve or deny permission for drilling projects within a
twelve-month period. The National Taxpayers union argued that this would give
consumers access to low cost energy and spur job growth in the energy sector.[3]
On the other hand, the Obama administration, which has promised to veto this
bill, argues that its requirements would force agencies to make decisions
without time to properly review and applications and pertinent information.[4]
This bill passed the house on a partisan line, with virtually all Republicans
supporting it and all except for 26 Democrats against it. The substance of the
issue is irrelevant; it seems that in the wake of the shutdown House Republicans
are pulling themselves farther and farther away from the Democratically
controlled senate and presidency, knowing full well that there is no chance of
it passing the senate and that the President will veto it.
Although
major and extreme partisanship dominated this week, the two parties are
evidently trying to guise their conduct under the mask of partnership and
transparency. The House passed the DATA Act by a margin of 388-1. The DATA Act
aims to make information on federal expenditures more easily accessible and
transparent to the public. It also calls on members of the Federal Government
to spend far less on activities such as meetings, catering, and air travel.
Although this seems like a worthwhile and meaningful piece of legislation, in
reality it seems to be more of a show to rally the support of the American
public. It comes on the heels of the government shutdown, accusations about
reckless federal spending, and the tension regarding spying programs on other
countries. It is very sensible to conclude that Congress passed a measure that
would suggest that they are an accountable and honorable group of legislators.
This may be a bill that will benefit our country, but it is more likely that it
is simply for show.
So,
in sum, partisan politics and partisan polarization were the dominant themes of
the past week. Although Congress is clearly still very polarized, they are
attempting to make the American people think that they are trying to work
together. Though, substantively speaking, their behavior is not really
changing, they seem to have processed the critiques of the American people and
are evidently aiming to demonstrate that concerns about accountability are
being addressed. It will be interesting to see how the next few weeks proceed.
[1] http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/11/19/healthcaregov-already-compromised-security-expert-says/
[2] http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/11/19/healthcaregov-already-compromised-security-expert-says/
[3] http://www.ntu.org/governmentbytes/house-to-vote-on-natural-gas.html
[4]http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/sap/113/saphr1900r_20131119.pdf
Josh Trachtenberg and Leah Messler
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