American Government is Shut Down!

If by "fair and balanced" you mean "in favor of the Republican party at all times, no matter what," then sure.

While the GOP is shitty for doing this anyone thinking the Democrats are all a bunch of knights in shining armor are fooling themselves. There are snakes on both sides.

That being said this really does suck especially for things like the WIC program and mothers that depend on that money to feed their newborn and infants.

@clonedzero said:

Republicans lost the popular vote in the House, Senate, and Presidential elections, so naturally they presume they can or should force through all of their crazy demands about something that became law three and ahalf years ago.

People in the French... house? I don't know what they call it. They start fuckin fist fights sometimes and they're more stable.

Would've been affected, however luckily they voted to exempt military pay from the shutdown... So all good now.

@marokai: Yeah, the best part of all this is the Republicans saying "NO ONE WANTS THIS" when everyone is all "Yeah, we want this."

Didn't the French come close to electing some holocaust-denying lunatic?

I think there is definitely an argument that could be made that this might work out politically for House Republicans, but then, that also relies on there being a resolution in the next week to avoid too much damage from the government cutback. And depending on whether President Obama and the Senate back down a bit on some provisions of the Affordable Care Act to get it passed, it could be seen as worth the temporary bad press.

Of course, whether or not this is good for America is not really a factor in that consideration. This isn't a good way to resolve a dispute like this, and unfortunately, all sides of this played chicken with stakes that primarily impact anyone but them. Hopefully they come to some kind of deal in the next few days.

Well shit, yeah i was just looking at a few articles. This is god damn disgraceful.

They did?

we came close to electing john mccain and by proxy sarah palin.

There goes my debit card spending limit.

Don't panic. Unless you are a "non-essential" federal employee or you were planning on getting a passport, visit a national park, or receive a gun permit in the next few days, this likely won't affect you. It may sound very scary, but it's not as apocalyptic as it sounds. For most Americans, you will see no difference in your everyday life.

Can they even do that? I thought government officials and military got paid regardless.

@animasta: You mean the country whose debt will reach ninety-five percent of its GDP in 2014?

We really didn't. Obama cleaned McCain's clock.

They did. They passed a smaller measure which made sure that was not an issue. While they work out a more comprehensive deal, the Congress is trying to pass a few smaller measures to help allay the impact on some areas affected by the temporary government cutback.

Nope, we would've had to report to work tomorrow and wouldn't have gotten paid until the 1st of November if the shutdown lasted past the 7th when they start processing pay. The civilians won't be showing up to work though, so it will affect how things work, and I'm pretty certain we won't have the money to do our day to day work regardless. So we'll just show up and do nothing.

Not me, but i know several people who work for various "non-essential" government places.

Military pay isn't included in mandatory spending?

@hailinel: I assume you mean the 2002 elections? I just checked and that far right party with the presumed holocaust denier (I didn't get far enough into the wiki article but I assume it's correct) got 18% of the votes.

I mean greece elected members of golden dawn but their (and france) systems are set up that they can have 5 parties at once and the genial, moderate parties can coalition and keep the crazies out.

Yeah, they'll likely be temporarily out of work for a few days as this gets sorted out. Which sucks, but it isn't as catastrophic as everyone shouting about the government "going over the edge". Hopefully it's resolved soon so that it really is just a small embarrassment.

Nope.

Congratulations to all involved...

...for being the most ineffective Congress in the history of the Republic.

EDIT: And, while everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves, I need to say that playing political games with real people's jobs in order to stop a bill you don't like (one that's already been passed, upheld by the Supreme Court and given the approval of the majority via the general elections) while preaching on about all of the "job killers" is quite possibly the most insipid and idiotic part of this whole affair.

You do realize that Greece's economic situation makes ours look rather tame by comparison?

I don't know what you're arguing for. Hell, at least they're arresting their crazed asshole party. We can't even coalition with the moderate republicans because OUR crazed asshole (sub)party controls literally every other republican save like 6, all in purple congressional districts.

Just looked this up, and now I'm actually pissed.

No one to stamp checks = no checks. WTF?!?!

When the goverment comes back someone quote me. Im gonna go play Ascend Hand of Kul

Hopefully something's done before too much damage happens.

It isn't that big of a deal. Its like a teacher strike, all the kids get a few days off and then its back to normal. It isn't just repubs, the dems aren't giving an inch either. We should get rid of all of them and start over with new people.

MURICA

right? right?

the truth is not in the middle bro.

Congress passed the bill, the senate passed the bill, the president signed it, the supreme court deemed it constitutional. The only reason any further opposition is happening is because republicans won control of the house.

The republicans are the clear ones at fault for trying to fight against a bill that is law of the land and constitutional because of terrible, untrue talking points.

What is the Senate supposed to do? ACA was passed by majority vote after serious negotiations with the GOP, upheld by the Supreme Court and reaffirmed Obama's reelection and now the House Republicans have let the government be shut down because they refuse to let the program be funded. It's pretty fucking clear that this is one side throwing a temper tantrum - I'm not sure how you expect anyone to realistically negotiate with that.

No big deal.

We can't just arrest politicians for being bad at their jobs.

Aren't these people supposed to be adults?

Just thinking out loud here.

If you were a Commonwealth nation your Governor General would have dissolved your government years ago, such a level of uselessness wouldn't be tolerated at all :P

God...but wouldn't that be great if we could?!

I agree? You were making the argument about France then you mentioned Greece so what exactly is your position?

We're literally the only government that this sort of shit can happen in. Parlimentary style governments, this don't happen because a majority (whether that be one party or a coalition) eventually rules over a minority.

Let this be a lesson to any teens in high school that may be out there. If a party loses an election and doesn't get their way they can take the US economy hostage and attempt to bypass the democratic process by destroying everything else.

I'm really curious what history books say in high school after the Obama election. The Republican party has become so extreme that it would be be a disservice to sugarcoat our current history.

You obviously don't understand the deficiencies of a parliamentary system. The U.S. federal governemnt is certainly flawed, but the grass isn't necessarily greener in other countries.

Being an adult doesn't imply consent.

...wait.

This is minor compared to the next fight on October 17 when the debt ceiling needs to be raised. Screwing up this and creating a shutdown now makes avoiding that harder.

This is what happens when you vote into the federal government a bunch of congressmen who's core ideology is "government shouldn't work."

@hailinel: no system's perfect? wow what a fascinating opinion! If you can tell me when any single parlimentary system in the world did this than I'll eat my hat. Again, Belgium was able to survive without a prime minister for a year, and that's with their whole Walloon vs. Flemish debate.

You know what though? Even this system would work if there were actually more than two parties. Tea party wouldn't have a goddamn leg to stand on if they were their own party. I don't know how you could call this a good system when it allows stuff like this.

@milkman: Well, technically: "...Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,...." So the real problem is that nowadays we are all huge pussies.

If it lasts that long, yeah, then things will get REALLY interesting.

How about you go live in a country with a parliamentary system for a few years, come back, and tell me what you think of it afterward.

America could literally sink the entire worldwide economy because of a single, obstinate senator who has presidential aspirations.

The Senate (Democrat-held) passed it, the President (Democrat) signed it, and the Supreme Court (whose function directly violates the tenets of a democratic republic) deemed it constitutional, and yet the House (Republican-held) opposes it.

The only people who think the truth isn't somewhere in the middle are those who were already firmly planted in their own party's lawn.

This thread was kind of a random, joyful shouting match from its start, but any real discourse has to begin on reasonable ground. I really wouldn't try to launch a serious discussion here, but if you're intent on it, I think it's off to a rather poor start.