Good Article Review About Conflict & Mediation

Congressional and Senate Republicans have been dead set on repealing the Affordable Care (ACA) Act (Obamacare), but repeated effort to repeal the law in the house have since failed more than 33 times. However, with the midterm elections, the GOP took control of both the Senate and the House, but since president Obama has vowed to veto any bills seeking to repeal ACA, Republicans have resorted to cutting off funding necessary to implement the Act. Further, multiple GOP-sponsored lawsuits have been filed in multiple courts in the US, including the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of varied provisions of the ACA. In this, Washington Times article, the GOP-controlled Congress is simply attempting to force broad changes to Medicare and other key provisions of the ACA by delaying passing the budget bill. Since a budget resolution doesn’t require a presidential assent to become effective, Republicans hope to use their majority in both houses to force concessions from the party of the Democratic party and the Obama administration.
The need for mediation in this conflict situation is not impossible to see. To begin with, the house business would be crippled with the increasing polarization. While the GOP has the control of both the senate and the Democratic Party is in control of the executive. Since most of the bills require the president’s assent, a bipartisan approach to the house business is absolutely important. A polarized house would only ensure that up until 2016 at least, Congress and Senate would essentially be unproductive. Further, the ACA is already operational with upwards of 10 million people already depending on the Act and cutting off funding would affect their ability to access care. With negotiations, it may be possible to reach not only a budget agreement (the current issue in question), but equally crucially, to ensure a united front on critical issues such as the Iranian nuclear deal, and climate change.
The parties in this conflict are the Republican Party on one hand and the Democratic Party as well as the Obama administration. The three leaders at odds include the Republic house majority leader, the Democratic house minority leader and the President are most directly important in the meditation effort. However, it is just as critical to understanding that these parties represent interests across the country, which is why it may help to consider these interests in a mediation effort. These third parties include lobby groups, and powerful donors, among others.
The GOP interests in this specific conflict include the need to starve then ACA of financing by missing the April 15 deadline for passing a unified budget. It wants to use the unified budget to create a way of repealing the ACA and eliminate the annual deficits associated with the Acts. Further, Republicans have an eye on the 2016 elections and want to demonstrate that they can govern. On the other hand, the Democrats and the Obama administration see the ACA as an important legacy issue that must be protected and want to ensure that their presidency is successfully in order to make a successful bid in the 2016 elections. With mediation, it is possible to ensure that concessions can be made on either side without jeopardizing either parties’ interests.

References

Howell, Tom. Republicans work against deadline to pass budget; Obamacare hopes hang in balance. April 9, 2015. (accessed April 11, 2015).