From the Other Side

The U.S. government shut its doors, and along with them many of the activities that it carries out on a daily basis. With the exception of those working for the armed forces and the security agencies, 800,000 federal employees went home a week ago and do not know for sure when they will return to work and to earning their salaries. An additional 1.3 million more are working without pay in the meantime.

By not resuming the work of the government, the effect of this paralysis will be felt gradually, above all through the millions of dollars that the government is no longer spending on programs such as construction. To this we must add the sectors that depend on the purchases and services that federal employees carry out on a daily basis. The outlook is critical, but even more so because no one knows how or when the problem that created all of this difficulty will be resolved: the refusal of a group of fewer than 60 legislators to pass the budget for the fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, if funding for the health care plan is not eliminated. It, among other benefits, will guarantee medical services to millions of people who now lack them.

The paradox of this matter is that the the health care plan was passed by the party to which this group of legislators who now oppose it belongs, and was also held to be constitutional by the Supreme Court. The irony is that the plan’s operations are supported by an independent fund and therefore have not been suspended. Millions of people apply to join each day.

The horizon looks even darker if legislators do not reach an agreement to pass an increase in the United States’ debt ceiling. By reaching this limit, the government will no longer be able to pay its bills. The prognosis for the economic consequences for the nation and the entire world will be uncertain, according to the predictions of those in the know in the financial world.

It is worth asking if democracy sustained by a two-party system, like in the United States, might be breaking down when it is evident that the most radical sector of one of the parties, in this case the Republican Party, blocks, with increasing frequency, agreements that are necessary to govern. The changes in society have made it clear how dysfunctional and limited the two-party system is for the democratic health and the well-being of the majority of its citizens.