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Matt York, Tonto National Forest, December 6th 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/30/reasons-government-shutdown-terrible_n_4019301.html

The government shutdown obviously affected Americans all over, but the Kadet family was especially affected because many students are the children of men and women in the military. While this issue may seem over, it is still a real threat. For those unaware, the government shutdown was postponed until February 7th, unless a new fiscal year is agreed upon between parties in Congress. In other words, a shutdown is theoretically possible again if both parties do not agree to “appropriate funds for the fiscal year 2014.” If a shutdown occurs again, more citizens could be furloughed and others may have to work without pay. State parks could be closed again and the debt ceiling may rise even more.

The Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare,” is the cause of so much commotion. The Affordable Care Act has been argued over for years. However, on September 20th, there was a vote in the Republican lead house for the fiscal year; this vote resulted with keeping the government funded through December 15, but only if the 2010 Affordable Care Act is unfunded. Democrats are top supporters of the Affordable Care Act and were dissatisfied.

This continued as a top Republican, Ted Cruz, lead a crusade against “Obamacare,” preforming a 21 hour-long speech that ranted against “Obamacare” and argued for compromises. Other top Republicans rallied against the Affordable Care Act. This resulted in a full-blown conflict, with Democrats arguing for the Affordable Care Act and Republicans arguing against it.

What followed were weeks of passing the bill back and forth between the Democratic-lead Senate and the Republican-lead House of Representatives. Compromises were trying to be made, but in the end, both parties could not get along, resulting the Government Shutdown on October 1st, 2013.

The media often blames Republicans for the shutdown. Republicans were the main initiators, as the voices of Ted Cruz, Michelle Bachmann, and John Culberson advocated for the shutdown. Expressing approval of the impending shutdown Michelle Bachmann said, “We’re very excited. It’s exactly what we wanted, and we got it. People will be very grateful.” Similarly, Culberson said, “It’s wonderful. We’re 100 percent united!”

Democrats were also trying to find a compromise for over a year before the shutdown. Senate Democrats attempted negotiations 18 times since January and they were denied by GOP members each time.

During the 16 days of shutdown, many events happened:

Around 800,000 of the country’s 2.1 million federal workers were furloughed.

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency was without funding. They couldn’t pay their employees.

In the shutdown, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had to halt on giving vaccinations for the flu.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, a program to provide healthy food for low-income pregnant women and new moms, would shut down without funding.

Despite the Republican party’s insistence on fiscal responsibility, the shutdown actually added to the debt roof.

National parks were forced to close without a government funding deal, as would Smithsonian Museums, disappointing countless potential visitors.

The Government Shutdown ended on  October 16, 2013. The Democrats stood firm and they did not back down. “There will be no negotiations over this,” Obama said and eventually both parties agreed to postpone.

Republicans will find it hard to take down the Affordable Care Act, because around 100,000 people signed up for the Affordable Care Act the first month it was released.

Who knows what will happen in February, but if anything is learned from this most recent shutdown, it’s that a lot of Americans will be very upset that Congress can’t come to a consensus.

Reports from Fox News, CBS News, ABC News, The Economist, and the Gallup poll, state that currently Congress’ Approval Rating is around a whopping 9%.