Politics
U.S govt shutdown: Republicans blink as Obama stands his ground
The gradual withering of Republicans’ Obamacare-related demands defined the arc of the struggle that has occupied virtually all of Congress’ time for the past three weeks.
The shutdown began on October 1 after Cruz and his tea party allies in the House demanded the defunding of the health care law as a trade for providing essential government funding.
The shutdown initially idled about 800,000 workers, but that soon fell to about 350,000 after Congress agreed to let furloughed Pentagon employees return to work. While there was widespread inconvenience, the mail was delivered, Medicare continued to pay doctors who treated seniors and there was no interruption in Social Security benefits.
Still, national parks were closed to the detriment of tourists and local businesses, government research scientists were sent home and Food and Drug Administration inspectors worked only sporadically.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press
