Boehner, Reid compete to set agenda

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker John Boehner are competing to set the order in which votes will be taken on a bill to fund the United States federal government for the next few months. According to an article from CNN, Boehner has threatened to revise the Senate’s version of the bill - which got rid of a controversial provision to remove all funding for the President’s healthcare law - and send it back to the Senate. This would make the government shut down while the bill was in the Senate, making him look less responsible. Reid then tried to make Boehner look responsible by announcing that, if the House rejects this current bill, the Senate has a very slow procedure that will cause the bill to not be passed in time.

Since we can assume that the Senate and House are both split with a large liberal faction, a large conservative faction, and a group of moderates from both parties in the middle, the leader who gets to set the agenda can decide what bill gets passed. Each leader wants the other chamber to have to vote last. If Reid gets to choose, he will force Republicans in the House to choose between shutting down the government or passing a funding bill that allows the President’s healthcare law to go through. If Boehner gets to choose, he will force Democrats in the Senate to choose between shutting down the government and passing a budget bill that does not fund the President’s healthcare law. Just as our model suggests, being the agenda setter in a divided voting body allows the leader to get the outcome they want.

Healthcare Reform and Rational Ignorance

This recent article from Politico describes the beginning of the implementation of the Affordable Healthcare Act in Kentucky. The state has developed their own program called Kynect, and recently set up an information booth at the state fair to inform citizens of upcoming changes and answer questions. However, the article tellingly highlights how little the people of Kentucky actually know about the details of the new health care plan. Rational ignorance can clearly explain this. The Affordable Healthcare Act is very complicated to understand and taking the time to read the extensive bill has very high opportunity costs. The marginal benefit of a better understanding of the new health care system is much less than the marginal cost of taking the time and effort to decipher the plan. Therefore, most people are rational in their decision to remain ignorant about the specifics of the new law.

As the article describes, Kynect is working to inform citizens about the health care law’s implications for their lives. Events like the one at the state fair are intentional efforts to combat rational ignorance. Still, as is described in the Politico piece, much work remains to be done. A recent survey quoted in the article from the Kaiser Family Foundation “found that 44 percent of those surveyed weren’t even sure if the law was still on the books — many thought it had been repealed or tossed out by the Supreme Court.”