Saki Knafo writes at Huffington Post:
For the creatures that inhabit New York’s waterways and the people who care about them, the week started off with some encouraging news. On Monday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it had finalized plans to clean up the Gowanus Canal, a festering, toxic wound in the middle of Brooklyn.
Then came the government shutdown and the EPA’s announcement that it was sending home 94 percent of its workers. Around the country, work stopped at hundreds of toxic “Superfund” sites — contaminated areas that the federal government has designated for cleanup. In Brooklyn, the efforts stopped before they even began.
“All the good news and good will we had on Monday has kind of been put on hold,” said Phillip Musegaas, the Hudson River program director of Riverkeepers, a New York environmental group.
The Gowanus Canal is one of the most polluted waterways in America. Several feet of toxic sludge line the bottom, and a network of sewer pipes spews filth into the sluggish currents after it rains. People have been joking about the Gowanus since at least the early 1900s, when locals sarcastically dubbed it “Lavender Lake,” after the fragrant purple flower, a perfume staple.
The Senate passed a budget last Spring as did the House. Republicans refused to appoint negotiators to the reconciliation process. Thus no budget on 1 Oct, and the need for a CR.
Did Republicans deliberately set up the closure to blackmail the President into dumping the ACA?
Reality is that private market insurance requires underwriting and does not allow cross subsidies. In getting the US back to community ratings with subsidies for the poor will change the distribution of costs for the health care system. Some will gain and some will lose. But it is very complicated. Right now many average workers pay for uncompensated care because heath insurance is employee paid as a matter of economics. Since Empolyer provided Health Insurance is tax advantaged, Cadillac plans drive up costs for everybody. I think the ACA is a reasonable. I regret that Senator Grassley and other Republicans did not work to hold at bay the crazies that put too much preventative care into the law. They just babbled about abortion.
That’s OK. The President wants to get his own way. No negotiating. Too bad about everyone else!