It's not a "Party Problem" it's a "Government Problem". [Feature]

Today marks our 10th day in to the Federal Government's shutdown.  And if you don't fully understand it and want to know more about it, the Washington Post has a pretty good article explaining it and it's effects.  But I'm not here to discuss all of that in detail, I'm here to discuss the overarching source of our current crisis, and how the American people aren't helping.

As children, we learned fairly quickly how to blame others for the wrongs we had done.  Little Johnny points the finger at Little Susie for the broken vase, and whatnot.  This is what's going on in Washington.  We as Americans have been complaining for years that the parties' polar actions are harmful, and they should get along.  Compromise it's something we've wanted for a long time.  Obviously we haven't reached that point yet, the government is shut down and millions of people are out of the job.  People who, mind you, had as much say in the shutdown us voters did.  But Representatives and Senators are still getting paid, thanks to convenient laws that guarantee their salaries no matter what shape our government is in.



Republicans want this, Democrats want that.  The political stalemate stems from an inability to compromise, something we SHOULD have all learned as kids.  The lack of compromise has morphed into this horribly childish blame game.  "They should have compromised, and now we won't," both parties exclaim.  But that does us no good, because we're still in the same trouble we've been in for decades.  And now American voters have jumped on the blame game bandwagon.  In fact, there's a banner ad that's floating around on the internet.  "Who Is to Blame for the Government Shutdown?  Vote Now!"  A picture of President Obama and House Speaker Boehner appear on this ad.  This particular ad may even show up on this blog.  But this is exactly what we the people should avoid.

Facebook and Twitter have been saturated with people's uninformed opinions on the shutdown, usually filled with vernacular along the lines of "Those damn liberals" or "Money loving Republicans."  But this is the wrong scope to view this crisis through.  American voters need to realize that it's not one party to blame.  It's both parties.  Some individuals we voted into office lack the drive to make compromise happen, and are too quick to sit behind their desks and point their fingers.  Now is NOT the time to pick on one party.  It's time to write letters (and yes, handwritten letters because there's a chance your online submissions may not reach government ears due to the shutdown, but the USPS is still running).

Our representatives will get voted out of office, because they have failed us.  But it can only happen if we, the voters, make this decision.  So don't jump on Facebook and blame those Democrats, or those Republicans.  Know that both government parties have failed and take some responsibility yourselves.  Because you don't want to play this blame game, it'll make you just like those who are responsible for all this economic loss and struggle.