7 British misconceptions about the US government shutdown

On Tuesday, the US government shut down. If you’re a fellow Brit like me, you might be thinking, “how can this happen – can Democrats and Republicans not even be charged with the simplest task of keeping the government open?” undoubtably leading to “the system has collapsed, the apocalypse is now!” Alas no, this isn’t some sort of Anarchist utopia, it happens reasonable frequently and can be explained a lot more simply than you think. Here are the most common misconceptions about the US government shutdown answered.

1. The government has shut down. Does this mean that the system has collapsed? 

No. Constitutionally, congress must pass laws to spend money. If they can’t agree on a spending bill, they don’t have the authority to spend money. Most of the ‘system’ is still in place, but non-essential services such as gun licensing, zoos and national parks will close for the duration of the shutdown. So basically, no guns and no zoos for the foreseeable future.

2. Surely they can just get a majority vote on the spending bill?

Unfortunately not. As you can see from this handy children’s diagram, the US government is split into different sections (House, Senate and President) and a bill has to pass through all of these sections to become law. The President does not have a majority in any section and cannot just ram a bill through. If any section grumbles about it, it’s back to the drawing board.

3. So, what’s the hold up?

The President, congress and the senate are elected separately. Right now, the Republicans are the majority in the House of representatives and the Democrats are the majority in the senate and the two parties are disagreeing on one major issue: Obamacare. House republicans led by Texan Senator Ted Cruz (yes, he’s in the Senate – just go with it) are attempting to defund Obamacare by rejecting the spending bill and likewise, Democrats in the senate won’t compromise on Obamacare’s funding.

4. Why don’t American’s want free health care???

Obamacare won’t provide American’s with free healthcare – it’s by no means the NHS. What it will do is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZkk6ueZt-U

5. And they’re resolving this by having a tea party…? 

The tea party is a conservative movement who strongly oppose Obamacare because they hate spending money. They’re pretty much doing the opposite of resolving the issue. Most tea-partiers consider themselves Republicans, but most Republicans wouldn’t be seen dead with the tea party. Awkward! But hey, why not? After all, isn’t that how David Cameron solved the 2011 riots in London, with a royal flippin’ garden party? Forget the economy, tea all round!

6. Holy moly! The US is $16.699 trillion in debt?! How could they be so irresponsible?!

Yes, about that… the ‘debt ceiling’ is another element of the debate that the US government will have to deal with in the coming weeks. Firstly, the US economy, like all economies runs off debt. Its how capitalism works, calm down. They have to make the decision to raise the ‘debt ceiling’ to increase spending. Republicans insist that Obamacare is too expensive, therefore the debt ceiling shouldn’t be raised for it. They’ve tried to use it as leverage to defund or delay Obamacare.

7. Wait, who’s feeding the animals in the zoo?!

Don’t worry! The animals are still being looked after and ironically, Obamacare will receive funding. Pandacam however, has been shut down.

Protesters in Washington. Source: NY Times

Need more clarification? Read this condescending ABC news post for a simple rundown of the shutdown. Or for the ultimate simple answer see: istheusgovernmentshutdown.com

Tags: Barack Obama, David Cameron, Democrats, Obamacare, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Republican, Ted Cruz, United States, USA