Seventeen years ago, the federal government shut down, and it appears our government is headed for another shutdown to the unwillingness of House Republicans to move off their demands that funding for the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare,” be eliminated.
Despite the fact that the Affordable Care Act was passed into law, signed by the president, and upheld by the United States Supreme Coourt, Republicans in Congress seem hell-bent on withholding Social Security and disability checks from the elderly and disabled to somehow “make a point” about how awful they think Obamacare is, as if the Republican-led House of Representatives voting nearly fifty times to repeal Obamacare didn’t make it abundantly clear what Republicans in Congress think of Obamacare.
I think President Obama summed up the unwillingness of House Republicans to do their jobs best, saying, “You don’t get to extract a ransom for doing your job, for doing what you’re supposed to be doing anyway, where just because there’s a law there that you don’t like.”
My answer to your question if a shutdown can be avoided; no, based upon my read of this morning’s news. But hopefully, I believe it will be resolved within several days
The situation was better stated with a sign on an MSNBC political show this morning:
“THIS ZOO IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED”