Here we go again.

As we descend into  the first government shutdown in 17 years, it is hard to contain our disdain; Congress is a bigger circus than Barnum & Bailey.

The Republican-led House of Representatives has voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act — or, as it is popularly known, Obamacare — over 40 times since it was passed in 2010, averaging over once per month. According to CBS, each vote to repeal Obamacare costs taxpayers $1.45 million dollars. This means that the House of Representatives has spent over $60 million attempting to repeal health care reform, not to mention the weeks of overall wasted floor time.

In their latest attempt to dismantle Obamacare, Republicans in the House have  caused a partial government shutdown. Unless the Democrat-controlled Senate voted to delay implementation of Obamacare for one year, all 213 House Republicans as well as 17 Democrats threatened to allow the federal government to shut down, despite the furloughs for more than 700,000 federal workers and millions of delayed paychecks that would likely result.

Delaying the implementation of Obamacare can have dire consequences. It would prevent 11 million people from signing onto health care plans by 2014 and would raise many of the premiums in the individual insurance market.

Congress’ job is to legislate, not to throw temper tantrums. We at The Fordham Ram understand that many members of Congress, as well as members of our own student body, have strong reservations — if not outright hatred — regarding Obamacare. But last November, Americans went to the polls and re-elected Barack Obama, the man who has given his name to the health care legislation, and sent his opponent, who vowed to repeal the bill, home.

While Republicans in Congress are not required to favor Obamacare, they do maintain a responsibility to govern as elected officials.

In a legislative system in which elected officials often claim to do everything in their power to serve the American people, doing nothing seems like the least productive option.

Even conservative pundit Bill O’Reilly says that attempts to repeal Obamacare are ridiculous and need to stop. “Fanaticism on the right is also harming the country,” he said on his show on Sept. 19. “There is no way Obamacare is going to be defunded. It is not going to happen.”

The merits, or lack thereof, of Obamacare are irrelevant. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act last year, and Americans voted to keep its key crafter in office for another four years.

Instead of futilely trying to repeal Obamacare and shutting down the government in the process, Republicans in Congress should work with President Obama and other Democrats to fix the issues they see in this legislation.

Congress is choked by partisanship. Americans elected Congress to govern. It is time to end the circus and get to work.

Categories: Editorial, Opinion