Political Warrior: Shutdown:17 times the government has gone dark

Monday, September 30, 2013

Shutdown:17 times the government has gone dark

While supposed policy-makers on Capitol Hill continue to make "Obamacare" a bargaining chip over extending the debt ceiling and keeping the government open, I guess things were worse in the 1970s. I didn't remember as a middle-schooler that the government shut down three times in 1977 over another social issue, abortion.

Since 1976, there have been at least 17 federal government shutdowns ranging from 1 to 21 days. Politico has pictures here.

A history of government shutdowns, American-style

3 comments:

Ryan H said...: Do you believe the government will shut down this time, or will the crisis be averted just in time?; September 30, 2013 at 4:39 PM
Mr Wolak said...: It looks like that's where we are going. BTW, some RealClear Politics average of approval polls:

President Obama: 44% (lowest of his presidency)

Congress: 15% (how low can you go? Well, it was as low as 9% in one poll last year).

Affordable Health Care Act: 39%

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/obama_and_democrats_health_care_plan-1130.html; September 30, 2013 at 6:30 PM
Ryan H said...: T-minus 3 hours and the Senate has again rejected the house's bill. I am sure both parties are putting the finishing touches on their "it's the other party's fault" speeches. I must ask where is the compromise and negotiations? When the founding fathers said that factions were bad, I do not think they could have imagined this.

BTW Are you going to read your man Chris Matthew's new book Tip and the Gipper? It looks like an interesting read.; September 30, 2013 at 8:58 PM