The US Government Shut-Down

[Professor Smooth]

This is an infuriating bit of goings on, isn't it? The media, taking their usual centrist approach, is taking a VERY simple situation and presenting it to a more-trusting-than-justified public as "both sides are having trouble coming to an agreement." And that is not what's happening at all. It's willfully ignorant to try to present the issue as such.

The media (and Republicans) are trying to sell this to the public as "Democrats and Republicans can't reach an agreement on Obamacare". That's completely untrue. An agreement was reached. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was written, voted on, signed, passed into law, and upheld by the US Supreme Court. There is no disagreement on ANY level that Obamacare is completely legitimate.

The "argument" if you can call it that, is that Republicans want Obamacare discarded entirely (or, at the very least, gutted to the point that it's almost useless). Their terms for allowing a vote on being able to fund the government are nothing less than Obamacare (in whole, or at least in part) being repealed, delayed, or hobbled. Unless the Democrats agree to that, the Speaker of the House will not allow the issue to even come up for a vote. It's not that Republicans won't vote to fund the government, it's that the Speaker won't even ALLOW it to be voted on.

A bunch of people have likened this to a hostage situation (Give us what we want or the country will pay!) or extortion. Or comparing this to smaller situations (You can't refuse to pay your car bill unless the dealership throws in a free X-Box). But that's not it at all. This has the risk of setting an EXTREMELY dangerous precedent

As I said earlier, Obamacare isn't pending legislation. It's not something that needs to (or should) be negotiated. So if Republicans are willing to refuse to fund the government (the shut down) if a law they don't like isn't repealed/altered...there's nothing to stop them from doing it again next time they have to agree to fund the government. If the Democrats cave on the Obamacare thing, there is NOTHING saying that Republicans won't refuse to fund the government next time unless abortion is made illegal, unless hate-crime legislation is repealed, unless gay marriage is made illegal, etc.

This situation is 100% the fault of the Republican/Tea Party members in the House. Obama, by the way, has no official role in this aside from signing/vetoing the thing one it's voted on, which Republican leaders aren't allowing to happen. But the media is doing its level best to make it seem like BOTH sides are at fault in some way. But if one person says 1 + 1 = 2 and another says 1 + 1 = 4, that doesn't mean that 1 + 1 = 3...it means that one side is WRONG.

[bumblemusprime]

The Republicans are a bunch of big stupid babies throwing a tantrum and punishing us.

I can't believe such raging moronic idiots have this kind of power. In any other job, those [composite word including 'f*ck'] would have been thrown out on their asses long ago.

[Brendocon]

It does put your entire government across as a bunch of immature children to the rest of the world, this is true.

With also slight undertones of somebody punching themselves in the face whilst screaming "look what you're making me do".

It's the federal employees who aren't getting paid that I feel sorry for. Especially as their hardship will obviously be held up by certain parties as an example of the terrible evils that Barry O'Bomber has caused in his horrific campaign to sever the link between illness and bankruptcy.