It's a simple question. Why is the federal government of the United States shut down? A simple question that has a simple answer. The mainstream media will not tell you the truth about the government shutdown. All you will hear out of them is how the Republicans are causing trouble for everyday American citizens by their refusal to compromise their right-wing ideology. It sounds bad when it's said like that, but it gets even worse when you finally understand just how much of a lie that statement really is. The Republicans are not to blame for the government shutdown.The Democrats took control of the House of Representatives and the Senate in 2007. Since that time, the federal government has relied on continuing resolutions to fund operations. Even after the Republicans regained control of the House in 2010, that process continued. This is mainly due to the lack of compromise by the Democrats. They have refused to budge on their left-wing ideology that requires more and more government spending. That's the plain truth of the matter.
Let's be clear about this. The Republicans have tried to offer compromises that would fund the government. My feeling is that they should pass a real budget, but that is probably out of the question, at least for the time being. Instead, they have offered up several different continuing resolutions that would fund certain areas of the government. They originally wanted to defund Obamacare and when that failed, they moved to the continuing resolution that would delay the individual mandate and repeal the medical device tax. That offer was refused by the Senate. They didn't even vote on the bill.
Currently, the Republicans in the House are considering three different proposals that would allow veterans benefits to continue, reopen national parks, and allow the government of Washington, D. C. to continue its operations. Those proposals will likely be approved later today, but President Obama and Harry Reid have already said they would reject them, out of hand. The White House called them "piecemeal" and "no way to run a government". In other words, give us all or give us nothing. The government is shut down because the Democrats refuse to compromise.
Why this refusal to compromise? Another simple question that has a simple answer. The government could have continued its operations, unhindered, had the Democrats not been busy filling the airwaves with their lies and rhetoric. Remember how President Obama has portrayed himself as "fighting for the middle class"? Since the time he started campaigning for President, he has consistently harped about the evils of large corporations. I believe that play is one reason he won reelection. As that rhetoric moves into his second term, we find reality to be much different.
President Obama has granted delays and waivers from the rules and mandates to a number of groups and organizations. Unions have found themselves to be exempt. The mandate that big businesses provide health insurance to their employees has been delayed for a year. The most notable delay that is missing, the delay that could help Americans who are hurting because of the mandates of Obamacare, is the one year delay of the mandate that every American buy health insurance. That is a no-starter for President Obama. That seems to be awfully strange, coming from a man who casts himself has a President fighting for the common man. In my view, his refusal to compromise and delay the individual mandate shows him for what he really is; a politician who cares nothing for the constituents he supposedly serves. So much for hope and change.
