(emphasis mine, Ayotte’s Letter after the jump)
Senator Ayotte:
Thank you for taking time to reply.
A few questions, if I may:
1. Who shutdown the Government? The House sent over bills funding everything BUT discretionary spending on Obamacare. Senator Reid refused to bring any of them to the floor. What did you do to force a vote on anything sent over? The Democrats were not negotiating, they were bargaining in bad faith, something they have done since 2008. To me, one of your constituents, you hold responsibility for enabling them in this tactic.
2. How much of the government was actually shutdown? Reports ranged from 15% to 20% meaning that 80 to 85% was still open. Are you implying that the current size of the Federal Government can’t function on less than 100%?
3. Who’s money is it? My wife and I work hard for our paycheck, yet the current attitude in Washington is “I didn’t earn that” or “I have enough”. What gives the Government the right to decide that I have enough? It’s my money, my employer feels that I’ve earned it, why do I not get to keep more of it? This pertains directly to the debt ceiling; enough with continuing resolutions, force a budget talk. At this point in time I’d settle for a budget equal to the last budget passed by House and Senate. I have to live in a budget that gets smaller and smaller every day because you (Government) feel that you have more right to my income than I do.
4. Tying in with #3, do you honestly believe that the Federal Government cannot survive on a spending level of 95% of the last passed budget?
I will have more as I have more time to spend on your response; I need to go earn another dollar that I get to keep 50% of.
M. Remski
<redacted>
On 11/08/13 12:08, Senator Kelly Ayotte wrote:
November 8, 2013
Dear Mr Remski:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the recent government shutdown, the debt ceiling, and the important debate over our long-term budget priorities. I appreciate hearing from you.
On October 17, 2013, after the government had been shut down for 16 days, President Obama signed into law the Continuing Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (Public Law 113-46). This bipartisan agreement passed the Senate, with my support, by an overwhelming vote of 81-18. The law funds the government through January 15, 2014, and allows for the president to suspend the debt ceiling to February 7, 2014.
As you may know, much of the attention surrounding the government shutdown focused on Obamacare. Since I ran for the Senate, I have opposed Obamacare and have voted in support of repealing, defunding, or delaying this deeply flawed law. However, although I strenuously oppose Obamacare, I did not support the strategy of shutting down the government to defund the health care law because I did not believe this strategy would be successful. At no point could the supporters of the shutdown articulate how this effort would actually defund Obamacare. This is demonstrated by the fact that even when the government was shut down, the exchanges opened anyway. That’s because automatic mandatory spending (not affected by the continuing resolution that funds the government) was included in the law when it passed on strict party lines in 2010.
The supporters of the government shutdown strategy knew in advance this was the case. In response to an inquiry from Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), on July 29, 2013, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service issued an analysis clearly stating that the implementation of Obamacare would continue during a government shutdown “because the federal government will be able to rely on sources of funding other than annual appropriations to support implementation activities, including multiple-year and no-year discretionary funds still available as well as mandatory funds.”
Accordingly, the only way we can fully defund Obamacare is to have enough votes to repeal this flawed law in the House and the Senate, including enough votes to override the President Obama’s inevitable veto, given that Obamacare is the signature legislation of his presidency. That would require 67 votes in the Senate and 290 votes in the House. Currently, the Democrats control the Senate and the Republicans control the House with only 231 Republicans.
With leaders in both parties unable to find a way to end the shutdown, I took to the Senate floor to call for both sides to find common ground on a fiscally responsible plan to end the shutdown and get our government working again. To break through the gridlock, I worked with Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) to develop a proposal to end the shutdown and move us past the stalemate. Eventually, a strong bipartisan group joined us in support of moving this plan forward, and it became the catalyst for the final agreement that was enacted into law.
While it took far too long, I’m glad that we could reach an agreement to end the government shutdown and address the debt ceiling in the short term. Now, it’s up to both sides of the aisle to come together and seize this opportunity to come up with a long-term budget plan for the nation that addresses our underlying fiscal challenges.
The agreement to open the government created a bipartisan conference committee tasked with submitting a fiscal plan to both houses of Congress by December 13, 2013. As a member of the Senate Budget Committee, I have a seat at the table in these discussions, and I will continue my push for a long-term plan that substantively addresses our $17 trillion national debt.
Right now, America’s gross debt is the size of the nation’s economy. This debt level is already past the point where economists warn of dramatically diminished economic prospects, including lower job growth and fewer economic opportunities. Taking bold action to reduce our debt would send a strong message that would help reassure financial markets and prevent additional credit downgrades. I believe no effort to address our long-term fiscal crisis can be taken seriously unless it strengthens and preserves entitlement programs, which represent the primary drivers of America’s long-term, runaway debt.
Moving forward, President Obama and congressional leaders can’t fall back into the same pattern that got us into this situation in the first place – running out the clock until the last minute and manufacturing another needless fiscal crisis. It took two parties to get us $17 trillion in debt, and it will take both parties to get us out of this hole. The American people deserve nothing less.
Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. As your Senator, it is important for me to hear from you regarding the current issues affecting New Hampshire and our nation. Please do not hesitate to be in touch again if I may be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Signature
Kelly A. Ayotte
U. S. Senator
KAA/wa
