The government shutdown has entered into day eight, with little end in sight. National parks and monuments are still closed, as many as 19,000 kids in 11 states have been left out of Head Start programs because grant money ran out, and if you want help with your taxes—well, don’t bother calling the IRS.
To top it off, the U.S. is just nine days away from entering into default unless Congress can agree to a debt ceiling increase.
The blame game over the shutdown rages on, with Democrats pressuring House Speaker John Boehner to bring a vote on a clean budget bill to the floor. The left is trying to hammer home the message that the Dems have negotiated while the GOP is making impossible demands. They’re also arguing a clean budget bill would pass on the House floor, if only Boehner would stop cowering to the Tea Party and allow it.
Republicans meanwhile continue to quixotically rally around a plan to delay or defund President Obama’s healthcare law, insisting the shutdown is Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s fault and that the president is somehow missing in action at the negotiating table. GOP leaders have refused to budge unless specific spending reductions are put in play in exchange for a debt-limit hike.
Here’s a look at how the showdown is playing on Twitter where #Shutdown and #Obamacare remain top trending topics.
First, the Dems:
Watch: The #TeaPartyShutdown is a manufactured crisis. Tell @SpeakerBoehner this must end: http://t.co/yQLqpKI6cZ
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 8, 2013
