# WWII Memorial shutdown controversy **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 4, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354 "2013-10-04T14:25:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/181 "2013-10-15T15:21:50Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Republicans are not the ones shutting anything down. Well, except for the Affordable Care Act. Except they’re failing at it. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/182 "2013-10-15T15:26:50Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Well, except for the Affordable Care Act. Except they’re failing at it. Sorry, hard to hear you over the 2nd job I had to get because my hours were cut back so I wouldn’t qualify for insurance. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/183 "2013-10-15T15:31:36Z")
That sucks, and I sympathize. But you are blaming the wrong people. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/184 "2013-10-15T15:31:45Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Republicans are not the ones shutting anything down. They’ve repeatedly offered a number of bills that did just the opposite which were turned down by Reid and Obama. This is false- the Senate voted on the House bill that would have reopened the government- and modified it and sent it back to the House. Boehner refuses to allow a vote. And the House has done nothing to prevent the default. The House Republicans (and Boehner in particular) are the parties responsible here- they own the shutdown. They openly planned for it, took actions to make it happen, and now that it’s happened, they can’t blame anyone but themselves. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/185 "2013-10-15T15:31:59Z")
Maybe that’s why you didn’t hear you can go buy your own now, and you qualify if your employer is stiffing you. Check out [healthcare.gov](http://healthcare.gov), like millions of other people are doing already. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/186 "2013-10-15T15:36:40Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Republicans are not the ones shutting anything down. They’ve repeatedly offered a number of bills that did just the opposite which were turned down by Reid and Obama. Those four bills laden with issues that have nothing to do with keeping the government running got votes in the Senate, and they all failed to get a simple majority vote. Meanwhile, the Senate-passed proposal got a vote in the House… when? Oh yeah, Republicans changed the rules of the House SPECIFICALLY to NOT vote on a bill that almost certainly would receive a majority of votes in the House. You can’t deny this: Republicans changed the rules of the House in order to shut down the government. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/187 "2013-10-15T16:04:49Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Sorry, hard to hear you over the 2nd job I had to get because my hours were cut back so I wouldn’t qualify for insurance. I find it hard to believe you don’t have insurance now. Because that would presumably help you understand the need for the ACA. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/188 "2013-10-15T16:05:29Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Those four bills laden with issues that have nothing to do with keeping the government running got votes in the Senate, and they all failed to get a simple majority vote. > > Meanwhile, the Senate-passed proposal got a vote in the House… when? Oh yeah, Republicans changed the rules of the House SPECIFICALLY to NOT vote on a bill that almost certainly would receive a majority of votes in the House. > > You can’t deny this: Republicans changed the rules of the House in order to shut down the government. you can’t deny [Reid is rejecting house bills](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/10/15/reid-rejects-latest-house-offering/). What’s your point? Goose doesn’t like gander. News at 11:00. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/189 "2013-10-15T16:07:49Z")
Last I heard, Reid isn’t blocking any votes nor does he feel compelled to honor some “majority of the majority” nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/190 "2013-10-15T16:07:56Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > you can’t deny [Reid is rejecting house bills](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/10/15/reid-rejects-latest-house-offering/). What’s your point? Goose doesn’t like gander. News at 11:00. Republicans openly planned for the shutdown. Then they took action to make the shutdown happen. Then they celebrated the shutdown. They wanted the shutdown and they made it happen. And they’re trying to blame other people? Laughable. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/191 "2013-10-15T16:12:21Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I find it hard to believe you don’t have insurance now. Because that would presumably help you understand the need for the ACA. The ACA destroyed the jobs needed to pay for insurance. It’s the most fuck stupid piece of legislation every forced upon the American people. Instead of helping those who wanted insurance it screwed over those who could afford it by raising the price of insurance and cutting back work hours. This was predicted before the vote and they went ahead with it anyway. The inability to get online and buy it is just the beginning of this pile of government ineptitude. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/192 "2013-10-15T16:13:41Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Republicans openly planned for the shutdown. Then they took action to make the shutdown happen. Then they celebrated the shutdown. They wanted the shutdown and they made it happen. And they’re trying to blame other people? Laughable. It takes 2 houses to vote something in. Reid is rejecting everything the Republicans send him. It’s his fault nothing is getting done including bills that would open up the memorials. Which is the topic of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/193 "2013-10-15T16:19:54Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > The ACA destroyed the jobs needed to pay for insurance. It’s the most fuck stupid piece of legislation every forced upon the American people. Instead of helping those who wanted insurance it screwed over those who could afford it by raising the price of insurance and **cutting back work hours.** This was predicted before the vote and they went ahead with it anyway. > > The inability to get online and buy it is just the beginning of this pile of government ineptitude. And all this time I thought it was asshole bosses. And if they had enough server capacity to handle the first days, you’d be screeching about the wasted expense and how stupid they were to have that much when it won’t be needed after a few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/194 "2013-10-15T16:20:33Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > It takes 2 houses to vote something in. Reid is rejecting everything the Republicans send him. It’s his fault nothing is getting done including bills that would open up the memorials. Which is the topic of the thread. The entire elected Senate is voting on House proposals, and voting them down. In contrast, one man alone – John Boehner – is deciding that the Senate proposal, which apparently has majority support in the House, cannot be voted on. To sum it up: the Senate is voting, the House is not. The Senate proposal almost certainly can become law, no House proposal can. But the House Republicans changed the rules of the House specifically so that a popular piece of legislation will not get a vote, and not become law. You can’t pin this on Harry Reid. This is like a Super Bowl where the Patriots are up by 2 points with seconds to go, and Bill Belichick is allowed to unilaterally decide that field goals are now only worth one point as the 49ers line up for a winning 25-yard kick. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/195 "2013-10-15T16:38:13Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > The ACA destroyed the jobs needed to pay for insurance. Did it? Can you cite that. Specifically please, not some dipshit opinion piece. > [@](#): > > It’s the most fuck stupid piece of legislation every forced upon the American people. I’d say that honor belongs to the budget FDR signed that tried to cut the deficit during the recovery of the Great Depression. > [@](#): > > Instead of helping those who wanted insurance it screwed over those who could afford it by raising the price of insurance and cutting back work hours. This was predicted before the vote and they went ahead with it anyway. Cite? Facts please. > [@](#): > > The inability to get online and buy it is just the beginning of this pile of government ineptitude. You know when Walmart gets slammed on Black Friday? That doesn’t mean their parking lot is a piece of shit. It means more people are going there than they thought would. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/196 "2013-10-15T17:02:07Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > It takes 2 houses to vote something in. Reid is rejecting everything the Republicans send him. It’s his fault nothing is getting done including bills that would open up the memorials. Which is the topic of the thread. Reid actually allows votes on Republican proposals. Boehner won’t allow votes on the stuff the Senate sends to the House. Boehner made this happen, and Boehner is preventing it from ending. He and his caucus own this, and own the results- including the memorial closings. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/197 "2013-10-15T17:10:46Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > It takes 2 houses to vote something in. Reid is rejecting everything the Republicans send him. It’s his fault nothing is getting done including bills that would open up the memorials. Which is the topic of the thread. Oh, all right, if you insist on being on this level: You misspelled “Boehner” and “Democrats”. :rolleyes: I think you know what you’re coyly leaving out. The rest of us do. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/198 "2013-10-15T19:25:31Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > It takes 2 houses to vote something in. Reid is rejecting everything the Republicans send him. It’s his fault nothing is getting done including bills that would open up the memorials. Which is the topic of the thread. Opening the memorials is an idiotic idea. Of all the “non-essential” items that have been forced to close as a result of the shutdown, the memorials are probably the least essential of all. If we’re going to be doing things piece-meal, they should be the last things to open. But really, the correct thing to do would be to open everything at once, as soon as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/199 "2013-10-16T02:18:00Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > And all this time I thought it was asshole bosses. Nope. It was asshole politicians who by a single vote added to the cost of doing business. > [@runner pat](#): > > And if they had enough server capacity to handle the first days, you’d be screeching about the wasted expense and how stupid they were to have that much when it won’t be needed after a few weeks. Sorry, you don’t get to put words in my mouth. It’s been 2 weeks. They new this had major problems before it started and they did nothing to fix it. So to summarize it so far, Lots of money spent on a poorly executed program to fix one problem that created another one which was a reduction in people’s hours. This affected those already on the low scale of pay. This was predicted before the vote was taken and ignored. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354/200 "2013-10-16T02:37:50Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Nope. It was asshole politicians who by a single vote added to the cost of doing business. > > Sorry, you don’t get to put words in my mouth. It’s been 2 weeks. They new this had major problems before it started and they did nothing to fix it. > > So to summarize it so far, Lots of money spent on a poorly executed program to fix one problem that created another one which was a reduction in people’s hours. This affected those already on the low scale of pay. This was predicted before the vote was taken and ignored. I worked for several small companies who managed to provide very good insurance for their employees. If you have a better solution, let’s hear it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-memorial-shutdown-controversy/670354.md?page=11)