They can hold their breath, stomp their feet, throw their toys, lock themselves in their rooms, refuse to eat dinner, and shout bad words at the top of their lungs, but even if Republicans manage to shut down the federal government, that supreme and reckless act of anti-democracy defiance will not stop the Affordable Care Act [Obamacare] from starting up on October 1, 2013. And\u00a0 not just for political reasons.<\/p>\n
True, President Obama and the Democratic majority have stated that they are not going to approve any bill that defunds the new health care act, but there\u2019s more to this story than parliamentary maneuvering. \u00a0The October 1 launch will take place\u2014even in the event of a Republican-forced government shutdown–because of the fundamental structure of the new law\u2019s funding.\u00a0 The Obama administration pretty much anticipated that Republicans would try to defund a law that was legitimately passed by the majority, so it built in funding that can\u2019t be stopped by the lack of a continuing resolution.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not making this up out of wishful thinking. According to a report released in July 2013 by the Congressional Research Service [CRS]<\/a>, \u201cIt appears that substantial ACA implementation might continue during a lapse in annual appropriations.\u201d<\/p>\n