Shutdown Over Failure

I am so tired of the partisan politics in my country. But I am even more tired of the relentless obfuscation of the truth by the press.

Shortly after the midnight deadline passed, and the Federal Government shut down, BBC News ran with this lead,

The US government has begun a partial shutdown after the Republican-led House of Representatives refused to approve a budget for next year.

The House actually has passed numerous budget bills, several this week in fact. They just weren't anything the Senate like enough to sign onto. Whether or not you agree with their stance on the issues or their decision making, you should still portray the facts accurately.

This is also from the BBC article,

Shortly after midnight, President Obama tweeted: "They actually did it. A group of Republicans in the House just forced a government shutdown over Obamacare instead of passing a real budget."

 It may be true that the President tweeted those remarks, but his argument is disingenuous. He knows full well that both parties are to blame. The Republicans may not be willing to make concessions, but neither are the Democrats.


CNN's coverage began innocently and accurately enough,

"The two sides bickered and blamed each other for more than a week over Obamacare, the president's signature health care law. House Republicans insisted the spending bill include anti-Obamacare amendments. Senate Democrats were just as insistent that it didn't."

But soon drifted.

"Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen said the reason there wasn't a budget deal is because Republicans refused to negotiate months ago.

 "They want to go to conference with 45 minutes left," Van Hollen said late Monday night. "That is a recipe for a government shutdown."

Again, the budget process didn't begin the night of the shutdown. Publishing falsehoods and misrepresentations muddies the waters and leaves one wondering if this wasn't one of the purposes for such reporting in the first place.

The comment on CNN, that "The two sides bickered and blamed each other for more than a week over Obamacare, the president's signature health care law," doesn't tell the whole story either. The truth is the gauntlet was thrown down when the Affordable Care Act was voted upon and signed into law before more than a few had a chance to read it, and before anyone had the the time to digest it.It was pushed fast and furiously by the administration, as though to get it into law before anyone could dissect it.

The Republicans lost when enough of them helped make it law. They will lose this round as well, because the Democratic Party has claimed, with great support from the 5th Estate, the moral high ground.