Time for Anarchy!

[T-Bonizzle]

Government is dead! RIOTS!!

....

Seriously. Government is kinda shut down. Also the Affordable Care Act has taken another step forward. How do you feel about all that today?

I feel good about the ACA, but not about the shutdown. It baffles me that the ACA has been upheld in every single way...passed by law, defended at the polls, upheld by Supreme Court. Maybe some people don't like it for some reason. Get over it, the law is the law.

[Justin]

The Republicans don't want to admit that a Democrat was able to do what every President has pretty much tried to do for the last 50+ years, and that is health care reform.  I applaud President Obama for not backing down, reaffirming his position that the US needs health care reform and it's here to stay.  Of course, like every other bill, it has its not so popular parts, but overall it is a good policy that we needed. 

As far as the government partially shutting down, it is my understanding that as of now its mostly national parks and other agencies that probably could be considered "not as important".  However, if it continues then we will start seeing some serious closures of important agencies.  For example, the court system has enough money to last 10 days.  After that, they will most likely have to shut down.

[Cory]

Im just waiting for this shit to blow up to Canada

[T-Bonizzle]

Well any shutdown is costing people money. Not everyone who works for the government is considered 'essential'. We're talking 95% of government employees who aren't working and aren't getting paid through this.

[J-Reb]

The Republicans don't want to admit that a Democrat was able to do what every President has pretty much tried to do for the last 50+ years, and that is health care reform.  I applaud President Obama for not backing down, reaffirming his position that the US needs health care reform and it's here to stay.  Of course, like every other bill, it has its not so popular parts, but overall it is a good policy that we needed. 

As far as the government partially shutting down, it is my understanding that as of now its mostly national parks and other agencies that probably could be considered "not as important".  However, if it continues then we will start seeing some serious closures of important agencies.  For example, the court system has enough money to last 10 days.  After that, they will most likely have to shut down.

Please.  He didn't reform anything - he replaced a broken system with another broken system.

The two sides have created a stalemate where negotiating is pretty much impossible, because they can't back down at this point without losing the majority of their constituents.  It's going to get a lot uglier before it gets any better.

[Justin]

Please.  He didn't reform anything - he replaced a broken system with another broken system.

The two sides have created a stalemate where negotiating is pretty much impossible, because they can't back down at this point without losing the majority of their constituents.  It's going to get a lot uglier before it gets any better.

Again, I said it was far from perfect.  But it is a lot better than the system we had.  But I do agree that it will get uglier because Republicans are not going to want to back down until they absolutely have to.

[J-Reb]

Again, I said it was far from perfect.  But it is a lot better than the system we had.  But I do agree that it will get uglier because Republicans are not going to want to back down until they absolutely have to.

It takes two to tango.  Democrats aren't going to bend either.

[Justin]

It takes two to tango.  Democrats aren't going to bend either.

Agreed.  But the focal point of the whole thing is Obamacare.  The Dems are not going to budge on it.  Republicans know it and the people know it.  I think Republicans are going to have a hard time justifying themselves to their constitutents if this drags on.

[Hondo]

Agreed.  But the focal point of the whole thing is Obamacare.  The Dems are not going to budge on it.  Republicans know it and the people know it.  I think Republicans are going to have a hard time justifying themselves to their constitutents if this drags on.

Doesn't matter what side of the political fence you sit on, fellas. Until BOTH sides learn what the term "compromise" means, then nothing of substance will ever get done. Life is a series of gives and takes. Politics is (or should be) the same way. And anyone who tries to lay the blame for the shutdown solely on either side of the political aisle is too blinded by their own political ideals  to be a trustworthy source of opinion to begin with.

There. You guys happy? You made me post in a political forum. I hope you're pleased.

[J-Reb]

Doesn't matter what side of the political fence you sit on, fellas. Until BOTH sides learn what the term "compromise" means, then nothing of substance will ever get done. Life is a series of gives and takes. Politics is (or should be) the same way. And anyone who tries to lay the blame for the shutdown solely on either side of the political aisle is too blinded by their own political ideals  to be a trustworthy source of opinion to begin with.

There. You guys happy? You made me post in a political forum. I hope you're pleased.

Oh, absolutely.  Compromise is the name of the game but neither party is going to budge at this point - they understand that their political "careers" depend on them not doing so.

It's unfortunate that they are playing chicken with the lives of millions of Americans at stake but that's where they have landed.

[Justin]

Oh, absolutely.  Compromise is the name of the game but neither party is going to budge at this point - they understand that their political "careers" depend on them not doing so.

It's unfortunate that they are playing chicken with the lives of millions of Americans at stake but that's where they have landed.

This.

[Stoner]

Here's the catch though.  Republicans have tried... What...  30 Something times to get Obamacare repealed?  They keep throwing around the term "unconstitutional" but the folks whose entire jobs are to interpret the constitution and see if new laws being passed go against that said it was cool.  So unless the Republicans in Congress are saying that THEY should be the ones to interpret the constitution and not the people who are actually paid to do that, its kind of a moot point.

I'll just leave this here.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/jon-stewart-shreds-gop-over-obamacare-utter-insanity-its-a-fcking-law/

[Rebel Child]

Here's a fun little factoid a lot of people don't realize.

This is nothing new.

Back in 2006 a guy named Mitt Romney passed something like this when he was a Governor of Massachussets for the state.

Back then the Republicans thought it was an awesome bill.

They voted on to pass it.

Seven years later, as far as I know, it's still there.

[Duckman]

This is a great article by a number of different contributors on the situation:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-24346960

As one of the contributors points out, this is exactly how the founding fathers wanted US government to be structured, with different parties controlling different aspects - which in theory should allow for more debate and consession on certain aspects of law and life.  They always assumed that the politicans would take their blinkers off and put party politics aside when it came to the big decisions of government.  Looks like that ideal has been lost recently.

Also very interesting how much influence the radical Tea Party have over the Republican party as a whole.  There's a great comment here:

Angelia R Wilson, professor of politics at the University of Manchester

Charges that America is broken are a longstanding trope of the US Christian Right. Such charges harken back to a fictitious 1950s shared cultural values.

Employing this measure, changes of the last 60 years indicate that American is "broken". But that fictitious narrative fails to include those on the socio-economic margins eg women, African-Americans, Latinos, and LGBTs, who are now moving at pace into the mainstream.

For these benefactors of change, America is not broken - it is increasingly realising its potential as a representative democracy based on justice and equality.

Change has left those previously occupying places of privilege outraged.

With more states allowing same-sex marriage, the working class accessing affordable healthcare, immigration reform afoot and a black man in the White House, the Tea Party has had enough. This government shutdown is not the culmination of their outrage, it is only a beginning.

At the end of the day, someone is going to have to blink and stop this posturing because it's hurting regular American's who work for the government.  No one seems to give a crap about them and that's incredible because it's those people, who go out and vote, that get these muppets into positions of power in the first place.

It's such a strange situation to watch from the outside and let's hope it gets sorted out soon because whether we like to admit it or not, when something happens like this in the US, it effects the whole world - especially somewhere like the UK which has such strong ties to the US.

Anyway, read that article, it's really good!

[Chris Shields]

Again, I said it was far from perfect.  But it is a lot better than the system we had.  But I do agree that it will get uglier because Republicans are not going to want to back down until they absolutely have to.

The system we had didn't force me to have health care or else pay the government, so no, it is not better than the system we had. Also, John Stewart is a Republican hating comedian, so anything he says about this, well should probably just be ignored because he's biased as fuck. Simple fact is, the people who approved Obamacare aren't even willing to use Obamacare. If I make a batch of burgers, I'm tasting the first one to make sure they're good before I serve them to people. These fucks are just telling us to trust them and then throwing us undercooked burgers ridden with mad cow and e coli, and then saying we're wrong for not eating them.