The United States government has been shutdown for almost two weeks as the debate between Republicans and Democrats in Congress and the White House continues to rage. Logan Anderson, a junior in business from West Jordan, Utah, said, “It’s too complicated and confusing to understand with all the social media rumors and false accusations to even care.” Here is what is happening:According to the Constitution, every year Congress must pass a budget, outlining the spending and income of the Government for that year. The last time the government actually made a budget was in 1997. Since that time, they have merely just been passing “resolutions.” Resolutions give the government the freedom to continue spending money for a predetermined time limit, Business Professor Cary Wasden explained.Why the shutdown now? Neither Republicans or Democrats can come to a mutual agreement regarding budget and spending. Republicans are in control of the House of Representative and the Democrats are in charge of the Senate and the White House. The Democrats are hoping to continue the current trend by passing a resolution and increasing the debt ceiling, or the amount of debt the country can have, so that they can fund all the government programs. Such programs include the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as it is more commonly known. Republicans have no desire to fund Obamacare allowing President Obama to continue spending more money, according to Wasden.What does this mean? The Republicans in the House of Representatives are not willing to pass a resolution that includes funding for Obamacare, and the Democrats in the Senate and White House aren’t willing to approve any resolution that doesn’t fund Obamacare and raising the debt ceiling. With both sides being very reluctant to negotiate, the government has had to shutdown. Wasden said, “You are not getting the true story from either side and neither party comes out of this looking good. It shows us just how absolutely dysfunctional our government is right now. It’s a complicated issue with a simple solution. Just pass a budget.”What happens with a government shutdown? With the government shutdown, many government-funded programs have been shutdown as well. For example, all national parks, museums, and zoos have been closed. Most federal employees are temporarily out of work. Obtaining a passport or gun permit will also be unavailable until the debate is resolved. Surprisingly enough, this isn’t the first time that this has happened. In 1996, a similar government shutdown lasted 21 days. Conner Dunlap, a sophomore studying marine biology from Sitka, Alaska, said, “I think the government just needs to learn how to work together and not in opposition. They are just not getting the job done.” Recently, there have been signs of progress but no real signs of a resolution. If Congress does not reach an agreement by Oct. 17, it will have the possibility of defaulting on the national debt. If that were to happen, the national credit score would be worsened and would cause some long-term problems. “There is no way that a budget gets passed when there is so much animosity between the two parties. They will just pass another resolution,” said Wasden.Source: CNN
Writer: Matt Roberts~Multimedia Journalist
