Don't Expect This Shutdown To End Anytime Soon

The partial shutdown of the federal government will soon stretch into its second week, with no immediate end to the dispute in sight.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Democrat-controlled Senate continue their stand-off. The House of Representatives has passed a total of four bills that would have kept the federal government operating, and all four bills were rejected by the Senate.

However, all four bills contained delays or changes to "Obamacare" - changes which were considered to be unacceptable by both President Barack Obama and the Democrats. The Senate Democrats are imploring the House to pass a "clean" spending bill that doesn't include any changes to "Obamacare", while the Republicans in the House are standing firm.

The Republicans want to have a negotiation regarding Obamacare and the spending bill, while Obama and the Democrats have continuously stated that there will be no negotiations.
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The standoff over the government funding bill is becoming intermingled with the upcoming debt ceiling battle. One week ago, talk was focused on Obamacare - now, with the debt ceiling situation needing to be resolved within 10 days, talk has been expanded to include possible changes to Medicare and Social Security.

The Treasury Department has continuously warned both politicians and the American public that the debt ceiling must be raised by October 17th. As of that date, the country will have exhausted its "extraordinary measures" and the government will soon default on their obligations. The Treasury Department has stated that the failure to raise the debt ceiling could be "catastrophic", possibly resulting in a recession worse than the "Great Recession".

In an interview this weekend, House Speaker John Boehner raised the possibility of the nation defaulting on their obligations if President Obama and the Democrats aren't willing to negotiate.

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Both sides are dug in on their positions right now - which side will blink?

One thing is for sure - neither side wants to be seen as the party who was responsible for the nation defaulting on their debt obligations.

Filed under: General Knowledge