As you’re probably aware, the national government shut down for two weeks (October 1-October 16, 2013). For two whole weeks all “nonessential” national government workers went without pay. This meant that almost all government-based works were closed, since nobody can afford to work pro bono. Why did these people have to suffer? What caused this?

In September, Congress works out a budget for the next fiscal year. This usually goes without a big hitch. This year, however the Affordable Care Act became a prominent issue. “Obamacare” was a plan put forth primarily by our President to provide national health care, taking it entirely out of the hands of companies and businesses to provide for their employees. The national health care comes with taxes to pay for it, naturally. The GOP, largely the Tea Party in particular, felt that the taxes were too high, and that without health care benefits, employers would lose potential employees. The Democrats, however, backed Obamacare. The two groups were, as always, at an impasse. What does Obamacare have to do with the national budget? Nothing, really, but the Republicans decided to connect them anyway.

The Republicans decided that unless Obamacare was removed or met their requirements, they would not ratify a national budget. The Democrats refused to budge, so what we got was a game of chicken, but with our national budget on the line. Being the natural negotiators that they are, Congress began the new fiscal year without agreeing on anything. Without a budget, Congress had no way to spend money, and therefore had to shut down the government. This meant that all facilities not immediately necessary to the country were closed.

So that’s what happened during the shutdown: 15 long days of absolutely no government. Hopefully somebody learns something from this catastrophe. Sadly, the odds of that happening are 535 to 1.