Last Friday, the House Republicans passed a stopgap bill that would shut down the government if the Affordable Care Act was not defunded. This bill has no chance of passing in the Democrat-controlled Senate, a fact of which the Republicans are fully aware.

The Democrats will strike the language in the bill that would defund the health care bill with a simple majority vote. It will then be sent back to the House who will decide whether to keep the government running or shut it down. The end result? An enormous waste of time and money, during a period when both are in short supply.

This is a purely aesthetic, politically self-serving charade with no benefit for anyone, least of all the American people. It could also have devastating consequences if the Republicans do follow through with their threats. Hundreds of thousands of government workers would go on unpaid leaves, national monuments and parks would close, and our American soldiers would report for duty, but go unpaid. Even worse, the government would default on its debt, which would have disastrous repercussions for the global economy

This is not the first time the GOP has voted against the Affordable Care Act — rather, the 42nd.  Their message has been clearly received by the American people. But at a certain point, perhaps when the Supreme Court has ruled the act constitutional, they need to set their differences aside and work to achieve the best possible outcome for their constituents. It is especially frustrating to witness this sort of extreme politics when there are so many other issues that could be addressed during this time. For example, they could be working out a viable solution to the debt ceiling issue or debating legislation to prevent more senseless violence especially in the wake of the tragedies at the Navy Yard.

Recently, the Republican crusade against the Affordable Care Act has extended beyond Washington. The Affordable Care Act created the role of a “navigator,” which is a category of workers trained to help consumers learn about their options under the new insurance.

Seventeen Republican states, most significantly Oklahoma, Missouri, Georgia and Florida, have taken steps to restrict them. Measures range from instituting a high fee for licensing, which would include a state exam and criminal background check, to outright barring the navigators from local public health offices, which is where uninsured people most often go for services.

These politically motivated steps harm the people who the bill is supposed to help the most. Supporters of the laws say they are designed to prevent the navigators from stealing people’s identities, which is an unlikely scenario, as the uninsured poor, uncommon targets for identity theft, are the ones they would generally work with. Furthermore, Medicare has used guides like the navigators for years without any issues. Deliberately withholding knowledge from those who most need it is counterproductive and only serves to hurt their uninsured constituents.