Government shutdown ends, Republicans accused of betrayal

During the night, your government restored "nonessential services." The reopening of government occurred following a 16-day partial shutdown that alarmed the nation and the world, and left many workers without pay.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Americans awoke this morning to a fully-restored government as the impasse in Congress was resolved during the 11th hour. A bipartisan agreement from the Senate, which was largely supported by Democrats and still rejected by conservative Republicans, broke the stalemate.

Federal employees were expected to return to work Thursday morning.

The shutdown, rather than saving money, is said by Standard and Poor's to have cost the nation $24 billion. This reveals the level of dysfunction in our government, when it costs even more money to close the government.

Mainstream media outlets are declaring Obama and the Democrats winners because the polls suggest Republicans have been blamed for the shutdown. House Speaker John Boehner went so far as to admit, "We fought the good fight, we just didn't win."

Fight they did, for sixteen days, but Democrats, holding the majority in the Senate and power in the White House, refused to budge on anything. Republicans were forced to accept the bill sent over from the Democrat-controlled Senate or risk a default on the nation's debt and a downgrade to its credit rating.

Tea Party Republicans are most upset, accusing fellow Republicans of capitulating.

The problem is that the nation spends much more than it brings in with taxes. That means we must either cut spending or raise taxes further to stay on budget. Instead of opting for either of these unpopular options the government borrows the money to make up the difference, leaving our children to repay the national debt with interest.

This is a recipe for collapse because eventually the debt will become too overwhelming, economists will take note, and our national credit will fail.

Fiscal conservatives are right to call for reform. For the moment, they have lost, but the topic will return in a matter of months. Early next year, Obama and Congress will need to work out a new spending plan that will bring back the issues that caused the recent debacle in Congress.

There is little hope anything will change, unless Obama prepares himself to compromise with conservative Republicans.

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