Government Shutdown: If You Haven't Heard Enough About it Already...

The United States federal government shutdown of 2013 has become the unavoidable topic of discussion everywhere. With all the commotion, most of my peers either try to avoid all the mainstream media or joke about it without any actual knowledge on the matter. However, with all the misunderstandings and misinterpretations, I took it upon myself to learn more about the shutdown.

A government shutdown is not the end of government as the name might suggest. The shutdown is simply the temporary suspension of non-emergency services. This process has occurred several times in the past, so it is nothing new. The current shutdown was caused by issues on the Affordable Care Act. 

After having a better idea of what was going on, I wanted to know more about Texas's involvement. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has an interesting part in the issue. Ted Cruz’s efforts to filibuster the healthcare law is controversial. This editorial believes Ted Cruz’s filibuster attempt was a tremendous waste of time and the time should have been used being more productive. This editorial believes Ted Cruz is driven by self-interest and is detrimental to Texas. Jeff Judson disagrees. Although he never says in his commentary that he supports Ted Cruz, he is opposed to the ACA policy and believes in “Someone in Congress standing up and speaking, reflecting the mood of real people back home.” Whether you are for or against Obamacare, it is moving forward. 

A controversy of this magnitude, pointing fingers is inevitable, from blaming congress to blaming Obama, Democrats, and the tea party. Rick Casey even wrote his commentary on how the Texas Legislature is better than Congress. I can feel the Texas pride emanating from his commentary. 

I do not have a deep enough understanding of government to have a clear and definite opinion on the issue of the current government shutdown. However, I discovered that how the commentary or editorial was written is more important than the actual information provided. For example, the commentary by Froma Harrop blames the republicans. Harrop’s commentary was written very informally, with phrases such as “Is cool with” and “Here’s a happy ending.” She also made a remark, if I’m not mistaking, joking about how the significance of the government shutdown is to keep the “panda cam” open. The sarcastic and slightly hostile tone was not appealing to me. I found Stephen Amberg’s commentary much more compelling. His writing is very professional. He provided relevant information, expressed genuineness, and a seemingly unbiased opinion.

Additional References 
Government shutdown in the United States." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 8 Oct. 2013. Web. 8 Oct. 2013.
United States federal government shutdown of 2013." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 8 Oct. 2013. Web. 8 Oct. 2013.