Greetings, here are two articles. Can you please come up with 2 suggestions for DC to act on? What would you do if you were trying to resolve this matter? Good luck! Dr. Sharma
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303918804579109162410629736.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303722604579113143884854458.html
The government shutdown is caused by an impasse on raising the debt ceiling in order to fund the government. Since the government shutdown may have significant negative economic effects, it is imperative that an agreement be reached as soon as possible. One factor is for employees to receive retroactive pay; which was indeed approved by Congress after this article was written. I feel the raising of the deficit ceiling should be separated out from Obama Care but linked to deficit reduction. If I were in DC, I would get the President and the leaders of both Parties together until an agreement was hammered out. As the article said no one gets everything they want.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Obama care is a separate issue and should have no influence on the issue of debt and the government shutdown. Legislators should focus on ways to reduce deficit spending and possibly pay down the debt. It is imperative that the two parties find a way to compromise to uphold public confidence in the government.
DeleteI also agree the Obama care should not be included in this discussion because it is only causing more conflict and turmoil between parties. The real issue is the government shut down and raising the debt ceiling.
DeleteHaving only been in the U.S. for a year or so (here's an article for non-Americans to gain a better understanding: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/30/us-shutdown-explainer-non-americans), I do not claim to know everything about what happens here but here's my thoughts (my apologizes if anything I do comment on may not be true or is based on wrong assumptions).
ReplyDeleteThe two parties in the government may be in a stalemate when it comes to the health-care system that the President has been a big advocate for. There is no fault in standing up for what each of the parties believes in but it would not be favorable if the nation becomes the victim of this standoff. So instead, they turned their focus to the possibility of increasing the debt ceiling. But who’s to say that this will not happen again. This is not the first time the government is close to defaulting on its debt obligation and had to raise its debt ceiling. As this drags on, the public’s confidence in the U.S. government may be swayed and this may impact the economy. The calmness that still permeates Wall Street may placate Republicans right now, but in another article (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304906704579115272975973210.html?KEYWORDS=markets+mostly+shrug), the President has given a word of caution to investors and said that they should be concerned. Raising the debt ceiling looks like a temporary solution to me. It is said that “the debt ceiling currently stands at $16.7 trillion and needs to be raised because the U.S. spends more money than it earns through tax revenue and other income.” I think this should be something the government looked into as well. A country can run on debt for only so long.
No doubt that this country appreciates its freedom to voice its opinion, the 3 branches of the government is a symbol of that to ensure fairness and equality. However, when the two parties in the U.S. Congress are split in their opinions and each refuse to compromise, it is truly ironic to have this freedom be a reason for this standstill. Hopefully, the two parties will be able to see past winning this argument and come to a compromise soon. I would suggest that both parties sit down and truly discuss this matter through with the people’s interest their top priority. They should also look into underlying problems that constantly causes the government to be so close to defaulting on its debt obligations.
The partisan squabbles in Washington resemble children fighting over candy. For the United Sates to pay its obligations, it is necessary for the debt ceiling to be raised. However, the government must also look for way to shrink and ultimately eliminate the government deficit. The national debt is now over 16 trillion dollars, larger than our GDP. This does not look good for the county’s longevity. One issue to look at is the disability program run by social security. There is strong evidence that this system is heavily corrupted and that up to 50% of its applications are fraudulent. This has lead to a disability industrial complex in which lawyers take advantage of a broken system and get disability applications approved for clients who do not deserve them. This is very lucrative for fraudsters and disability law firms, but it cost the American taxpayers billions of dollars a year. Another suggestion would be for government officials to not look at politics in such a selfish manner. The purpose of government is to serve the people and the purpose of being a politician is to serve their constituents. Politicians should do what they think is best for the country, not what is best for themselves or their party. Unfortunately, the current American political system does not incentivize this.
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. government needs to start comprising and making decisions before they default on their own debt obligation. At this current time, the debt ceiling needs to be raised otherwise a default is very likely. If we default we might not be able to get another loan, and many people will lose faith in the country and its decisions. One possible way to help lower the debt and begin to correct the problem could be looking at medicare/medicad and disability systems. Much fraud can be found when it comes to who is actually using these systems. Millions of dollars per year are put towards these and not all for good. Another possible suggestion could be looking at the amount of pay for certain jobs. Elected officials can definitely take a pay cut. They already get the best retirement/benefit package in the country, so cutting back on pay might not be a bad idea.
DeleteThe government shut down needs to be solved as soon as possible. The more time that passes because of arguments and parties unwilling to compromise, the worse the United States as a country appears to the rest of the world. People are all watching us fight like school children and we should be embarrassed. The debt ceiling will need to be raised or we will not be able to meet our financial obligations. Obviously this is not an option, so the two parties need to come to a compromise and make a decision already. We do not have time to lose so this needs to be dealt with right now.
ReplyDeleteGreat response Kaili! I couldn't agree more. I hope the government can come to a compromise very soon.
DeleteIt is clear that there needs to be compromise to reach a final solution regarding the debt ceiling. I do not think it is fair for Obama to repeatedly state how "There will be no negotiations over this,''. It appears that the house speaker, John Boehner is willing to compromise and increase the debt ceiling but needs other terms to be met. I think this is a fair compromise given the current situation. Clearly, the debt ceiling increase is going to be passed but we need a long-term solution in order to stop another increase in a few months. Many conservative Republicans were quoted saying that they will not vote to pass the bill without anything in return. While I feel this statement is juvenile given the urgency of this political situation, it is clear both parties need to agree to compromise to stop further economic turmoil. As far as a method to compromise, Obama and the Democratic Party should be willing to speak about the terms the Republicans made regarding changes to Obamacare and Affordable Care Act. If these changes can be made, everyone would be more willing to compromise.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading these two articles the main problem is not the government shutting down, but instead a deal being made regarding the debt celling. President Obama has stated that "there will be no negotiations on this matter, and that the government should pass it with no conditions". I believe that president Obama needs to strike some sort of deal so the republican will allow this debt celling to pass. The government needs to get together and resolve a long-term resolution, so we won't be in this same situation in the near future. One suggestion for this would be to repeal the health-care law's tax on medical devices. Although the democratic party doesn't' want to budge on this, both parties need to give a little and take a little in order to solve this problem and get our country back on the right track.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a really crisis. The republicans in the house cannot get what they want so they would not raise the debt ceiling, even if the financial markets fall off a cliff. I think that obamacare is a disaster to the U.S. it is worth having the government shut down for a few weeks to avoid the trillions of extra cost, lost health care services and killed jobs that it will cause. On the other hand, republicans had plenty of time and opportunity to push a plan forward during eight years. Shut down needs to be solved and they have to compromise to get a better solution
ReplyDeleteWe need to reach a solution by increasing our debt ceiling. Right now both sides are bickering and are making the United States look weak to other countries. An increase in the debt ceiling is required to allow us to reach our financial commitments. Otherwise the economy will become much weaker. Many conservative republicans will not support an increase in the debt ceiling unless they get something in return. This causes many democrats to need to vote for the bill in order for it to pass. It is important for both sides to come to a resolution as quickly as possible too. There are approximately 800,000 workers who are out of a job right now. These workers are losing out on pay and to make up for it, the government will need to give them retroactive pay for the time they missed.
ReplyDeleteMy suggestion for Washington DC to work on would be to raise the debt ceiling. According to the article this must be done in order to pay the nation's obligations. If each party is not able to agree on this situation it will delay the shut down. It will make our nation much weaker than it already is. Obama needs to have a proposal for the Republicans in order to pass this matter. Currently Obama is refusing to negotiate which is in terms dragging out the shut down even more and delaying progress of the situation.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great response! I wish our leaders could make it that simple.
DeleteI too think the simple solution is to raise the debt ceiling. I also agree that if we do not pay our debt it will make us look weak, however when is it too much? We can't keeping putting ourselves in debt.
DeleteI think it is a simple solution but they are over thinking everything about it. Raise the debt ceiling and watch to see what that does.
DeleteMy opinion would be to come to a compromise for the time being about the government shut down. Obviously, neither party is right and that is why we have come to such a huge cross road decision for our country. I don't think it is wise to raise the debt ceiling to fix the problem, however, not doing anything is just as bad. Obama needs to figure out exactly how to come up with atleast a temporary solution so we don't end up in another recession. I understand it cannot fully lay on his shoulders as there are 3 other branches. However, I count him responsible for seeing that this does not continue much longer. The government is notorious for letting things drag on - this should not be one of them. We have such wise investors in our nation. It's sad to see our country is living well beyond it's means and has such bad 'credit'
ReplyDeleteThe government shutdown has been caused by the two parties being unable to agree on a solution for the country's debt. Each party believes they are right and neither will budge towards the other side. In my opinion, each person needs to think individually and realize that the best solution for the United States would be agreeing to work on the debt. The shut down is only harming the country and I think that Congress is being selfish deciding to shut down instead of finding a solution. The first solution I would suggest would be just coming together and deciding to work on the United States debt. My second solution would be for President Obama to call the Congress to action and ask them to make a decision for the benefit of the country. At this point, I believe that Congress is only concerned about having the upper hand in the argument. Hopefully this will all come to an end very soon.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately this is not a simple matter. I believe the ceiling needs to be raised. If the ceiling is not raised the US will begin faulting on our debt, which makes us weak as a nation. I believe both parities are valid in sticking to their sides. However this shutdown is hurting the nation. My first solution would be to work on bringing down our debt. You can not just keep raising the ceiling. My credit doesn't let me do it, and the government should not either. Obama has already said raising the ceiling is not an option. My next solution is to find ways to cut costs, however I don't believe the cost cutting should come from Medicare.
ReplyDeleteThe problem at hand is that both parties feel that they should get everything they ask for. In reality, you can’t get everything you want, both parties need to agree on things that won’t necessarily make them both happy, but the agreement should be equally acceptable to both parties main needs. I don’t think that raising the debt ceiling will help out our country in the long run. It seems like all we think about is the now, and not what kind of debt we will have in the future. My first solution has to deal with getting the debt down. There has to be expenses that can be cut somewhere. Medicare being cut down doesn't seem like the right solution at this time. My second solution deals with the President, and calling on congress to end this dispute. It is doing nothing but hurting our country that both parties say they care so much about. The longest amount of time the government has been closed is 21 days and that was during the Clinton administration. Currently the government has been closed for 7 days and it needs to come to an end. Both parties need to make an agreement for the betterment of the country.
ReplyDeleteYou make a very valid point, the need for compromise is essential. Congress is acting like children bickering to get their way.
DeleteIn my opinion this entire debate is silly. We have always been a nation of compromise when it comes to getting legislation passed. It is quite obvious that the debt ceiling must be raised because we can't default on our loans or we risk serious economic repercussions. That being said I don't think it is fair to rule out the republican argument that some measures also need to be taken to "deal with the bigger drivers of our debt and deficits." I fully agree that it would be unwise to take on more debt without examining the problems that continue to drive the U.S. deeper into it. My advice for fixing this problem is for the two sides to come to a compromise and attempt to fix this mess in a way that puts us on a path that could feasibly lessen our debt in the long run. It would be irresponsible to increase our debt with out measures in place that could turn the current trend around and eventually begin to pay off this ever increasing debt.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. It is important to listen to both sides, and it is important to see what needs to be done to be able to pay of this increasing debt. But indeed by not doing anything another economical crisis, or at least a big hit on the economical situation will occur and that is something this nation should not have looking back on where they are just getting out of.
DeleteThe US government needs to raise their debt ceiling. I know saying this is just easier said then done, but keeping the government shut down is honestly making us look weak and stupid to other countries. What kind of government just shuts down? We obviously have huge amounts of debt, and increasing the ceiling isn't exactly going to help that, but can't simply not pay back loans and salaries. There has to be somewhere that we can cut spending. Maybe end the war on terror? I know this is impossible, but the US needs to start focusing more on it's own problems then the problems of every other country in the world.
ReplyDeleteI agree with raising the debt ceiling for now but this country cannot afford to keep repeating this or else we will be in more trouble than we already are.
DeleteIf this country keeps on increasing their debt, the interest they have to pay will rise and rise which makes me wonder if the extra debt is not just used to pay off al this interest...
DeleteI think raising the debt ceiling is necessary, although with the state of the country right now, we simply wont be able to pay off the interest on the debt alone
DeleteThe fact is people are out of work right now and that needs to come to an end. Thousands of people rely on the federal government to feed their families. From that point of view it is obvious that the fighting should end, the debt ceiling should be raised, and everybody can get back to work. The problem is, is it is not that easy. Raising the debt ceiling may seem easy and not a big deal, but the more debt we are in the weaker our economy becomes as a whole. ObamaCare is at the heart of this whole debate. The fact is is that the money is not in the budget to keep ObamaCare afloat. No matter what happens though I do not foresee the democrats budging on this fact. It is what Obama has worked so hard to achieve and the funding being withdrawn from it would make him look like a failure. I do believe that this would solve a lot of problems though. I do not see the benefit in something that causes so many other problems. Who knows how this will end up, only time will tell.
ReplyDeleteIf Obamacare is not a budget related matter. i really do not know what it is. Most countries have basically a two party system - conservative and liberal. Multiple party systems usually end up forming coalitions between parties with fairly similar views, but actually, nowhere is it written that America is a two-party system. That system has evolved, but it is not codified by law. What we need are strong alternative parties to affect any kind of change in this country. With just two, we get a constant bait and switch, and nothing ever really changes.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is almost 100% necessary for the government to raise its debt ceiling, I believe there needs to be other compromises such as cost cutting. If they have to raise the debt ceiling in the first place, I think its time to look at the actual causes of our Nations deficit. Obama has put our country $4 trillion more in debt, more than any other U.S president. With this increasing debt, there is no room to keep programs such as Obamacare running. If expensive programs like this is causing so much controversy and debate, it clearly needs to be reconsidered. Its discerning that the government has came to the point in which they will be unable to pay future social security checks, military checks etc. without a debt ceiling raise. The government must come to a compromise, especially when it comes to the specifications of Obama care and the opposing parties opinions.
ReplyDeleteHaving the government shut down at a time like this is very disappointing and hard for everyone to deal with. With how many days the government has been shut down for it is time for the two parties to come to a compromise. Obviously, neither solution will get rid of debt completely for the US but it's better than waiting any longer. All government run businesses and employees want to get back to work. The debt ceiling issue can be resolved as soon as possible if they raise the limit.
ReplyDeleteTo understand the first article: Biggest Threat- you have to understand the difference between the government shutdown caused by congress failure to carry out its primary obligation of preparing and implementing an annual budget
ReplyDeleteand the debt ceiling which is about to be exceeded again in a few weeks.
Any company, government entity, family, etc, has to prepare and adhere to an annual budget (most families have an annual budget that runs from Jan 1 to Dec 31, but many companies and governemnts operate on a fiscal year... a 12 month period that begins and ends on some other dates....the fiscal year for the us govt ends on Sept 30, so that is when its budget for the upcoming year has to be passed and in place.)
Budget is income and expenditures.....a balanced budget, which is the objective of everybody except US govt, is when income equals expenses over the course of a year. A budget in which expenses exceed income leads to a budget deficit, which in turns leads to debt -surplus-....somebody doesnt get paid. If budget deficits continue, debt grows.
Regarding second article, it also illustrate how the annual budget deabate (whciu has led to the shutdown) is tied to the raising of th debt limit. The debt limit has to be increased breasuse of the annual budget deficits ,
The Repsublicans wont agree to either 1) a budget or 2) raising the limits unless the dems and pres agree to cutting back or dealying Obamancare (which repusblicans say will greatly injcrease the expenses in the budget, which in turn will accelerate the growth of the debt.
This article discusses the possibility that some repusblicans want to deal with the obamacare issues separately, AFTER a budget has been passed and the DEbt limit has been increased. They acknowledge that by agreeing to budget and linit increase, they will lose a lot of leverage to get what thjey want (reduction /elimination of Obamacare) but they concede that they could be doing more dmanage to the country if they don't pass a buget and prevent the UIS from defaulting on its debts.
This seems reasonable to me. I do not like Obama care.....primarily because you can pretty much rely on the goernment making a mess of such a huge expensive ndertalking. But I think the issues should be resovled separately: :!) pass the budget 2) raise the debt limit
THEN fight tooth and nail in Congress to cut expenses - including obamacare and other wasteful extravagant inefficient spending programs to cut back on annual defiits and slow down the out-of-control growth of national debt.
LIS WERT
The Government Shutdown is really impacting more and more people each day, and they probably are going to have to raise the debt limit to pay the bills. But when they should do that, they should come up with a deal that says right after the debt ceiling is raised, they need to start cutting costs and bringing the debt down. We as a country owe way too much. The only other solution I can see is to raise taxes by a little bit and make sure all that raise goes into paying off the debt. other than that, the only other solution is shut the government down completely and only pay on the debt through the taxes now and do not reinstate the government until the debt is incredibly low if not gone. I know it is far fetched and crazy, but yeah it is far fetched and crazy.
ReplyDeletewhen you look at it this government shut down is effecting so many more people every day. Obama care is really what is fueling this whole thing. There is no money budgeted in for it. They just won't raise the debt ceiling which I personally think it should be done. Obama needs to start negoating to start settling. The government need to start worrying about their own problems and not every one else's to put people back at work.
ReplyDeleteIt is obvious that this problem needs to be solved as quickly as possibly. This shutdown is affecting the mass population especially the majority of not all of the small businesses in the United States. Because the debt ceiling is such a problem, clearly, I think that should be the main point to look at when trying to find a solution and eventually digging ourselves out of this hole. This may not be the right time for both parties to argue about this because of the large about of obligations the country has but at the same time I think that the debt ceiling cannot just keep rising. There has to be some middle ground.
ReplyDeleteFor now, the best thing it think they should do is raise the debt ceiling but while doing this, there should be a plan on how and when they will pay of the debt. Not only is the shut down effecting people that work for the government, small firms are being squeezed because they depend on federal agencies to operate. Next to that the federal government shutdown starts to crimp trade, something which can mean no good. When a good and solid cost cutting plan will be presented, the ability for the both sides to give in and see what's best for the nation right now will exist. It is really important that the shutdown will and soon, if not the trust in the U.S nation will damage and that also, can have very bad results.
ReplyDeleteThe Government shutdown is affecting all the wrong people. The government employees that are furloughed will hopefully be paid retroactively. Although the members of congress still receive their paychecks. The Federal Government will most likely raise the debt ceiling , although if in fact the debt ceiling in raised, the congress needs to compromise on effective ways to bring the debt down. It seems that the two parties are playing “chicken”, which is unfortunately affecting millions of lives. Raising taxes would help decrease our immense national debt, although it is hard to imagine that can be agreed upon.
ReplyDeleteThe government should increase the debt ceiling. It is hard to think that without doing this then the government would not have enough money to pay future bills including Social Security checks, military pay. Etc. This would eventually put the government in a worse position later on, and not just financially. What is most important at this point is that the government makes a decision and compromise. It is only hurting the country and what other countries think of the US. This will sooner or later start affecting us more and more. In order to do this Obama needs to be open to negotiations.
ReplyDeleteThe recent government shutdown, due to a disagreement among President Obama and the Republican house has had many economic and financial repercussions for our nation. The negative effects can be fixed if our executive and legislative branches come to a mutual agreement. By making modifications to Obamacare, Republicans may be more wiling to raise the debt ceiling, therefore making a compromise that will make both parties happy. Also, due to the government being shutdown, those holding federal jobs have been out of work for the past week- recompensation for those days must happen as well.
ReplyDeleteOur country is being hurt due to the fact that our government is shutdown. What many people probably don't realize is exactly how many people this shutdown affects. Many people are not able to work now and are not receiving a paycheck due to the shutdown. Businesses that rely on government workers are severely hurting and watching their revenues decline for the month of October. The two parties need to make a compromise and come to an agreement that has something in it for both parties. Neither side can have things exactly the way they want it, but each side can get something in a compromise. Also, I believe the government should not exceed the debt ceiling, but if they need to in order to end the shutdown then it should be done.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the wrong people are the ones affected by the government shutdown, the members of congress are still getting paid. Even if the furloughed employees are paid retroactively, the small business that are negatively affected by the shutdown can never regain that revenue
DeleteAs both articles said, the government has few choices other than raising the country's debt ceiling. Unattractive as that sounds for many government officials, they must take a step back and re-evaluate who suffers the most in this period of government hiatus. Although both sides point fingers at who is to blame for "causing" the shutdown, the fact remains that these legislatures' constituents are the ones that are feeling the most pain as the issue continues.
ReplyDeleteAs the story "Biggest Economic Threat: Debt Ceiling, Not Shutdown " reports, there is more concern over the government's inability to pay its bills, than the shutdown itself. Without raising the debt ceiling, America will begin to spiral into financial ruin. Republicans refuse to agree to a raise in the borrowing limit unless Obamacare is changed (or completely squashed).
The unfortunate problem is, while all of this squabbling between grown men is continuing in the nation's capital, many Americans are going without work. This can only go on for so long before it is a bigger mess than anyone can handle.
The government being shut down is a huge upset and set back for the economy but in the end I feel that its going to be very difficult for both parties to come to an agreement. Things just don't happen that easy and I think that by raising the debt ceiling is only going to make it worse and harder to find a solution. That is what we have always done in the past and look where we stand as a country now, still in debt. I think that the government is obligated to find a different way to solve it and that is why they have been shut down for so long.
ReplyDeleteThe government shut down is going on for far to long. During this time of turmoil we need both parties to come together and look at the major issue at hand, the debt ceiling. This decision needs to be made looking at the long-term we can not just deal with these serious issues as they arise but rather conquer them before they become such large issues. They need to look at why we came to this predicament and how we can cut costs and prevent this from happening again.I agree with previous posts that this is not about obama care but I also feel we also can not turn a blind eye to it this because it is one (among many) reasons are in this situation.
ReplyDeleteThe government shutdown has effect so many people, firms and the nation as a whole. Government employees can not receive their wages; firms that are rely on government are not being able to operate properly due to the shutdown; we can not predict the oil price due to the government shutdown. I believe it is important for the President Obama and the republican house to reach an agreement in order to solve this problem. By reaching this agreement, I believe both party have to compromise in some point because no one can get everything they want. Therefore, I think the country need the debt ceiling increase to be pass; however, we have to find a long-term solution in order to prevent this happen from the future.
ReplyDelete