FAIRMONT PREPARATORY ACADEMY, ANAHEIM, CA
NOVEMBER 2013
CURRENT EVENTS
THE GOVERNMENT
SHUTDOWN
Michelle Phan
In what totalitarian leaders around the
world must be using as evidence against
democracy, a partisan battle over
government funding has left national plans
abandoned, civil servants furloughed, and
the government (partially) shut down. The
continuing struggle undoubtedly owes its
longevity to the unyielding rigidity of both
parties, but ultimate blame must be said to
rest on the broad, obstinate shoulders of
the Republican Party. While democracy
requires a certain amount of debate and
informed argument, intransigent chicanery
for the sake of all else remains the tool of
fools, straw men, and, seemingly, the
Republican Party. Efforts from the likes of
Ted Cruz (R) and John Boehner (R) claim to
be passionate defenses of their party's
ideals and values, a model image of the
type of diversified government the
Founding Fathers envisioned. In reality, the
one-track obduracy of the Republican
members of Congress merely jeopardizes
all else for the elongation of a struggle
they already lost. Cruz’s polemic and
filibustering crusades against already
settled law. The timeline, then, matches
the following: years of negotiation and
political manipulation produce the
Affordable Care Act, which passes through
both houses of Congress, is deemed
acceptable by the Supreme Court, and is
set to come into action; the Republican
Party, unwilling to compromise, levies their
power in the House to enact a government
shutdown, essentially an attempt to bully
the Democratic Party into negotiation.
While public opinion seems to focus on
one party or the other, a third component
to this timeline draws focus to Congress in
its entirety. Dr. Osborne, whose
Biomedical Ethics class is currently
studying the ethics of allocation of
healthcare, remarked, “I think it’s
ridiculous that Congress can’t do their
job.” Her neighbor, Dr. Varnold, similarly
abstained to comment on any one party,
instead observing, “Our government is
filled with incompetent boobs.”Our
debate may take the side of Democrat vs.
Republican, but perhaps debate should
center not on assigning blame to political
factions, but instead discussing why our
government cannot seem to compromise.
This battle has been filled with partisan
back-and-forth, a struggle characterized by
offhand comments about “winning” and
polls that seek to find a divide. If we want
to end this government shutdown—and,
long-term, to enable a more durable and
flexible government—we must seek a
bipartisan approach to politics.