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Partisan Blame Game In Government Shutdown

Lisa Battaglia |
October 2, 2013 | 7:00 p.m. PDT

Contributor

Both sides are spending more time blaming each other than resolving the government shutdown. (Pat Hawks, Wikimedia Commons)
Both sides are spending more time blaming each other than resolving the government shutdown. (Pat Hawks, Wikimedia Commons)
A controversial issue is consuming the government this week: the shutdown.

Most Americans know that the government shutdown is more complicated than a "Sorry, we're CLOSED" sign on the Capitol Building's front door, but my concerns are with the childish, unyielding men and women playing important roles within the conflict. 

Both sides are spending more time blaming one another than attempting to settle the disagreement. Whether you think the shutdown was a smart idea or you support Obamacare, you may be blaming one side over the other in this dispute. 

The day after the shutdown, President Obama criticized the Republicans in Congress for taking action.

"They've shut down the government over an ideological crusade to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans," he said.

SEE ALSO: Obama To GOP: Your 'Ideological Crusade' Is Hurting America

Press Secretary Jay Carney said that the President "is willing to negotiate with serious minded Republicans in Congress."

Meanwhile, one of the leaders of the shutdown, Republican Senator Ted Cruz, argued that the Democrats are to blame.

"Right now, it's one side that is refusing to compromise and that is Harry Reid and the Democrats," Cruz told Fox News.

Though the job of politicians is to hold their ground in the interest of their constituents, it is also to communicate, negotiate and compromise. Within this heated dispute, neither side has been able to fulfill these requirements. 

While members of Congress point the finger at one another, Americans are also divided. A CNN/ORC International Poll shows that 46 percent blame congressional Republicans for the shutdown, 36 percent say the president is responsible and 13 percent say that both sides are to blame. But is difficult to assign blame to either one side when neither the Republicans, nor the Democrats can communicate eloquently enough to persuade the other side into negotiation. 

SEE ALSO: Government Shutdown Globally Significant, Bigger Than You

The media also deserves some blame for the way they are presenting the dispute, often pointing the finger at congressional Republicans without understanding or explaining their reasons for it.

While the CNN poll demonstrates that 58 percent of Americans believe congressional Democrats are acting like spoiled children and 69 percent say the GOP are the spoiled brats, this small 11 percent difference does not clearly indicate that the "GOP would bear the brunt of shutdown blame," as the news giant's headline suggests.

The Founding Fathers created the idea of checks and balances so that no one branch would overrule the others. If the government cannot work as one in the best interest of the American people, a shutdown is necessary until both sides can negotiate and come to a compromise.

SEE ALSO: Shutdown May End Welfare For Nine Million Americans

The main argument comes down to funding, and our almost $17 trillion of debt indicates we do not have very much to spend. Republicans argue that the Obama administration is employing a make-it-hurt strategy to get their way in this budget battle. At this point, both sides are manipulating as much as they can to hurt the other side.

Although you could compare this shutdown to the 17 other shutdowns in American history, I think this is more comparable to a fight between two children over the last chocolate chip cookie, a teenage couple's first fight or, as Stephen Colbert suggested, the interpersonal drama of Sunday's Breaking Bad finale.

 

Reach Contributor Lisa Battaglia here.



 

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