It’s been a week since the government entered the shutdown. In the wake, we’ve seen a constant news loop of both sides of the aisle resolving to hold out until the other blinks. At this point, this much is known to be true: The debt ceiling has to be raised, lest we run out of money by Oct. 15.
Yet a curious phenomenon has occurred since the shutdown began, and simultaneously, the Affordable Care Act went to market for Americans to begin signing up. The servers were slow. Customers attempting to get through were told there were too many people trying to access the website. The Republicans’ biggest fear had come true— Americans were respondingv well to the ACA. Indeed, NPR reported that a surprising number of citizens, registered as Republicans, were choosing to register for the ACA.
So what message does this give to those in control of the government? It seems to be pretty universal that the people of the United States want the shutdown to end. However, pride is a powerful thing. If congressional Republicans, who decided a shutdown was the only logical response to not being able to stop the ACA from going into effect, were to cave and agree to vote on the debt ceiling resolution without defunding the ACA, they would be crucified by their own party.
Though the cost of the ACA is vast—there is no debate about that—it is the social complications surrounding it that have gotten us to a place where a single piece of legislation can bring the country to its knees.
The truth of the matter is that people almost always will be in some way disillusioned with the government, regardless of who is in power. At this point, it seems more prudent to place emphasis on specific issues such as the ACA and truly get a feel for what it can do for the average American.
I encourage everyone to find the Jimmy Kimmel Live feature from this past week. When he asked people if they preferred the ACA to Obamacare. Almost universally the response was “yes.” Why? “Because Obamacare is socialist,” one woman said. Another agreed, adding that the ACA “was just more pulled together.” In its third-quarter, All-America Economic Survey, CNBC asked half of its 812 respondents if they supported Obamacare and asked the other half if they supported the ACA. The poll found that 46 percent oppose Obamacare and 37 percent oppose the ACA. Kimmel’s segment and the CNBC poll demonstrate that people fail to realize there is no difference between the ACA and Obamacare.
In Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare famously wrote “a rose… by any other name would smell as sweet…” In that play, of course, Juliet is arguing that it doesn’t matter what things are called; only what they do.
Still, if the ACA is seen as more pulled together, and Americans are flocking toward the online servers to see what it can offer them, perhaps the fault lies in the nickname of Obamacare. The rose just isn’t perceived as being as sweet, preventing those who need it most from discovering its benefits. So what’s in a name? Apparently, everything.