We need to figure out a new name for the people we elect to government positions because "representatives" they.are.not. These self-serving, power addicts don't make decisions based on what's right or in the best interest of the country. Instead they spend their entire term in the pursuit of their next term, increased power, and ways to advance their own objectives.
The Affordable Care Act has nothing to do with the current antics in Washington. It's merely the most convenient excuse for the toddlers we've elected to play their games. It doesn't matter if it will help anyone or not. They have dubbed it "Obamacare" simply for the PR effect. By calling it that they can get a good soundbite. Their rhetoric is very effective in manipulating the opinions of the voters that have attention spans shorter than the average donut.
Do we blame the elected officials or ourselves? We're the ones that keep electing them. Positions in the House of Representatives and US Senate were never meant to be careers. When the government was founded, these positions were established with the intent that people would serve a term and then return to their previous life. No one could have imagined how being a politician would become a life career.
We don't need to worry about outside groups or countries destroying the United States. We're going to destroy ourselves from the inside out with corruption and apathy.
The government has shut down. The politicians are getting exactly what they want - attention - and their chance to grandstand in front of the cameras. Plus they're still getting paid (unlike a lot of their constituents). Nothing is going to change unless and until fundamental changes in the way we do business happens.