The Ball Drop on Capitol Hill

With the Fiscal New Year Comes the Annual Threat of a Government
Shutdown
It's that time of year again: the days are getting shorter, the weather is getting cooler, and
the Republican Party is threatening to shut down the government. As the 2015 fiscal year draws
to a close and the budget for the 2016 year is theoretically being finalized, the reality is that
Congress is- once again- at a standoff. This year's divisive issue is funding for Planned
Parenthood, which fell into scandal in July when videos revealing several of its officials
discussing costs for the donation of fetal tissue were released by anti-abortion organization
Centers for Medical Progress. Such donation is actually perfectly legal in the United States;
however, for the already pro-life Republican Party, this so-called sale of baby parts is more
than enough reason to call for the defunding of Planned Parenthood. The Democrats disagree;
and so, without fail, the GOP has pulled out its favorite bargaining chip: the threat of government
shutdown.
Government shutdown occurs when Congress cannot agree on funding legislation for the
upcoming fiscal year. During a shutdown, national parks and monuments are closed, many
government services are unavailable, and all federal employees deemed non-essential are
placed on furlough. In short, the government stops fulfilling many of its purposes until Congress
can reach an agreement.
The detrimental effects of the most recent shutdown, which occurred at the end of the
2013 fiscal year, were widely felt. According to the Office of Management and Budget, federal
employees were furloughed for a combined total of 6.6 million days during the sixteen day
shutdown. This is equivalent to over eighteen thousand years of lost productivity. In addition, the

government lost an estimated five hundred million dollars in visitor spending at national parks
and monuments. Tourists and locals alike who wanted to visit such attractions as the
Smithsonian, the National Zoo, or the Lincoln memorial were out of luck during the shutdown.
Nearly four billion dollars in tax refunds were delayed, which in turn delayed the 2014 tax filing
season by ten days, and the Food and Drug Administration was delayed in its approval of
medical products, devices, and drugs. This year, a shutdown would mean that the National Zoo's
Panda Cam would get turned off, disappointing panda fans around the country.
One wonders why the GOP would even still consider the shutdown a valuable tool, when
they have suffered politically after every shutdown since the Clinton years, according to the
Washington Post. In the wake of the 2013 shutdown, a Washington Post-ABC News poll
reported that sixty-three percent of the American public held an unfavorable view of the
Republican Party, as opposed to only forty-nine percent who held an unfavorable view of the
Democratic Party. Eighty percent of the public said they disagreed with the shutdown. A CNN
survey taken earlier this month indicates that attitudes towards government shutdown have
remained overwhelmingly negative, with seventy-one percent of responders prioritizing
preventing a shutdown over cutting funds to Planned Parenthood. Furthermore, insisting on a
shutdown would not even guarantee the Republican Party a victory in the Planned Parenthood
battle. One could see why the GOP would risk popularity if it meant ensuring their aims,
especially since the blame placed on them after the last shutdown was not lasting enough to
prevent them from winning both the House and Senate in the last election. But the Party's aim in
2013 was to defund Obamacare, and Obamacare is alive and well, despite having had less
support than continued funding of Planned Parenthood, according to polls by the Washington
Post and Reuters/Ipsos. Is the Republican Party so averse to concession that they would sacrifice
their popularity just to draw out a battle they are likely to lose?
The GOP members of the House and Senate do not seem to understand that compromise

is not a four-letter word or a cardinal sin. It is a basic requirement of success in a bipartisan

system. My way or the highway isn't the way American government works, and if they can't
accept losses along with their wins, then maybe politics really isn't the best field for them.