U.S. Government "shut down"

[Othko97]

So yeah, American government doesn't seem too good at this moment. While our British politics seems to have dissolved into a slinging match between the two major parties, the USA seem to have decided to descend into bickering children...

http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/30/20758038-shutdown-begins-as-congress-remains-deadlocked?lite

Also, the Queen ftw:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/10/01/australia-had-a-government-shutdown-once-it-ended-with-the-queen-firing-everyone-in-parliament/

[Jubal]

There is literally no other country in the world that could have this mess take place. Like, anywhere else they'd just have another election to resolve the crisis, or respect the result of the last one.

So admittedly Obamacare is on average more unpopular than popular at the moment. However, negative opinions of it are not actually topping 50%, so it's not even like a majority of people are that bothered about it, let alone the "nobody wants it" rhetoric of the GOP's right wing. But in a sense that's not the issue; the issue is that if you don't like the decisions of lawmakers and you don't like their laws, you take that argument to the country and win the debate. That's how representative democracy works. The Republicans in 2012 categorically failed to do that. If Obamacare is the most evil thing on the planet ever, the GOP has to admit that it failed to make that argument when it mattered.

The solution to the problem is categorically not to just stop paying thousands of civilian defence staff, passport office staff, museum staff, national parks staff, and other people who are keeping the US safe (the former two cases) or contributing to its economy which isn't in great shape to start with (in the latter two cases). Silly people.

[Othko97]

I don't see how the republicans thought anything  they did in this was a good idea. I mean, they pretty much threw their toys out of their pram because they didn't get their own way 3 YEARS AGO! Would it have hurt them so terribly to just sort the mess and THEN made a motion to repeal Obamacare as opposed to effectively blackmailing the Democrats into repealing it?!

[comrade_general]

I'm okay with it; it literally just cuts off all the unnecessary crap that they don't need to waste money on anyway. If they just open the national parks/monuments/museums/etc. then we can just run like this for good.

Also,

ANARCHY!!!

[Cuddly Khan]

Hahaha! The Australian dollar has no doubt just jumped above the American.

[comrade_general]

Not necessarily, Khaaan, our economy should improve because of this.

[Jubal]

It'll probably be harmful on average, but affordable given the size of the US economy. Unless you guys haven't sorted things out by the time you have to raise the debt ceiling.

Then your economy goes down the tubes. Aaand so does everyone else's.

[comrade_general]

Oh well, none of it really affects me. I still pay taxes, get my mail, and am protected by G.I. Joe. So I'm good.

[Jubal]

I think the debt ceiling might've affected you if they'd screwed that one up.

Fortunately they seem to have just about got their armadillo together in time. Except for like 60% of the GOP in the House. The final voting on it, I think, did show the extent to which this was really caused by the Republican right. Like, Reagan-era or earlier conservatives would never have picked such a big fight on an issue where it was obvious they couldn't win, it was stupid from the outset. There were shutdowns in the 70s/80s/90s, more often than now, but they at least tended to be in cases where they were asking for something the other side could reasonably grant. Obama was never going to just be blackmailed into repealing his one big social policy achievement.

Anyway, looks like you have a government. For at least three whole months! 

[comrade_general]

Damn.

[Jubal]

Don't worry, you only have to wait until February or something until the next armadillostorm.