The columnist Thomas Sowell, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, did a very good job of boiling down some of the murky water that surrounds today’s subject. In his column, published in this newspaper’s Tuesday edition, Sowell, who happens to be black, said the following: “There is really nothing complicated about the facts. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted all the money required to keep all government activities going – except for ObamaCare.” “This is not a matter of opinion,” he continued. “You can check the Congressional Record.” “As for the House of Representatives’ right to grant or withhold money , that is not a matter of opinion either. You can check the Constitution of the United States. All spending bills MUST originate in the House of Representatives , which means that Congressmen there have the right to decide whether they want to spend money on any particular government activity.” Sowell went on to say “Whether ObamaCare is good, bad or indifferent is a matter of opinion. But it is a matter of fact that members of the House have a right to make spending decisions based on their opinion .” “ObamaCare is indeed ‘the law of the land’ as its supporters keep saying,” Sowell continued, “and the Supreme Court has upheld its Constitutionality. But the whole point of having a division of powers within the federal government is that each branch can decide independently what it wants to do or not do, regardless of what the other branches do, when exercising the powers specifically granted to that branch by the Constitution.” “ The government workers who have been laid off are not idle because the House did not vote enough money to pay their salaries or the other expenses of their agencies – unless they are in an agency that would administer Obamacare ,” said Sowell. “Since we cannot read minds,” Sowell said, “we cannot say who – if anybody – ‘wants to shut down the government.’ But we do know who had the option to keep the government running and chose not to . The money voted by the House covered everything that the government does, except for ObamCcare,” said Sowell. Continuing, he said “The Senate chose not to vote to authorize that money be spent because it did not include money for ObamaCare. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he wants a ‘clean’ bill from the House. But what is unclean about not giving Harry Reid everything he wants?” said Sowell. “If Sen. Reid and President Obama refuse to accept the money required to run the government because it leaves out the money they want to run ObamaCare that is their right. BUT , “ he said, “that is ALSO their responsibility.” “ You cannot blame other people for not giving you everything you want ,” said Sowell. “ And it is a fraud to blame them when you refuse to use the money they DID vote to use, even when it is ample to pay for everything else in the government’s operations . When Barack Obama keeps claiming that it is some new outrage for those who control the money to try to change government policy by granting or withholding money, that is simply a bald-faced lie. You can check the history of other examples of ‘legislation by appropriation’ as it used to be called,” said Sowell. “Whether legislation by appropriation is a good idea or a bad idea is a matter of opinion,” he said. “But whether it is both legal and not unprecedented is a matter of fact.” “ Perhaps the biggest of the big lies is that the government will not be able to pay what it owes on the national debt, creating a danger of default,” said Sowell. “Tax money keeps coming into the Treasury during the shutdown,” he explained, “and it vastly exceeds the interest that has to be paid on the national debt.” “Even if the debt ceiling is not lifted,” he said, “that only means that government is not allowed to run up NEW debt. But that does not mean that it is unable to pay the interest on EXISTING debt. ”
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 18:18:39 +0000
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