The Republican shutdown

Just like Cinderella on the night of the ball, the U.S. Congress was on a strict deadline of midnight on Oct 1. Unlike Cinderella, however, the goal of Congress was to finalize a budget deal or risk shutting down the federal government, which would furlough 800,000 workers and halt many government services like Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food inspection.

Unfortunately, they weren't able to pass a budget, and the government was shut down. Although the instinctual reaction might be to look at this and think everything is fine because the government reopened, the solution was only pushing the problem back and didn't actually establish a budget for all of fiscal year 2014.

But who is to blame for this crisis? None other than the majority of House Republicans and their childish obsession with defunding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, commonly referred to as Obamacare. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 is a remodeling of the nation's healthcare system that mandates insurance, leading to lower costs across the board and health insurance to many Americans who are unable to afford healthcare under the current system. Obamacare passed in both houses of Congress without a single Republican vote and Obama signed it into law in March of 2010.

Because many Republicans weren't content to simply let the new law take effect, they brought it to the Supreme Court where an announcement to uphold the law was released in June of 2012. The nation spoke again on the law when it reelected President Obama to a second term in Nov. 2012.

There were many signs, but they all seem to be bypassing the narrow-sighted Republicans. Since the law was passed, the Republican-controlled house has voted over threatens the job of moderate republicans who so much as consider any Obama supported policy.

Despite the government's reopening, we still have not found a long term solution to this pressing problem. The bill passed to reopen the government was only a temporary fix, and the government is again slated to shutdown in January barring the passage of a long-term budget. Sadly, unless we somehow get braver politicians who are willing to challenge what is now the status quo of extremism, expect 2014 to start off with a shutdown.