The Ugly Deal with the Government Shutdown

The United States recently dodged a bullet from a critical government shutdown. President Joe Biden recently signed the stopgap funding bill to avoid a government shutdown and extend funding through December 3.

The stopgap bill consisted of funding towards Afghanistan refugees as well as aid for Americans who were affected by the natural disaster over the summer. Before the bill was even introduced, there were day long debates between Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Neither of them coming to an agreement until recently. Let me simplify this for you and explain how this all started.

The Secretary of the U.S Treasury, Janet Yellen, warned the public that the United States government will run out of money by October 18. The only solution to this pressing issue is to raise the debt ceiling. By Congress and President Biden complying with this bill, they prevented a severe economic crash, a mass amount of job loss among Americans and a difficult recovery for many Americans.

The Democrats in Congress wanted to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government. Meanwhile, the Republicans wanted to fund the federal government, but they did not want to raise the debt ceiling. The Republicans also did not want to support the stopgap due to it having "socialist" policies. Which is another issue on its own. Previously, under Donald Trump's administration, the Republicans voted for a debt ceiling increase three times. Ironic, since they did not want to raise the debt ceiling under Biden's administration. Luckily, since Democrats control the majority of both houses, the stopgap bill was able to be passed onto President Biden for him to sign.

All of this pandemonium highlights what a mess this country is. What kind of country do we have if its government cannot agree on what is best for its people? Instead of focusing on the people, both sides have it out for each other and are instead focusing on petty rivalries. That there even had to be a debate about paying our bills is very disappointing. Washington needs to get it together. Afterall, the fate of the country rests in their ability to cooperate.