Causes Of The Government Shutdown

On October 1st, 2013 our government shutdown for a period of 15 days. The shutdown swept the headlines on every major news station, and instantly became the hottest topic in the country. Many government employees were furloughed from their jobs with some not being paid for their time off, while others did get paid to sit home and do nothing with taxpayer’s money. The cause of the government shutdown was the Republican Party’s relentless desire to not fund the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, in the upcoming 2014 budget. Even though it has been deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court, the Republicans have been adamant to not have this type of healthcare in place for our nation. While the government was shutdown, the focus did shift from
Even when the focus shifted from defunding Obamacare to the debt ceiling, Democrats refused to negotiate. The Republicans brought facts to the table, and wanted to help our country not raise our debt ceiling and focus more on paying back the money we owe. Over the past 30 years, which spans 6 Presidential regimes, the debt ceiling has been raised. Some President’s raised the ceiling more than others due to factors such as war, but since President Obama took office the debt ceiling has increased year to year more than any other President in the last 30 years (de Rugy). The sheer ignorance by the people who are supposed to be in charge, and especially from the President himself is appalling. Yes the Democrats are the opposing party, and Republican views on most topics differ from yours, but they have the best interests of the nation in their mind just like you do, and are elected officials who represent districts and states to help secure their wants and needs. Unlike the current President, during the previous shutdowns in 1995 and 1996 President Clinton worked with Republicans and ultimately compromised with them on their wants on the issues at hand (Cass). Granted, not every want and demand was met and put in place, but the Republicans still had something to show for them
Politicians have to be much more liberal or conservative with their views in these primaries, so that they can get the most amount of people with those ideals to vote for them instead of their opponent who has similar views. Then once a general election comes around the candidate representing their party has to switch up their views to appeal to the more moderate and independent voters, while still keeping the ultra right and ultra left wing voters. The struggle to gather as many voters as possible between the two elections is what leads to our politicians taking on such extreme views. The polarization of views that results from all of this is one of the reasons as to why Congress has such terrible approval ratings, and why there is such partisanship in our