The federal government shut down September 30 at midnight due to Congress’s failure to come to a consensus on a national budget. Many Republicans insisted that any budget passed include provisions to defund or delay the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that went into effect regardless of the shutdown on October 1. Democrats refused to include any provision that would defund the Affordable Care Act, their most influential piece of legislation since Obama’s election in 2008. Tam students share their opinions on the shutdown, which ended on October 16.
“The reasons that they shut down the government can be worked out, it’s only a matter of funding….People need to come to an agreement on what their priorities are.”
“The shutdown has impacted my family financially because my parents, who both work for the Department of Justice, are not getting paid [now]. I feel the government is acting irresponsibly.”
“I think that while the Republicans are receiving most of the blame for our government shutdown, the root of the problem lies within the Democrats’ stubborn policies.”