US Government Shutdown: Overcome Conflict and Avoid a Crisis

The possibility has emerged that the closure of some U.S. government agencies will be prolonged. Congressional ruling party Democrats and opposition party Republicans [who have control of the House of Representatives] are not seeing eye-to-eye; approval of a provisional budget for fiscal year 2014, which began on Oct. 1, is nowhere in sight.

Not only will the shutdown affect the lives of ordinary citizens, there is also the possibility that consumer spending will slow down and depress an economy on the road to recovery. Precisely because the U.S. is the driving force of the world economy, the effect of the economy entering a recession once again will be immeasurable.

I want the ruling and opposition parties to set aside a conflict that disregards the concerns of the people and quickly find clues to a breakthrough in the situation. President Obama should demonstrate leadership as well.

It has been 17 years since the last government shutdown, under the Clinton administration in January 1996. Excluding staff members working in security fields and essential infrastructure management, more than 800,000 people have been subjected to temporary layoffs.

Besides the total closure of national parks and tourist attractions, like New York’s Statue of Liberty and the Grand Canyon, the U.S. Commerce and Labor departments have postponed publication of the jobs report and other economic indicators.

It is beginning to interfere with diplomacy as well. President Obama’s visits to Indonesia and Brunei, scheduled to begin today, have been canceled. He was also absent from the Trans-Pacific Partnership summit meeting, where he had been expected to act as chairman. The effect this will have on negotiations, aimed at an agreement by the end of the year, is unavoidable.

More serious than the government shutdown is the approaching deadline for raising the federal debt ceiling.

The maximum amount of money that the U.S. government can borrow and issue as bonds is set. The U.S. is already approaching the limit; if Congress does not agree on an increase by Oct. 17, the government will no longer be able to take on new debts.

If financing becomes difficult, U.S. Treasury bonds will fall into default. There is a risk of the financial market’s regularity being disturbed on a large scale and developing into a world economic crisis, surpassing the Lehman shock that occurred in 2008.

Japan, which holds large quantities of U.S. Treasury bonds, will inevitably suffer a loss. There is a chance that the economy, which has been showing signs of recovery, could cool down at once.

I want members of the U.S. Congress to bear in mind that if they do not sit down and have a dialogue, they will bring about the worst situation.

The cause of the ruling and opposition parties’ conflict is health care reform, flaunted by President Obama as a historical achievement. The federal law that established the reforms was passed in 2010, and some measures are being put into action. Next January, the mandate to obtain individual coverage will come into being.

The Republican Party, wanting to block this, has resorted to tactics that entwine the provisional budget. In contrast to the Senate Democratic majority’s approval of a budget draft, the House Republican majority approved a budget proposal that included delays to the implementation of health care reform.

Although it is believed that Republican Party leadership has been overcome by fellow conservatives’ unyielding opinions, one cannot help but question taking the budget approval hostage. The party leadership should reason with conservatives.

Last year, through a bipartisan agreement, the ruling and opposition parties were able to avoid the fiscal cliff, in which the expiration of tax cuts overlapped with mandatory annual spending reduction. So as to not throw the world economy into disorder, I want them to show the wisdom to overcome conflict once again.