Crash Course in Shutdownology

This post is not meant to completely cover the topic regarding the shutdown, but to just answer your most pressing questions.  Here we go:

Question: Why is the government shutdown?

Good question to start with!  Well, have you hear that the government has been running a bit of a deficit the last few years?  The problem with that is no one has actually fixed that issue yet, and the House, Senate, and President just keep agreeing to Continuing Resolutions to fund the government for a determined amount of time.  The last one was to expire at midnight, the end of September 30, 2013.  In other words, the government has no funding at this time.


Question: Why don't they just write another Continuing Resolution?

Here's the thing, the House offered three CRs to the Senate, and the senate voted against all of them.  See, the House is doing all they can to prevent the monstrosity known as Obamacare from comopletely obliterating our healthcare system, putting the government between you and your doctor, and killing jobs.  The first attempted to defund Obamacare all together.  The second resolution attempted to delay Obamacare for a year and repeal the medical devices tax (which Democrats at one time agreed with).  The third CR would have just delayed the individual mandate for a year and would have eliminated the subsidies for lawmakers and their aides. 


Question: So this isn't really the fault of the Republicans, is it?
No, not really.  Even people who don't like the Republicans or the Democrats see this as mostly President Obama's fault.  One major reason is that back in the begining of the year,  "The Republican-led House passed a budget calling for $3.5 trillion in spending, the Democratically controlled Senate passed a budget calling for $3.7 trillion in spending, and President Obama issued a proposal calling for $3.77 trillion in spending. This happened back in the spring. The House and the Senate passed their budget plans in late March. The president's proposal, the last to be issued, came out on April 10."


Question:  Has this ever happened before?

Yes.  Seventeen times.  It's a miracle you're here at all, isn't it?


Question: So I don't have to worry about the NSA spying on me or paying my taxes, right?

HAHA!  You go ahead and think that.  In actuality, about 80% of the government is still functioning.  Here's a fun Buzzfeed quiz for you to take to see what is still running. 


Question: How can I stay informed about this topic?

We personally recommend news outlets like National Review and the Drudge Report, but you can also come out to our weekly meetings held on Mondays at 5pm in KUB 411 (though we will be off-campus on October 7) and follow us on Twitter @BloomURepubs.