Government shutdown affects America

Closed signs were put up in National parks and monuments all around America on the first of October, 2013, thanks to the government shutdown.

The government shutdown was caused by a disagreement between the Republican and Democratic parties centered around President Obama’s health care reform, popularly known as Obamacare.

The House of Representatives, (of a Republican majority), tried to use the Budget as a bargaining chip to undercut Obamacare. Since it was proposed, most Republicans have strongly opposed the new reform. Seizing the opportunity, The Republican party pushed the Democratic party to postpone Obamacare.

Despite the possible consequence, Democratic leaders refused to budge, and held strong to the new health care reform. With two stubborn parties facing off, they couldn’t come to an agreement.

As a majority, this is common knowledge. There are political arguments everywhere you look. There are also comics and jokes all over the internet.

Forums, Facebook pages, blogs, and all other forms of social media provide a wide variety of opinions on the shutdown. Most people who make jokes are people who don’t directly feel the shutdown’s affect.

Though the shutdown is a huge deal, the average American doesn’t feel it’s effects. The effect is felt far more harshly by federal workers, who were furloughed. A furlough is when a worker is temporarily laid off. And for the furloughed workers, the shutdown meant no money.

The shutdown also makes it so organizations and services such as The Department of Veteran Affairs and food stamps have no funding.

It’s not all bad news though. On October 16th, 1 p.m EST, The Senate announced a deal to temporarily reopen the government. The proposal was said to give the Treasury the authority to keep borrowing money through early February, and that government would fully reopen by January.

Unless they come up with a permanent agreement soon, America could be facing a possible default where it would no longer be able to borrow money. For a country with approximately 13 trillion dollars in debt, this is bad news.

As a whole, Congress doesn’t appear to be close to making a permanent agreement. Unless a compromise is made, the economy could be facing another brutal recession that will impact the entire country.