Trust and honesty are often percieved as the most important ingredient in any kind of relationship. This is also true regarding the relationship between a country's citizens and their leaders in government. On Monday September 30, 2013, The American government let down it's people by declaring a Government Shutdown. Because the Republican Party in Congress could not compromise on a budget to allow for the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care), they declared shutdown on federally controlled agencies, businesses, and national parks. Affecting roughly 700,000 jobs and employees in the process. Through this government shutdown, it has been revealed to us that most of those who are in office such as the Republican and Democratic party have objectives that are self-serving and have little regard or care for the actual well being of the American people. Therefore, putting the nation's ideals, credability, and the overall livelihood of American citizens at stake.
Dating back to the founding of the US, our leaders have always taken pride that the United States has principles and moral values that support "doing the right thing". If there has ever been an injustice, here or elsewhere in the world, the US has most times adressed it and tried to put an end to it. For example, Slavery. Abraham Lincloln fought to the nail to abolish slavery in America in the 1800's. President Lincoln valued all American citizens regardless of race and background, and knew to do what was ethically right, even if it meant going against half the country who had opposing views. The reason I bring this up is to show how far our ideals have fallen. The government shutdown perfectly depicts just what the true agendas of the politians in our government really are; themselves. Republicans have been against the Affordable Care Act since the beginning, and just when the act was starting to take effect, they were willing to do anything to delay or even stop it. The reason congress could not agree to a budget was because Republicans in the House wanted to de-fund the new law's critical aspects and to try to block any further provisions to keep act from going into effect. As said on CNN news: "Republicans in the House of Representatives refused to fund the government unless we defunded or dismantled the Affordable Care Act." The real motives behind this decision is still debatable, however, from what I can gather, there must be some sort of underlying reason that in some way serves them, in order to not to want to pass a bill in which millions of working Americans would finally be able to afford health care. If our politians really cared about the citizens they supposedly represent, why would they oppose such a law, especially at the expense of it's citizens through a shutdown?
It has been more than just the American people who have been greatly affected by our Government's stubborn and self-centered attitude, it has been other Nations as well. Neighboring countries such as Canada and Mexico fear to have reprocussions of our shutdown. " 'Canadians can only pray their economy won't be collateral damage, Anything that drags down the American economy drags the Canadian economy down with it.' " (BBC News, Zurcher). Because we are so close geographically, we are also very close econmically. We are one of Canada's largest trading partners, so if we go down, that puts them at risk as well, according to Andy Radia of Yahoo News. Although there may be some fears of reprocussions for countries that are in trade with us, we are beginning to lose respect and credibility among other nations. "US shutdown has other nations confused and concerned," Anthony Zurcher wrote, "For most of the world, a government shutdown is very bad news – the result of revolution, invasion or disaster. Even in the middle of its ongoing civil war, the Syrian government has continued to pay its bills and workers’ wages. That leaders of one of the most powerful nations on earth willingly provoked a crisis that suspends public services and decreases economic growth is astonishing to many…Now, as the latest shutdown crisis plays out, policymakers in other nations are left to ponder the worldwide impact of the impasse" (BBC News). And as stated in "How the World Sees the Government Shutdown" by Zach Beauchamp; "France’s Le Monde called the shutdown 'grotesque' [...] On the editorial page, Le Monde dramatically lamented, "Jefferson, wake up, they’ve gone crazy!" And also states, "At the time, foreign editorial pages lit up with critism, denigrating Congress as 'dangerously irresponsible' and 'a laughing stock.' " (ThinkProgress.com). The government shutdown has caused other nations look down on us; Nations that are our allies. And has broadcasted to those who are not our allies how foolish and divided our government is at the moment.
When the Government is not on the same page, there can be no progress made and American Livelihood suffers. Long before the issue around Obama Care and the government shutdown, we have seen how ineffective the government has been for Benefitting it's citizen's lives. Which is quite ironic, being that they are voted in to represent us and to be the voice for the people. An example of this is discretionary spending. Discretionary spending is government spending determined by legislators and politians involved in the process of developing a national budget. This spending is sometimes described as "optional". Programs such as K-12 education, child care, head start and job creation is funded by the discretionary budget. These programs are usually the first to suffer because less and less of the budget goes into these programs and it leads to critical economic growth. You see, If education is the final priority in our Government Spending, how can we truly be bettering America? It leads to a downfall in our economic status. Less education means less jobs. Less jobs can lead to homelessness. And as a result of homelessness, crime can increase as well as death due to health complications of being on the streets without proper food, water, and healthcare. The overall livelihood of US citizens are at risk because our government can not seem to look past themselves and fulfill their positions as they were elected to do; represent us! The shutdown took thousands of packchecks from thousands of Americans who work for the Federal Government for 16 days. However, congress still recieved their paychecks. How is that fair? It just goes to show that the livelihood of the American citizen comes second to the ulterior motives of our representatives.
Bibliography:
- Think progress.org. 2013. How The World Sees The Government Shutdown. [online] Available at: http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/10/01/2707751/how-the-world-sees-the-government-shutdown/ [Accessed: 27 Nov 2013].
- WJLA.Com, W. 2013. Government shutdown 2013: Day two of shutdown begins with no end in sight. [online] Available at: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/10/government-shutdown-2013-day-two-of-shutdown-begins-with-no-end-in-sight-94752.html [Accessed: 27 Nov 2013].
- Yahoo News. 2013. Four ways the U.S. shutdown could affect Canadians?. [online] Available at: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/four-ways-u-shutdown-could-affect-canadians-154742151.html [Accessed: 27 Nov 2013].
- Chicagotribune.com. 2013. Chicago Tribune: Chicago breaking news, sports, business, entertainment, weather and traffic - chicagotribune.com. [online] Available at: http://www.chicagotribune.com [Accessed: 27 Nov 2013].
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