NCRA PAC
October 7, 2013
Washington Insider
Federal government shuts down after no compromise can be reached
The government has officially shut down
following the failure of extensive talks between congressional leaders. While many
federal employees deemed essential will
continue to work, many others have been
furloughed and will not be returning to work
until a deal is stuck leaving, almost one million people temporarily unemployed.
The Republicans have dug in deep for this
fight, promising not to pass a continuing
resolution to fund the government until
President Obama and Senate Democrats
delay part of the Affordable Care Act for
one year, to ensure individuals receive the
same rights as business. This idea Senate has voted down the delay all
came after Obama once again delay three times.
portions of the bill for businesses.
Neither side seems willing to budge at
Democrats have doubled-down on this point, as both Senate Democrats
their stance, refusing to fund the gov- and House Republicans will have to
ernment at the expense of defunding or concede something if they hope to
delaying the Affordable Care Act for reach a compromise. Ominously, Conanother year. Senate Majority Leader gress only has two weeks to fund the
Harry Reid (D-NV) has remained un- government and pass a bill to raise the
compromising throughout the debate, debt limit. At this point, neither side
standing strong to his principles. While seems willing to budge, leaving no end
the House has voted three times to in sight.
fund the government and delay the Affordable Care Act for one year, the
Debt ceiling battle looms
On Oct. 17, the United States will run out
of money and will be unable to pay off its
accumulated debt if Congress does not
raise the debt ceiling. However, many on
Capitol Hill have not even begun to discuss the issue because they have been focused on the government shutdown.
Should Congress not be able to come to an
agreement in time, the government would
default on its credit for the first time in
history and create significant financial
implications across the world.
Republicans have offered some insight to
the discussion they need to have if they
want the House to sign-off on raising the
debt limit. Among the issues Republicans
expect to see fixed include a one-year
delay of the health care law, a tax overhaul, and a broad rollback of environmental regulations.
President Obama has made it clear that
he is not willing to have a debate
over raising the debate ceiling. He
has repeatedly said that the United
States has never defaulted on its debt
and will not do so now. The President will be in a tough spot if Republicans stick to their claims.
The outcome of this debate will depend a great deal on how the debate
over the government shutdown is
addressed in the coming days. If
Congress does not strike a deal
on the shutdown, it could result
in an even bigger issue over the
debt ceiling. The president will
likely need to take the lead on
the discussions over the next few
weeks to make sure both houses
of Congress can come to an
agreement, as failure to do so
could cause another global financial crisis.
Page 2
Washington Insider
Senate confirms first openly gay judicial nominee
The Senate made history earlier this month by
confirming the first openly gay lawyer, Todd
Hughes, to serve as a federal appeals court
judge by a 98-0 vote. This was a first for the
Federal Circuit, however, it is not the first time
President Obama nominated a judge who
would break some type of barrier as he nominated three Hispanics and two AsianAmericans who were ‘firsts’ in their respective
courts.
on the highest court in the land. Hughes
will likely not be the last judge President Obama nominates to break a barrier but Hughes will be one to remember.
President Obama had nominated Wilmer Hale
for the position in 2010 but he later pulled his
name when it was clear that he was not going
win Senate approval. The highest profile nominee the President has nominated to break a
barrier was Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who became the first Latino to serve
Senator Cruz long speech
Sen. Ted Cruz took control of
the Senate floor on Sept. 24, at
2:42 p.m. and spoke to defund
Obamacare for more than 21
hours. He did not give up the
Senate floor until 12:00 p.m.
on Sept. 25, when by rules of
the Senate, he was forced to
begin the next day’s session.
Cruz pulled an all-nighter,
showing his willingness to defund the President’s signature
healthcare law at any cost. His
floor speech was among the
longest in history.
Get to know your local elected officials
How do people end up in Congress?
Many people who run for Congress were
previously elected to their state legislature. Since members of Congress need to
build up a profile before they can run for
federal office, many choose to do so at the
state level because it allows them to be
active in the local community. Candidates
considering running for a higher office
can often build a strong base of support at
home first.
men, doctors, and lawyers who decided to Many presidents have also served in
run after a successful career outside of their state government before moving
politics. Of the 535 voting members of to the White House, including President
Congress, just 262 are former state George Washington, who served in the
Virginia House of Burgesses from 1758
legislators.
to 1774. Even President Obama served
In the Senate, 43 of the 100 members in the state legislature.
served in their state legislatures. While
percentage wise that is less than the Elected officials all start somewhere,
House, it still shows that many members whether at the state or local level, so it
severed in their hometown communities is important to meet and discuss issues
with them because you never know
at one point to build up support.
In the House just more than 50 percent of
when they will be in office and rememmembers were previously elected- In the House, 219 of its 435 members ber your conversations.
officials while others included business- once served in their state legislature.
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Page 3
Rep. Southerland’s food stamp proposal
Earlier this month, the U.S. House of
Representatives voted on the Farm Bill. It
passed but without food stamps for the
poor. The House then decided to break the
bill up into two different votes after it
failed to pass the first time when it included the food stamps provision. The
first bill addressed farm subsidies and
passed. The second bill, which addressed
food stamps, passed despite major changes to the program.
Rep. Southerland has been working on an
extensive overhaul of the program for
years. His bill would cut 3.8 million people and $4 billion from the food stamp
program in 2014. It would also require
able-bodied adults to work or volunteer at
least 20 hours each week in order to re-
ceive government food assistance, a
proposal that no Democrats in the
House voted in favor of.
The food stamp program, which supports more than 47 million people and
costs the government over $80 billion a
year, has tripled in size over the last
decade. Republicans have demanded an
overhaul of the program for years and
the hope now is that they can secure the
votes to change it.
Although the bill passed the first step in
the House, Southerland’s bill will now
need to pass conference committee, a
vote again in both chambers, and the
President’s signature. A feat that is unlikely in the current political climate.
Alabama’s Special Election
On Sept. 24, Alabama’s first
Congressional district held a
primary to replace Rep. Jo
Bonner, who recently resigned.
Since none of the candidates
were able to reach the required
50 percent needed for nomination, the state requires a runoff.
Former state Sen. Bradley Byrne and businessman Dean
Young advanced to a runoff that
will be held in November. Whoever wins the GOP runoff will
face the Democratic nominee,
Burton LeFlore, on Dec. 17. The
district is very conservative so
the winner of the GOP primary
is expected to win the seat.
North Carolina Senate race heats up
litical pundits because Dole was thought
of as well-liked in the state. What came
as an even bigger surprise is that she
out-performed President Obama in that
state. While the political climate of 2008
is slightly different than today, Dole is
still the incumbent, giving her a good
chance to hold onto her seat. The biggest
asset Hagan has over her opponent is
Thom Tillis (R)
Sen. Kay Hagan (D)
substantial name recognition around the
The 2014 Senate race in North Carolina will state.
be one of the most expensive and toughest
races in the country. Republicans need to Tillis will be in the fight of his political
pick up five seats in order to retake the ma- career this year. As House Majority
jority in the Senate. Since North Carolina leader in North Carolina, he has taken
was the most contested race in 2012 it will heat from the establishment in the state
be the biggest battle ground state in the for being too far to the right. They
country. This race will likely determine would like someone else to jump into
the race and compete for more indewhich party controls the Senate.
pendent voters. Tillis will try to conIn 2008, Sen. (FIRST NAME)Hagan pulled vince Republican primary voters he unoff a major upset by beating Sen. Elizabeth derstands the state and is the best candiDole. This came as a surprise for most po-
date to defeat Sen. Hagan while also
not alienating any swing voters in the
state. This will be a difficult task as
while serving as Speaker of the
House, he took some hard votes and
many on the Democrats’ side have
criticized him for being too conservative.
North Carolina has been a swing
state the last two presidential elections. In 2008, the state went slightly
for President Obama, and in 2012 it
went slightly for Mitt Romney. Depending on the political leaning of
the country in 2014 and how the public feels about the affordable care act
it will likely affect which candidate
pulls out a win.