Thomas Sowell: Who shut down the government?

Even when it comes to something as basic, and apparently as simple and straightforward, as the question of who shut down the federal government, there are diametrically opposite answers, depending on whether you talk to Democrats or to Republicans.
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. 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 a right to decide whether or not they want to spend money on a particular government activity.
Whether Obamacare is good, bad or indifferent is a matter of opinion. But it is a matter of fact that members of the House of Representatives have a right to make spending decisions based on their opinion.
Obamacare is indeed “the law of the land,” as its supporters keep saying, 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 hundreds of thousands of government workers who have been laid off are not idle because the House of Representatives 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.
Since we cannot read minds, 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 of Representatives covered everything that the government does, except for Obamacare.
The Senate chose not to vote to authorize that money to be spent, because it did not include money for Obamacare. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says that he wants a “clean” bill from the House of Representatives, and some in the media keep repeating the word “clean” like a mantra. But what is unclean about not giving Harry Reid everything he wants?

http://www.hpe.com/opinion/x5592733...hut-down-the-government#.UlzPmgYAKnY.facebook

 

The lack of understanding of how our government was founded and how it works is beyond words. This is why every administration needs to always be willing to talk, negotiate, and compromise. That is how our government is supposed to work at all times.

Just because something has been passed as law does not mean it has to be funded later. Ever. That is the great thing about our checks and balances system. Of course those who are supporting this abortionist President will not care about how our government is supposed to work.

 

Congress is not compelled to fund something just because it is law. This is a checks and balance for bad laws. And it also pushed the other side of the legislative and the President to work with, negotiate, and compromise with the house. That is why it was instituted that way.

What is a waste of time is for the Senate or the President to insist on funding something that the house has already said they would not fund.

 

And by the way Congress deciding not to fund it is the legislative process. Seeing as how they are the legislature.