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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 Parry relentless desire to not fund the Affordable Care Act, Beamer, in the upcoming 2014 budget.
Even though it has been deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court, the Republicans have been adamant to not eave this type of healthcare in place for our nation. While the government was shutdown, the focus did shift from Beamer to the debt ceiling, and whether or not It should be raised yet again. The current debt ceiling as of October 21 SST Is upwards of 1 7 trillion dollars (“Debt Subject to Limit Graph”). This is a ridiculous number, which our government should be looking to reduce rather than raise to help us as a nation.
Sadly, the government shutdown from a Republican stance did nothing as everything that the party wanted to achieve did not happen, and they eventually in the end conceded to the Democrats, letting them have their way to let the government reopen. This is not the first time that our government has been shutdown, as recently as the Clinton administration our government was shutdown twice for periods of 6 days and 21 one days.
Like in 2013, pressing issues regarding the nation at the time in 1 995 and 1996 and the fact that the two parties were at such opposite ends of the spectrum on them led to the government being shutdown. The issues that led to the eventual shutdowns were Medicare, tax cuts, lad for the poor, and the budget deficit. Though the Issues regarding the shutdowns were different, the effects ended up being very similar. The shutdown in the end cost the government money instead of saving them money like they wanted, and businesses suffered who did Jobs with federal Inspectors, and who dealt with national parks (Sacs).
Fortunately, In 2013 a bill was passed to open up some national parks If the states would pay the government money, states like Utah agreed to because of the high revenue national parks and tourism to these parks generates during the month of October (Berks). One effect of the shutdowns during the Clinton administration was the Republicans were affected In the polls In the elections after the shutdown (Sacs), although midterm elections are not for another year, the fact that the Republicans caused a shutdown could be costly for them.
The recent government shutdown has shown that Congress is entirely too partisan, and it Is hurting our nation by not efficiently getting things done. Compromise is the biggest thing for an efficient government to have, and currently there is barely any when there is actually some. The problem in today’s politics is that he partisanship is getting out of control, the Democrats are becoming more liberal than before, and the Republicans are becoming more conservative than before. Not 1 OFF Republican Party itself.
The Tea Party is a faction of Republicans who believe in a grassroots movement to bring back the core values that our founding fathers built this country on. They are very conservative, and abide by the Constitution as it was meant to be determined, even in ambiguous writings where the wording can be interpreted differently in the sass’s and now they think of the wording as the founding fathers would have (“About Us”). Their main motto/slogan is “We the People! ” and they stick to it even using the Gassed Flag as one of their symbols.
The power struggle that the Tea Partiers and the traditional Republicans are experiencing right now is starting to destroy the party, and make a mockery of themselves. This does not fair well in the polls, allowing more Democrats in Congress, and does not help when the Republicans try to gain leverage in any negotiations. During the recent government shutdown, President Obama and Democrat leaders stood their ground on all the issues at hand, and refused to listen to any ideas or bills that Republican leaders came up with.
Even when the focus shifted from defending Beamer 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 Rugby).
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 (Sacs).
Granted, not every want and demand was met and put in place, but the Republicans still had something to show for them wanting a government shutdown in the first place. President Clinton acted like a true leader of the most powerful nation, and worked together with his opposition in creating what was best for the country. President Obama could learn a thing or two from the experiences that Clinton had. Another contributing factor to the lack of bipartisanship in our government is that the ideologies of the two political parties are so polar that the policymakers can never get anything done.
This is not only true in Congress, but with the American people as well, from 2000 to 2012 voters align themselves more to the left and right than they used to. In 2012 68% of Republicans, up from 59% in 2000, think of themselves as conservative, and 39% of Democrats, up from 27% in 2000, think of themselves as liberals. When Republicans and Democrats were asked 48 questions about different political issues, the gap between the two parties averaged about 18 points, which is double than what the gap was between 1987-2002 (“Partisan Popularization, in Congress and among Public, Is Greater than Ever. . These statistics are horrifying to me; it shows that compromise is virtually unachievable not only between the two of 12% (Fox) I feel that all the blame should not be on them, but on the American people as well because with their ideals becoming more and more extreme they are putting these politicians in who will not compromise with the other party. In election primaries the most hardcore voters go out to vote, the turnout nationally is a lot less than when a general election happens.
Politicians have to be much more liberal or conservative with their views in these primaries, so that they an 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 popularization 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 government. In the months prior to the government shutdown, the two chambers of Congress look ahead to major dates and deadlines coming up. Over the summer one of the main deadlines that loomed ahead was the potential to raise the debt ceiling and negotiating the budget.
According to Representative Chris Von Holler of Maryland, who is the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, Democrats wanted to negotiate both of those things early on, but none of the Republicans would come to the table to talk (Cook). Von Holler believes that the Republicans waited until the last minute to potentially give them more leverage when negotiating (Cook), but as we have seen from the government shutdown, the Republicans did not have any leverage and did not get any of their wishes from causing the shutdown.
Why Republicans would want to hold out until the last minute blows my mind, especially since the party can barely control themselves let alone control the way our budget and debt ceiling are negotiated. The party is currently in shambles and a laughing stock. It is too partisan with each other between Tea Partiers and your more rotational/moderate Republicans for them to wait until the last minute. I understand that they control the house, but a better method for them would have been laying out everything they wanted in the first place then not backing down, or trying to compromise on everything that they wanted as a party.
This would have been more beneficial not only for Republicans as a party because they are more likely to get something that way, but also to the voters who identify with the Republicans. They would have saw that the people they voted in are keeping their promise of doing hat is best for them, and can blame the Democrats for not wanting to compromise and negotiate if the government ended up shutting down after all. The Republican Party is too partisan that they do not want to talk or negotiate with the Democrats at all, therefore they, as a party, are suffering. Not everything that has to do with the government is negative.
There have been plenty acts of bipartisanship in recent times that shows the elected officials we have can work together for the betterment of the American people. The most recent example of this was a year ago when Superstore Sandy devastated the regions of o focus on his campaign and the general election that was going to be happening in week, but he put that aside to help the people. He worked hand in hand with Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, a Republican, to give aid to the people affected by the storm in the quickest and most efficient way possible. He and I spoke every day for at least the next 10 days ?? every day ?? sometimes more than once a day and it was substantive conversations,” Christie said. “l needed help on something that the bureaucracy wasn’t giving me. That was at least four or five times I called him and aid, ‘l hate to bother you with this, sir, but you told me if I needed help to call you, and FEM. is driving me crazy or the Army is driving me crazy and I don’t understand this and can you help me? And each and every time that I did that, within an hour the problem was fixed. ” (Hibernia).
These quotes by Governor Christie shows that President Obama can act in a bipartisan manner when things get tough, this is how the President should always act. Obama was shaken up emotionally by the damage that he saw, over the course of time he would call and check up on Christie to make sure the relief efforts were going smoothly (Hibernia). Beam’s bipartisanship efforts with Sandy helped him win the 2012 election, one that was viewed as being ‘ere competitive before Sandy, but when Obama showed he was a man of the people it went a long way with voters.
The bipartisanship efforts by a Republican, Governor Christie, went a long way as Nell. His approval ratings were solidly in the ass’s before Sandy and skyrocketed into the ass’s afterwards (Omicron). Christie high approval ratings helped him in his reelection campaign this year. On November 5th, 2013 Governor Christie won reelection in New Jersey against Democrat Barbara Boon. Christie won the blue state by getting 60% of the vote to Bunion’s 38% (Assistances, Slough, America).
He also was the first Republican in the last 25 years to get over 50 percent of the vote in the state of New Jersey (Lavender). This is an incredible achievement and it shows that being bipartisan goes a long way with voters. New Jersey was the state Obama carried by the widest margin, 17 points, in the 2012 election, but they Just reelected a Republican as Governor with him getting 60% of the vote (Lavender). This has to say a lot about the voters in this country and how they think. Politicians should take notice to this.
Now Christie also has his sights on the biggest prize of them all, potentially running as the Republican candidate in the Presidential election in 2016. The most recent Chinquapin poll of Republican voters slotted Christie as second, behind Rand Paul, as the candidate they would most want to have represent them in 2016 :Omicron). Christie is making big strides with his tough no holds barred but teddy bear like approach to politics, standing up for his beliefs and views when necessary, but being able to compromise for the good of the people when necessary.
Partisanship is the biggest problem our government faces. Compromise and reasoning are the two biggest things in politics, and the government currently lacks those qualities. The President’s approval rating is less than stellar at 41%, which ties his all time lowest mark, and 56% of people say they disapprove of his performance in the White House so far (Assistances). Obviously, this isn’t a good thing for the President as the average approval rating for a President is somewhere around 54%, and Presidents like Reagan, Clinton, and Lyndon Johnson all had 60% plus approval
Ratings – Barack Obama”). These are all President’s who faced tough times, but used their abilities to compromise and work bipartisan to strive to achieve the best possible country we can be. The 13th Congress on the other hand isn’t fairing too Nell themselves. They have the lowest approval rating in history at 12% and as of July 12th, they had only passed 15 bills in 2013 (Roller). This is ridiculous that our government is so partisan that they cannot do their Job and implement laws to help the country. On that date in 2005 President Bush signed 13 bills into law on that day lone (Roller).
Combine Beam’s poor rating with Congress’ all time low approval rating and failure to implement legislature, and the government is not doing very favorably in the people’s eyes. So what can be done by the citizens of this great country to change this? Well there are a few things that are quite easy that can be done to have your voice heard, write to your Congressman representing your district, “rite a letter to your Senator, take an active role in your local politics and possibly {Our state politics, take an interest in politics so you can vote for the best possible antedate, and lastly Just get out and vote.
Writing to your Congressman is a quick an easy way to get noticed, they will most likely read your letter or email personally and respond in a somewhat timely manner, and give you feedback on whether or not they can help with your problem, and possibly offer a solution to the problem at hand. Writing to a Senator is more ambitious as they have a lot more things on their plate than a Congressman does, and your letter may be read by an intern or secretary rather than them personally and then filed to see if it is or isn’t important to the Senator.
Running for office is also an ambitious task for the average citizen, one quality that politicians have that most normal people don’t is ambition. If you have ambition and the want to make your town, city, county, state, country a better place you should consider running for office. Irish is the easiest way to have your views and beliefs heard and have implemented as you are the one preaching and enacting them. Lastly, the two most important things that anyone can do is take an interest in all facets of politics, so they can choose the right candidate that matches up with their beliefs, and actually getting UT to vote.
As mentioned before the small voter turnout in primaries and midterm elections are allowing more partisan candidates to go on to general elections, and take over the seats that occupy Congressional Hall, the same people who are not doing anything for us. Recent voter turnout numbers show Just 38% of eligible voters came out for Congressional elections compared to 93% of people in Belgium voting in their Congressional equivalent elections (Friedman). You may think that for general elections the turnout is a lot of people, but you’re wrong, in the 2012 general election only 58. Of American’s went out and voted (“2012 General Election Turnout Rates”). Irish is laughable compared to most other countries, yet Americans are the first people to complain about the people in office. If you don’t vote you can’t complain, if Ho do vote you have a right to complain. The voter turnout needs to increase, people need to get out and vote, do your civic duty and elect the people that are best fit for the Job and your needs because what we have right now is a mess that needs to be fixed, and the only way that it can be is if you go out and put your support behind a candidate and elect them into office.