President Barack Obama and congressional Republican leaders worked toward resolving their impasse on Friday, but they struggled to agree on the length and terms of a short-term deal to increase the U.S. debt limit and reopen the government. Obama wishes to raise the debt-ceiling for longer than the six weeks first proposed by Republicans, whereas Republicans want a commitment to broader deficit-reduction talks from the White House. A poll on Friday showed more Americans blamed Republicans for the shutdown, which also appears to be damaging the party's reputation on issues such as healthcare and the economy. Nearly 1/3 of Americans (32%) believe the shutdown was due to the republicans, whereas only 4% blame Democrats. A slim 14% also blame Obama.
I believe, personally, that both parties should take responsibility for the shutdown of the government. Since neither party would come to an agreement on what to do about the issues at hand, they shut it down altogether. This is a prime example of politicians looking out for their own interest rather than the people's: "playing politics". The Republicans want to "win" and the Democrats want to "win", but neither party was thinking about what the people need or want. It was only a matter of which party will have more power in the government.
