Which side do you think is most to blame for the U.S. government shutdown?

The politician side

The Republicans. For feeding and aiding for two decades the insanity that now has a strangle hold on their party.

The lunatics in the Tea Party.

The people, for putting up with this.

Wake up and smell the coffee U.S. citizens, YOU are responsible for putting these morons in power. Next elections simply don't vote for the Republicans or Democrats, and if enough people have the common sense to say, "You're not representing my interests, GTFO!" then maybe, just maybe things will change.

... or you could come online and point fingers like a bunch of 5 year olds.

Both! And we do have other options in most elections.

The biggest con of the two party system is that they are actually different. Both sides are complicit in creating this HUGE mess, that can't be solved, only kicked down the road.

Obamacare is a disaster. Their websites don't even work. Obama promised it would be cheaper, easier, and more efficient. It's turning out to be much more expensive, rife with corruption, and much more complicated than anybody realized (or pretended to realize).

In fact, it's such a wonderful program that there's been THOUSANDS of waivers given to Unions (big supporters of O) because it's TOO EXPENSIVE for them to implement.

AND, nobody on government payroll is going to to be forced into it.

Only the poor hapless fools on the street who are being conned right and left by corrupt governments and obedient media lapdogs.

meanwhile the Fed is printing money as fast as it can, while the government is spending money as fast as it can.

Asking a silly question like "who do you think is responsible for this" is like wondering who decided on the color scheme on the deck chairs of the titanic as it sinks further into the icy sea of death.

How can you blame the Democrats? They aren't making any demands, other than a request that their fellow elected officials recognize and respect the law of the land.

How can you blame the Democrats?

No wonder the world is in such sad shape.....

those poor politicians are only trying to help out..

How can you blame the Democrats? They aren't making any demands, other than a request that their fellow elected officials recognize and respect the law of the land.

Except that their fellow elected officials are legislators, and as such they have the constitutional authority to create laws, change laws, and repeal laws. No one seems to understand this.

Next, most of these "fellow elected officials" were elected or reelected because their constituents wanted them to repeal the ACA (Obamacare). Like it or not, they are doing what they promised they would, which is rather rare with elected officials. If they had a choice, they would probably support it, but it they did, they would be looking for new jobs after the next election. It was largely because of the ACA that the democrat party lost control of the house of representatives, doesn't anyone know anything?

I don't know who is to blame... but for squabbling politicians to have the power to shut the USA down because of a healthcare bill is shocking.

Spot on, Frungy !

Apparently those who deny their fellow men the guarantees they have: healthcare paid for by the tax payer.

How can you blame the Democrats? They aren't making any demands, other than a request that their fellow elected officials recognize and respect the law of the land.

As do the Republicans. They are doing the exact same thing. They know this is the last stand at the Alamo, but why would ANYONE think that the Republicans would ever warm up to Obamacare? They opposed it from the beginning and they are doing it now. Why should they fund something that everyone knows, if they don't drink the Kool-aid is going to financially bankrupt us even further?

Obamacare is a disaster. Their websites don't even work. Obama promised it would be cheaper, easier, and more efficient. It's turning out to be much more expensive, rife with corruption, and much more complicated than anybody realized (or pretended to realize).

For some odd reason, the Dems think that Americans can't read or wouldn't bother to read rules of this junk thoroughly. Already problems in its first day, it'll only get worse as time goes on.

In fact, it's such a wonderful program that there's been THOUSANDS of waivers given to Unions (big supporters of O) because it's TOO EXPENSIVE for them to implement.

The penalties are something like $95 a year??

AND, nobody on government payroll is going to to be forced into it.

This is the thing that really and truly drives me nuts, we all have to take this crap, but Congress doesn't?? Why? Because they know full well that it's a crappy deal all away round!

Only the poor hapless fools on the street who are being conned right and left by corrupt governments and obedient media lapdogs.

Spot on! This is the best thing for them, of course they don't know the full repercussions of these policies.

meanwhile the Fed is printing money as fast as it can, while the government is spending money as fast as it can.

Which equates to more debt. Another reason why the Repubs don't want to raise the debt ceiling.

I don't want a shutdown, I had hoped that both sides would come to the middle, at first Obama was going to sit down and maybe try to reach some sort of compromise with the Repubs, but Harry Reid told Obama, don't even think about saying anything to them, so much for that. The Dems know this is their only shot and they are NOT going to let anything get in their way, so they would rather let this shutdown happen than to compromise, on that alone the blame goes MOSTLY to the Dems. If this healthcare is delayed for one year, it'll be virtually next to impossible to fully implement the thing.

Well, Americans know which end is up:

According to Quinnipiac, just 22 percent of Americans supported shutting down the government over Obamacare. The numbers were a little better for Republicans in a CBS poll, and by little, I really do mean little: In their poll, 25 percent approved of shutting down the government over Obamacare.

This is simply an effect of the overall decline of the US. It will break up within the next 20 years. The question is whether it will be a peaceful or a violent breakup. I think I know which one.

Oh, yeah, about the polling numbers:

Its shows American's blame the ass-hat Bagger Republicans. That much is clear. Its shows Frungy, as usual, is wrong.

They aren't making any demands, other than a request that their fellow elected officials recognize and respect the law of the land.

The law of the land being the debt ceiling that they poor democrats are so desperate to recognize and respect?

Oh, wait, they're trying to CHANGE that law of the land, since it currently doesn't suit them.

Poor democrats. So misunderstood.

JTDanManOct. 04, 2013 - 07:50AM JST Oh, yeah, about the polling numbers: Its shows American's blame the ass-hat Bagger Republicans. That much is clear. Its shows Frungy, as usual, is wrong.

Nope, it just shows the big problem with democracy, which is that the votes of idiots incapable of seeing that the problem is systematic are worth the same amount as votes by people who can actually count higher than 10.

Right and wrong, despite what you may have been taught, are not voted on, they're absolutes. All you've done JTDanMan is make yourself the poster child for why some people shouldn't be allowed to vote.

I am even surprised USA did not find (yet...) a way to prove Iran was involved in U.S. government shutdown from the very beginning and that Middle-East country is all to blame.

The whole lot of them are responsible, for years and years and years they have been wasting money on wars and wasting the tax payers money and time, firstly the republicans and now the democrats. They are all a bunch of 5 year old brats that are only interested in them selves and their own pockets.

Political point scoring does not serve the people at all dick head politicos, when you gonna get that through ya thick heads.

I hate politics and politicians of all types, all of them all the time.

Can anyone name me one who has had the interest of the people at the fore?

Nope, it just shows the big problem with democracy

The problem with democracy is that not everyone is going to be happy with what the majority decides.

Arguably, the federal government shutdown is democracy doing what it was intended to do. Obamacare was passed early in Obama's first term when his party controlled both houses of congress. Even then, it was not an extremely poplular program, there was opposition to it even within the democrat party.

In the midterm elections in 2010 the voters showed how they felt. Many democrats in the house of representatives, nearly all of whom voted for Obamacare, were turned out of office. They were replaced with republicans who ran on the platform of repealing Obamacare, and getting a hand on federal spending.

In 2013 we find that the republican majority in the house of representatives is doing what they clearly promised they would do when they were elected. Like it or not, this is exactly how democracy is supposed to work. You may not like it, but that's too bad, elections are a win-lose proposition. The democrats lost control of the house pf representaives, and now they and their supporters must pay the price.

Obama is in a tough position, other than intelligence leaks, a scandal with the IRS, a massive spying program targeting innocent Americans, and spending more money than all previous presidents combined, all he has to show so far for his 5 years in office is Obamacare.

At lease Jimmy Carter can be happy, there will finally be someone to replace him as the worst American president.

Frungy

You wrote: "The [American] people, for putting up with this [nonsense].

I replied by showing you the vast majority of American disapprove of the Republican nonsense. Around 75% of us, in fact. This overwhelming disapproval demonstrates that, no, the issue is not one of the American people putting up with it. Rather, its a issue of the structure of our Federal government, with separation of powers between the Congress and the executive and the states and the federal government. And district representation.

Most simply put, because the formation of federal house districts occurs on the state level, the party that controls the state assembly gerrymanders the federal districts. The result: while over 2.25 million people voted for Democratic federal representatives to the House in the 2012 election, the Republicans got more seats. And finally, because more than 90% of those seats are very partisan, the Tea Bagger Republicans responsible for the mess we are in can and do act with impunity.

It is a flaw in our system that fanatics are exploiting, and the Republican party is allowing it.

But, I suppose, all that is a bit to complicated for a fellow like you, who thinks there are certain people who "shouldn't be allowed to vote."

Its much more easier to be wrong, and ignore the facts of the matter.

Like you typical Tea Bagging Republican.

The Repugs. Obama is emerging as a saint in the midst of all of this.

The voters.

"Obama is emerging as a saint in the midst of all of this."

Har!

JTDanManOct. 04, 2013 - 10:52PM JST I replied by showing you the vast majority of American disapprove of the Republican nonsense. Around 75% of us, in fact. This overwhelming disapproval demonstrates that, no, the issue is not one of the American people putting up with it.

You missed my final line:

... or you could come online and point fingers like a bunch of 5 year olds.

This is exactly what's happening now. You're online pointing fingers. And you know what, when you do that, when you fail to take any concrete action, then you ARE "putting up with it.".

It is a flaw in our system that fanatics are exploiting, and the Republican party is allowing it.

... Yes, there are flaws in the U.S. system... the biggest being that voters in the U.S. have a MASSIVE number of options. A million man march, even just taking 10 seconds to sign a petition, or going to complain to your local representative... yet not ONE of these has been done. Why? Because the biggest, most glaring, flaw in the U.S. system is that the vast majority of U.S. citizens are too lazy and complacent to do anything. They whine, they moan, they post online and generally get nothing done but delude themselves into thinking they're doing something.

You ALLOW your system to be exploited. You ALLOW your liberties to be undermined. You ALLOW politicians to get elected on one list of issues and then abandon 99% of them the day after they're in office. You have ALLOWED all of these, but then whine when things reach their logical conclusion? .... truly some people shouldn't be allowed to vote.

Its abundantly clear the republicans & a handful of real dim bulbs in that party that are responsible.

Like I said in another blurb the repubs are acting pretty Un-American & I aint even a yankee

I hope all these idiots get their act together soon, they seem utterly terrified that Obama Care will actually work oh the horror!

"Its abundantly clear the republicans & a handful of real dim bulbs in that party that are responsible."

Or, it's the Democrats who came up with the government healthcare plan known as Obamacare that the majority of Americans want no part of who are responsible.

yes I am sure those 20-30million yanks without insurance really like their lot as is............NOT

Universal health care is sign of being CIVILIZED, wouldn't it be nice if the issues involving guns could be taken seriously next...................wishful thinking perhaps, baby steps, baby steps....

obama. he is trying to protect his legacy, without obamacare, what has he done? for all his talk of change and compromise when first came into office, nothing if you ask me...just politics as usual. i'm surprised that he hasn't said "read my lips, no compromise."