上海交通大学：《美国公共政策制定 Public Policy-making in the U.S.》课程教学资源（作业展示）The U.S Government Shutdown of 2013

5130209390赵路杰 The U.S Government Shutdown of 2013 Final Work of the Public Policy-making in the U.S 2013/12/20

5130209390 赵路杰 The U.S Government Shutdown of 2013 Final Work of the Public Policy-making in the U.S 2013/12/20

Introduction From October 1 to 16,2013,the United States federal government entered a shutdown and suspended most routine operations after Congress failed to enact legislation appropriation funds for fiscal year 2014,or a continuing resolution for the interim authorization of appropriations for fiscal year 2014.The 16-day-long shutdown of October 2013 was the third-longest government shutdown in U.S history,after the 18-day shutdown in 1978 and the 21-day 1995-96 shutdown.And at this time,the shut down caused a deep influence on both U.S domestic and foreign issues.According to Manufacturing.neti1,800,000 federal workers were kept from showing up at work,and countless federal programs were suspended indefinitely. Federal government routines nearly all stopped operating except those of crucial departments like the Defense Department.Besides the effects on politics,the prolonged shutdown also stroke at the overall economy.The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped from just over 15,200 on October 1 to around 14,780 on October 8, and then quickly recovered.As for tourism,most national parks are financed by federal government,so during the shutdown,these parks have to shut for a lack of money,which was a bad news for parks and the visitors.Because most common Americans'daily lives needn't rely on the federal government,they didn't obviously feel the influence of the shutdown.However,in many intangible aspects,the shutdown widely influenced the businesses.For example,small businesses are facing delays in receiving loans from the Small Business Administration.Many of these companies may need to turn to alternative funding sources that charge much higher rates.One alternative source of credit,merchant cash advances,charge interest rates of between 40%and 100%.ii On the basis of the polls conducted by Gallup on September 30,2013i 47%of interviewees thought Shutdown is politics than principle;while only 37%of the interviewees expressed that shutdown is an important battle over principles and the future direction of government.Similar results to these in 1995.Another poll conducted by NBC News/Wall Street Journal showed that the Republican's popularity had dropped and the American were far

Introduction From October 1 to 16, 2013, the United States federal government entered a shutdown and suspended most routine operations after Congress failed to enact legislation appropriation funds for fiscal year 2014, or a continuing resolution for the interim authorization of appropriations for fiscal year 2014. i The 16-day-long shutdown of October 2013 was the third-longest government shutdown in U.S history, after the 18-day shutdown in 1978 and the 21-day 1995-96 shutdown. And at this time, the shut down caused a deep influence on both U.S domestic and foreign issues. According to Manufacturing.net ii1,800,000 federal workers were kept from showing up at work, and countless federal programs were suspended indefinitely. Federal government routines nearly all stopped operating except those of crucial departments like the Defense Department. Besides the effects on politics, the prolonged shutdown also stroke at the overall economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped from just over 15,200 on October 1 to around 14,780 on October 8, and then quickly recovered. As for tourism, most national parks are financed by federal government, so during the shutdown, these parks have to shut for a lack of money, which was a bad news for parks and the visitors. Because most common Americans’ daily lives needn’t rely on the federal government, they didn’t obviously feel the influence of the shutdown. However, in many intangible aspects, the shutdown widely influenced the businesses. For example, small businesses are facing delays in receiving loans from the Small Business Administration. Many of these companies may need to turn to alternative funding sources that charge much higher rates. One alternative source of credit, merchant cash advances, charge interest rates of between 40% and 100%. iii On the basis of the polls conducted by Gallup on September 30, 2013 iv 47% of interviewees thought Shutdown is politics than principle; while only 37% of the interviewees expressed that shutdown is an important battle over principles and the future direction of government. Similar results to these in 1995. Another poll conducted by NBC News/Wall Street Journalv showed that the Republican’s popularity had dropped and the American were far

more likely to blame them for the going on in Washington than their Democratic opponents.Only 24%of Americans had a favorable view of Republicans,the lowest figure in the poll's multi-year history and 70%of American said Republicans were putting politics ahead of what was best for the country.With these statics and facts, in my opinion,though most ordinary citizens have little relations with the federal government operations,they do hope the federal government could function well. They prefer the diversity of public policies,but they are unwilling to see that a certain party uses the shutdown as a tool to threaten the government,and then acquire their political advantages. Immediate Cause The shutdown of 2013 could date back to 2010,when the republicans won the majority seats in the House of Representatives,and the emergence of the Tea Party. At that time,some conservative activists and Tea Party-affiliated politicians were already calling on congressional Republicans to be willing to shut down the government in order to force congressional Democrats and the President to agree to deep cuts in spending and to repeal the Affordable Care Act.vi And in July and August 2013,several conservative activists together supported a letter written by Lee calling for defunding the Affordable Care act,which was eventually signed by 19 senators. These activists used many measures to force other Republican Congressmen to stand on their sides.With Congress having failed to agree by late September 2013 on the budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1,members of the Senate proposed a resolution to continue funding the government at sequestration levels through December 2013 as a stop-gap measure,to allow more time to negotiate over final funding levels for the full fiscal year.vii On September 30,the Republican-led House sent many proposals to fund the government through December while block the Obamacare,but they were all

more likely to blame them for the going on in Washington than their Democratic opponents. Only 24% of Americans had a favorable view of Republicans, the lowest figure in the poll’s multi-year history and 70% of American said Republicans were putting politics ahead of what was best for the country. With these statics and facts, in my opinion, though most ordinary citizens have little relations with the federal government operations, they do hope the federal government could function well. They prefer the diversity of public policies, but they are unwilling to see that a certain party uses the shutdown as a tool to threaten the government, and then acquire their political advantages. Immediate Cause The shutdown of 2013 could date back to 2010, when the republicans won the majority seats in the House of Representatives, and the emergence of the Tea Party. At that time, some conservative activists and Tea Party-affiliated politicians were already calling on congressional Republicans to be willing to shut down the government in order to force congressional Democrats and the President to agree to deep cuts in spending and to repeal the Affordable Care Act.vi And in July and August 2013, several conservative activists together supported a letter written by Lee calling for defunding the Affordable Care act, which was eventually signed by 19 senators. These activists used many measures to force other Republican Congressmen to stand on their sides. With Congress having failed to agree by late September 2013 on the budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1, members of the Senate proposed a resolution to continue funding the government at sequestration levels through December 2013 as a stop-gap measure, to allow more time to negotiate over final funding levels for the full fiscal year.vii On September 30, the Republican-led House sent many proposals to fund the government through December while block the Obamacare, but they were all

blocked by the Democratic-led Senate.Even the Senate had agreed the demands, President said that he would veto any bill that would delay the Affordable Care Act. Because the federal government couldn't get funds from the Congress on time,the shutdown then started on the next day October 1. Underlying Cause When the America was founded in July 4,1776,the Constitution had ruled that the power of the government should be separated into three branches:legislative powers of Congress;executive powers of the president;and judicial powers of the federal courts. The congress consists of two chambers:House of Representatives and Senator. Each state receives representation in the House in proportion to its population but is entitled to at least one representative.The total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 435.Each representatives serves for a two-year term.For Senators, each state has two,and each serves a 6-year term.The functions of Congress are law-making,representation,oversight,performing services for constituents and so on.A bill must be first approved by both chambers with the support of more than two-thirds majority can it be sent to president.If it is signed by the president,then it becomes the law.The legislation appropriation funds and the Affordable Care Act are also parts of the laws needed to be approved by both the Congress and the President. If the Congress didn't approve the fund,the government has no right to use the money,and then a government shutdown happened.The separated system is designed to prevent the abuse of the power by a certain person or a certain institution. Besides,U.S is a typical two-party democratic in the world.Political parties develop broad policy and leadership choices and then presenting them to the voting public for acceptance or rejection.Currently,there are two main parties in the U.S Republicans,and Democrats.Republicans is the majority party in the House of

blocked by the Democratic-led Senate. Even the Senate had agreed the demands, President said that he would veto any bill that would delay the Affordable Care Act. Because the federal government couldn't get funds from the Congress on time, the shutdown then started on the next day October 1. Underlying Cause When the America was founded in July 4, 1776, the Constitution had ruled that the power of the government should be separated into three branches: legislative powers of Congress; executive powers of the president; and judicial powers of the federal courts. The congress consists of two chambers: House of Representatives and Senator. Each state receives representation in the House in proportion to its population but is entitled to at least one representative. The total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 435. Each representatives serves for a two-year term. For Senators, each state has two, and each serves a 6-year term. The functions of Congress are law-making, representation, oversight, performing services for constituents and so on. A bill must be first approved by both chambers with the support of more than two-thirds majority can it be sent to president. If it is signed by the president, then it becomes the law. The legislation appropriation funds and the Affordable Care Act are also parts of the laws needed to be approved by both the Congress and the President. If the Congress didn’t approve the fund, the government has no right to use the money, and then a government shutdown happened. The separated system is designed to prevent the abuse of the power by a certain person or a certain institution. Besides, U.S is a typical two-party democratic in the world. Political parties develop broad policy and leadership choices and then presenting them to the voting public for acceptance or rejection. Currently, there are two main parties in the U.S Republicans, and Democrats. Republicans is the majority party in the House of

Representatives and the Democrats domain the Senate and the White House.In this situation,it is normal conflicts occur between two parties.Both parties want to expend their influence and let political idea share more importance in the public policy.This form of competition is the foundation of the modern democracy,the system decided that the conflicts are inevitable. These years,U.S deficit is growing every year,the conservatives hold the belief that the government should cut the spending.However,when president Obama was running for election,he promised to change the fact that U.S was the only industrialized country in the world that didn't provide a nationwide government insurance Care.The republican believe that the project is too costly and,it violates the right of free choices.So they opposed the project.And during the shutdown, they did in that way to achieve the goal

Representatives and the Democrats domain the Senate and the White House. In this situation, it is normal conflicts occur between two parties. Both parties want to expend their influence and let political idea share more importance in the public policy. This form of competition is the foundation of the modern democracy, the system decided that the conflicts are inevitable. These years, U.S deficit is growing every year, the conservatives hold the belief that the government should cut the spending. However, when president Obama was running for election, he promised to change the fact that U.S was the only industrialized country in the world that didn’t provide a nationwide government insurance Care. The republican believe that the project is too costly and, it violates the right of free choices. So they opposed the project. And during the shutdown, they did in that way to achieve the goal

Reference i Wikipedia-United States federal government shutdown of 2013 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United States federal government shutdown of 2013 i http://www.manufacturing.net/articles/2013/12/top-13-in-2013-1-the-shutdown-takes-all ii Needleman,Sarah E.;Loten Angus;Simon Ruth (October 2,2013)."Small Firms Grapple With Roadblocks Caused by Shutdown"The Wall Street Journal.Retrieved October 3,2013 iv http://www.gallup.com/poll/164708/say-shutdown-politics-principle.aspx vhttp://articles.latimes.com/2013/oct/11/news/la-pn-nbc-wsj-poll-republican-shutdown-201310 11 VI http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United States federal government shutdown of 2013#cite note- 142 vii Linden,Michael;Stein,Harry(September 30,2013)."The Senate Continuing Resolution Is Already a Comprise".Center for American Progress.Retrieved October 1,2013."The Democrat-controlled Senate passed a continuing resolution,or CR-a temporary funding measure meant to keep the government operation-that would set the relevant funding levels at an annualized total of $986 billion

Reference i Wikipedia—United States federal government shutdown of 2013 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_government_shutdown_of_2013 ii http://www.manufacturing.net/articles/2013/12/top-13-in-2013-1-the-shutdown-takes-all iii Needleman, Sarah E.; Loten Angus; Simon Ruth (October 2,2013).”Small Firms Grapple With Roadblocks Caused by Shutdown” The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 3,2013 iv http://www.gallup.com/poll/164708/say-shutdown-politics-principle.aspx vhttp://articles.latimes.com/2013/oct/11/news/la-pn-nbc-wsj-poll-republican-shutdown-201310 11 vi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_government_shutdown_of_2013#cite_note- 142 vii Linden, Michael; Stein, Harry (September 30, 2013). “The Senate Continuing Resolution Is Already a Comprise”. Center for American Progress. Retrieved October 1, 2013. “The Democrat-controlled Senate passed a continuing resolution, or CR-a temporary funding measure meant to keep the government operation—that would set the relevant funding levels at an annualized total of $986 billion