Government Shutdown: Reasons and Repercussions

DEBORAH CHEN
Copy Editor
DENISE TIEU
News Editor

On Oct. 1, a partial federal government shutdown occurred, the first in nearly two decades. In the past, there have been 17 U.S. government shutdowns, which is when expendable government services are closed. A few hours before the deadline, the House Republican leader won approval to enact a new plan to connect further government spending to a one-year delay in a requirement that individuals purchase health insurance. However, 57 minutes later, the Senate terminated the House health care provisions and sent the bill back, leaving the federal government unable to fund itself.

“The problem here is that we can’t [repeal Obamacare] unless some of our friends on the other side are prepared to step up and work with us on this issue. That doesn’t mean we’ll give up the fight if they don’t. We won’t. There are a lot of other things we can do in the meantime,” Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, as stated in the Huffington Post.

GOP has stated that the budget and debt ceiling disagreement has caused Congress to reach a budget impasse due to a difference in opinion in how Obamacare should be funded. The Republicans oppose Obamacare because they believe it will increase health care cost, cause insurance premiums to rise, hurt the quality of health care, add over $500 billion to the deficit and cause nearly $570 billion in tax hikes.

According to New York Times, the government needed to agree on a budget to finance government programs by Oct. 1. Since no legislation was passed to continue funding the government, the federal government ultimately shut down after the termination of previous funding. The second deadline, set on Oct. 17, that needs to be met is the debt limit deadline, when America will have exhausted its emergency borrowing measure, causing the U.S. to have less than $30 billion to pay for the nation’s bills, unless Congress raises its legal debt limit, which is the maximum amount the government can borrow.

“The Democrats and Republicans are too entrenched in their ways to compromise; they care more about destroying the other party and winning the next elections,” Government and Economics teacher Paul Stein said.

CNN has stated that any government functions that do not include anything related to national security, public safety or programs written into permanent law, such as Social Security, will not be able to carry on in an event of a government shutdown.

“[What] really shuts down are national parks or [businesses] that do not have [reserve] funding. I don’t expect a total shutdown of everything; it is just portrayed like that,” Government and Economics teacher Johnnie Lau said.

The midnight deadline on Oct. 1 had lawmakers attempting to finish a stopgap bill to avoid a partial government shutdown, according to Toledo Blade. Inevitably, the partial shutdown occurred and put hundreds of thousands of federal workers at risk of losing their jobs.

“Instead of continually passing legislation that only provides quick fixes, comprehensive reform in the budget is needed,” senior Andrew Quach said. “The only realistic way to solve our problems is to pass legislation that will give just a little more time for us to find a balanced approach to spending cuts and tax increases.”