The first government shutdown in 17 years occurred Tuesday because Congress failed to reach an agreement on the country’s budget.

Essential programs by the federal government, such as social security, public safety and the postal service, will continue operating during the government shutdown. But national parks and certain government office buildings will be closed and paychecks will be delayed for government employees, according to a transcript of President Barack Obama’s speech on Monday.

A main issue of the disagreement among Congress members was the debate concerning the Affordable Care Act, Obama said.

“The problem is Congress cannot agree to fund the continued operations of the government,” said Robert McClure, a professor of political science and public affairs at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. “They see the world differently and don’t share the same priorities.”

The Republican Party’s goal within Congress has been to end excessive government spending, SU College Republicans Chairman James Ward said in an email. The Republicans proposed a continuing resolution, which would’ve allowed the government to continue running, but Democrats refused to accept the deal, he said.

“The Democratic Senate has continually failed to pass budgets and has demonstrated its irresponsibility of spending tax-payer money,” Ward said. “In the mind of the Democrats, nothing can be cut. This is simply not sustainable.”

But Democrats were unable to reach an agreement because Republicans wanted to eliminate Obamacare with the continuing resolution, said Christopher Leist, SU College Democrats president. He also said the government shutdown was a “last ditch effort” to shut down Obamacare.

“It’s a terrible thing for the country, it’s really a shame that one faction or party of one chamber of Congress has taken us to this point,” Leist said. “It’s something that’s completely unnecessary, there’s absolutely no reason why the Republican Party shouldn’t pass a clean continuing resolution to keep the government functioning.”

McClure, the political science professor, said the consequences of the shutdown will depend on how long it lasts. One of the long-term issues of the shutdown could be that the country may fail to raise the national debt limit, which could lead to “serious and substantial” consequences for the U.S. economy.

McClure added that short-term consequences will not have a major effect on the American public, but said the substantial inconveniences will eventually begin to add up.

The last time a government shutdown occurred, it was in 1996 during the Clinton administration. As a result of the previous government shutdown, public opinion of the Republican Party dropped fairly low, McClure said. He said the recent shutdown could produce the same results of public opinion as in 1996.

“Polls out today confirmed what we’ve been seeing earlier,” he said. “The damage to the Republican Party label and their prospects in the 2014 election have certainly taken a hit.”

He added that public opinions of federal government representatives have gone down across the board, but Republicans have been the most affected.

Published on October 2, 2013 at 1:04 am

Contact Alfred: [email protected]

@alfredwkng