7/27/2019 The Shutdown in 10 Sentences

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FYIhttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/shutdown-debt-ceiling-explained

The Shutdown in 10 Infuriating Sentences

At its core, the dispute over the budget and thedebt ceiling isn't complicated at all. But it isfull of misconceptions and urban myths. Here arethe 10 facts worth remembering past all the obfuscation:

1. Democrats have already agreed to fund the government at Republicanlevels. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/budget/news/2013/09/30/76026/the-senate-continuing-resolution-is-already-a-compromise/

2. Despite what you might have heard, there haveonly been two serious government shutdowns inrecent history, and both were the result of Republican ultimatums.

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/2nd-government-shutdown-recent-history

3. Democrats in the Senate have been begging the House to negotiate over thebudget for thepast six months, but Republicans have refused.http://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=a94cbb48-f1da-42dc-8a66-14711904bd4d

4. That's because Republicans wanted to waituntil they had either a government shutdown or adebt ceiling breach as leverage, somethingthey've been very clear about all along.

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/public-blames-republicans-government-shutdown

5. Republicans keep talking about compromise, butthey've offered nothing in return for agreeing to theirdemands except to keep the government intact if they get their way.http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/i-think-republicans-are-confused-about-word-compromise

6. The public is veryhttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/public-obamacare-republican-hostagestrongly opposed to using a government shutdownto stop Obamacare. [BUT PEOPLE DON'T KNOWDIFFERENCE BETWEEN OBAMACARE & AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE ACT - there isn'tone]http://gawker.com/kimmel-asks-americans-to-choose-obamacare-or-the-affor-1433866673

7. Contrary to Republican claims,the deficit is not increasing -- it peaked in 2009 and

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/shutdown-debt-ceiling-explainedhttp://www.americanprogress.org/issues/budget/news/2013/09/30/76026/the-senate-continuing-resolution-is-already-a-compromise/%20athttp://www.americanprogress.org/issues/budget/news/2013/09/30/76026/the-senate-continuing-resolution-is-already-a-compromise/%20athttp://www.americanprogress.org/issues/budget/news/2013/09/30/76026/the-senate-continuing-resolution-is-already-a-compromise/%20athttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/2nd-government-shutdown-recent-historyhttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/2nd-government-shutdown-recent-historyhttp://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=a94cbb48-f1da-42dc-8a66-14711904bd4dhttp://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=a94cbb48-f1da-42dc-8a66-14711904bd4dhttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/public-blames-republicans-government-shutdownhttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/public-blames-republicans-government-shutdownhttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/i-think-republicans-are-confused-about-word-compromisehttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/i-think-republicans-are-confused-about-word-compromisehttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/public-obamacare-republican-hostagehttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/public-obamacare-republican-hostagehttp://gawker.com/kimmel-asks-americans-to-choose-obamacare-or-the-affor-1433866673http://gawker.com/kimmel-asks-americans-to-choose-obamacare-or-the-affor-1433866673http://gawker.com/kimmel-asks-americans-to-choose-obamacare-or-the-affor-1433866673http://gawker.com/kimmel-asks-americans-to-choose-obamacare-or-the-affor-1433866673http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/public-obamacare-republican-hostagehttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/public-obamacare-republican-hostagehttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/i-think-republicans-are-confused-about-word-compromisehttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/i-think-republicans-are-confused-about-word-compromisehttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/public-blames-republicans-government-shutdownhttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/public-blames-republicans-government-shutdownhttp://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=a94cbb48-f1da-42dc-8a66-14711904bd4dhttp://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=a94cbb48-f1da-42dc-8a66-14711904bd4dhttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/2nd-government-shutdown-recent-historyhttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/2nd-government-shutdown-recent-historyhttp://www.americanprogress.org/issues/budget/news/2013/09/30/76026/the-senate-continuing-resolution-is-already-a-compromise/%20athttp://www.americanprogress.org/issues/budget/news/2013/09/30/76026/the-senate-continuing-resolution-is-already-a-compromise/%20athttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/shutdown-debt-ceiling-explained

7/27/2019 The Shutdown in 10 Sentences

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has been dropping ever since, declining by $200billion last year with another $450 billion drop projected this year.http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/deficit-falling-falling-falling

8. A long government shutdown is likely to

seriously hurt economic growth, with a month-long shutdownprojected to slash GDP in the fourth quarter by 1percentage point and reduce employment by over a million jobs.http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/long-shutdown-would-seriously-hurt-economic-growth

9. No, Democrats have notused debt ceiling hostage-taking in the past toforce presidents to accept their political agenda.http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/09/30/no_democrats_never_really_held_the_debt_limit_hostage.html

10. This whole dispute is about the RepublicanParty fighting to make sure the working poordon't have access to affordable health care.

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/deficit-falling-falling-falling%20thehttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/long-shutdown-would-seriously-hurt-economic-growth%20seriouslyhttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/long-shutdown-would-seriously-hurt-economic-growth%20seriouslyhttp://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/09/30/no_democrats_never_really_held_the_debt_limit_hostage.htmlhttp://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/09/30/no_democrats_never_really_held_the_debt_limit_hostage.htmlhttp://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/09/30/no_democrats_never_really_held_the_debt_limit_hostage.htmlhttp://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/09/30/no_democrats_never_really_held_the_debt_limit_hostage.htmlhttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/long-shutdown-would-seriously-hurt-economic-growth%20seriouslyhttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/long-shutdown-would-seriously-hurt-economic-growth%20seriouslyhttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/deficit-falling-falling-falling%20the