This isn't new, it's not something done solely by the Republicans.

A list of prior shutdowns:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_shutdown

Why defund ACA? It's an intrusive mess, written by bureaucrats and forced through with no one in either party completely understanding the scope of the disaster they were passing. It's an ill-conceived mess that panders to all parties but the people it's supposed to help.

Remember, we have to pass it to understand what's in the bill?

I don't want my doctor asking me about unrelated issues to the visit because the government says he/she has to.

I don't want to have to pay an insurance company for a service I don't want.

By the time my children are 26, they damned well better be in a position to get their own health insurance, there's no need for them to be carried by mom and dad once they are out of college/trade school.

Insurance reform and accounting reform, ending the endless shell games and reams of paperwork would be a welcome relief to all, instead they pass this hot mess.



By the way, the only reason this is happening now, and didn't happen months before, is that the Treasury Department is taking "extraordinary measures" to control the budget deficit. What are those measures? Borrowing from Federal Employee's pension accounts to pay bills. If a corporation did that they'd be in court on accounting fraud charges. The government, however, is apparently immune from transparency in finance.