WASHINGTON — Just because the federal government is shutting down doesn’t mean Democrats and their union allies won’t hold celebrations of the implementation of Obamacare inside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday.
“Still on,” reads a press release distributed by Americans United for Change, a liberal group helping to organize celebrations across the country in support of opening up of the Obamacare exchanges.
“At 2 PM on Capitol Hill, the progressive community will come together to celebrate the Affordable Care Act and open enrollment, a big milestone in the decades-long battle for health care reform,” the group announced.
Among those expected at the rally inside the Capitol: House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate majority leader Harry Reid, SEIU president Mary Kay Henry and AFSCME president Lee Saunders.
“On Oct. 1, Americans — regardless of age, gender or previous sickness — will be celebrating access to affordable, quality health care with the start of Obamacare’s open enrollment period,” the release said. “In states across the country as well as here in Washington, D.C., the voices of the uninsured will join with elected officials, medical professionals and those already benefiting from the law.”
The event comes after the federal government is shutting down because the Democratic-controlled Senate and Republican-controlled House were unable to make a compromise by midnight on a continuing resolution to keep the government funded.
Federal workers will face furloughs because of the shutdown, though members of Congress will still be paid under the law.
Despite the shutdown, liberals in Congress still have something to celebrate: “Despite the best efforts of Republicans to defund the health care law and shutdown the government, Obamacare will begin enrollment on Oct. 1 at healthcare.gov.”