Tuesday, October 1st

Looking back, there seems to have been a lot of significant happenings which occurred this week. But one which is most likely the most significant is the--wait for it--government shutdown. The shutdown began on Tuesday when the Republican-dominated House of Representatives refused to approve a bill funding the government unless it included measures designed to delay Obama's signature legislation, the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which are now being implemented. Certainly, this effects our entire nation in the most obvious way. National parks must be closed, many unnecessary government workers must stop working without pay for their leave, and most importantly the two parties are in a famous Mexican standoff: no one dares move their position. Why? I guess our bicameral system has forgotten the art of compromise, but this shutdown may possibly get our representatives to begin considering options for compromise with their party's adversaries. Technically, the shutdown is detrimental to our nation in terms of jobs, economy, and your ability to go hike at Yellowstone, but this could possibly have made the government realize the need for change. Or maybe it just lets us as citizens know how insolent our government can be sometimes (or all the time). Nonetheless, I guess all we can hope for as underlings is for quick and painless compromise over the whole matter.