I am venturing into unfamiliar territory. Last week, occasioned by the Republican Party’s apparent belief that compromise is a four-letter word, the federal government began a partial shutdown of its facilities and services. Although I usually avoid writing about politics, the current fiscal mess in Washington is – to paraphrase Helen Reddy – too big to ignore. Sadly, this crisis, which will, among other evils, defund large swaths of the federal justice system, is the product of a carefully-orchestrated assault on our constitutional system of checks and balances.
Let me be clear at the outset: The issue is not whether the Affordable Care Act is sensible policy, or even whether it is constitutional. Reasonable people can disagree about each of those questions – and, indeed, reasonable people did so, which is why Congress debated the ACA’s passage and the Supreme Court then opined on its legality. The issue is whether the minority party, having lost the battle over the ACA in two branches of government and having twice failed to elect one of its members to head the third, can then shut off the lights and tell everyone to go home.
