By Hip, hip, hooray! The U.S. could face another possible government shutdown in less than six months.
According to Al Jazeera, a bipartisan deal was reached last week when the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed a measure to re-open the government.
The new deal will keep the government open until Jan. 15 and raise the debt ceiling until Feb. 7, according to Al Jazeera.
Although the shutdown has ended, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he and other Republicans will continue to oppose the Affordable Care Act.
“Our drive to stop the train wreck that is [President Barack] Obama’s health-care law will continue,” Boehner said, according to Al Jazeera.
Following the resolution, Obama commented on the shutdown.
“Hopefully next time it won’t be in the 11th hour,” Obama said, according to the Chicago Tribune. “We’ve got to get out of the habit of governing by crisis.”
The cost of the 16-day shutdown was not cheap.
Time magazine said that Standard and Poor’s estimated the government shutdown cost the economy nearly $24 billion.
While we are glad to see the federal government reopened, we aren’t as satisfied with the deal reached in Congress.
The deal doesn’t resolve any issues, including those pertaining to the Affordable Care Act and the government’s debt crisis. Instead, the deal just postpones making a decision on these issues.
We can’t help but wonder if Congress will ever come to a decision or if another government shutdown will happen early next year.
The shutdown was pointless. Instead of making lasting change, politicians simply punted the issue forward.
Debate over whether to strip the Affordable Care Act of its funding will only continue when debt talks resume later this year.
Why can’t politicians in Congress reach a true compromise to resolve the debt ceiling issue once and for all?
Our faith in Congress members was already low before the shutdown occurred. Now it has lowered even more.
With so many issues plaguing Congress, it’s no wonder that some young people tune out politics from their lives.
Instead of bickering, members of Congress need to get their acts together and compromise.
Looking forward, we hope the recent shutdown will inspire Congress members to resolve their differences and unite behind a common cause.
Then again, we won’t be surprised if they don’t take that advice.
