By Chase L. Manson ’16
The Roundup
Politicians in Congress have once again shown their inability to play in the same sandbox.
Predictably, it was over the same issues we always hear about–the Affordable Health Care Act and our nation’s budget.
This time it led to a government shutdown and nearly caused financial catastrophe for the world.
Hopefully, they will realize that this is why their approval ratings are at an all time low and they won’t let the same thing happen again.
Two things hold Congress back: their inability to compromise and Tea Party politicians.
Politicians seem to be caught up in a child’s game of oneupsmanship. Productive discussions over our nation’s budget are non-existent.
It’s like a game I used to play when I was a child. It would start out with me saying I destroyed my opponents base with a missile. The other player would then say they re-routed the missile to come back to my base.
It was a childish game that only ended when one of us gave up.
The second part of this shutdown is the Tea Party.
I am all for reform and expressing one’s opinion, but the Tea Party really annoys me.
Their lack of flexibility on issues is putting me over the edge.
They won’t budge on anything. Everything has to work toward a conservative form of government. They criticize Democrats for not compromising but refuse to compromise themselves.
The Affordable Health Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare, is a sore subject for Republicans.
Republicans need to set aside their problems with Obamacare and stop trying to repeal the law.
When the shutdown was in effect thousands of jobs were on hold. National parks were closed, though some had been handed over to state control, for example the Grand Canyon.
If the shutdown continued, people might of had to sign up for federal aid. This would had a negative effect on the economy, as government workers were unable to purchase goods.
When the shutdown ended, I heard on a radio that a federal worker ran out of money and had to apply for a loan that he could not afford.
Also, thousands of families were angry at the government for ruining their fall break plans to visit National Parks.
The ineffectiveness of our Congress is undeniable. Politicians should work together for the American people, not for their own personal benefit or agendas.
If you think with the shutdown over and the debt ceiling raised our problems are over, they are not.
Congress will in fact go through the same arguments again in February, when the government runs out of money. Hopefully, lessons will be learned from this ordeal as it is frustrating for the American people to watch what happened during the month of October.
The United States is the world’s superpower and nations look up to us, but due to lawmakers inability to work together, we look like a bunch of babies not getting what we want.
