REPORT: What do USU students actually know about the government shutdown?
Most students at USU have heard about the federal government shutdown, but how much do they really know about it?
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“We talked about it in my 1320 class, and so I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on it,” said freshman Cheril Lyman. “I know that they had a deadline for the budget that was Oct. 1 and they didn’t meet it, and so when you don’t have something planned out for a budget, then you can’t fund those programs. So, because the Senate is Democratic and the House of Representatives is Republican, they can’t agree on what to proportion the money out to, so now we’re just kind of waiting.”
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“I know that the government has run into a problem with money,” said freshman Dillon Gleed. “They’ve reached their tip-point of spending and come the middle of October, they’ve reached their borrowing limit also. They have to figure out what they’re going to do about that, but since the government shut down, they’re not really figuring anything out right now.”
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“Not a lot,” said freshman Mckenzie Williams. “I kind of read about it a little bit.”
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“I try to keep up as much as I can,” said Brenden Austin, a freshman. “I look at USA Today because my journalism teacher last year was very headstrong on us knowing current events, so I’ve been trying to follow it as best as I can, but the articles aren’t very clear and concise, so it is a little hard for me to figure out what is going on. I know a little bit but not too much about it. I’m in politics, I’d very much enjoy it. Basically, Congress can’t decide what they want to do, and the president can’t exactly step in. He said that ‘Hey, we need to figure this out,’ but they’re at a standstill, and they won’t really do anything.” -
“I feel like I know about it quite a bit,” said Scott Hall, a sophomore. “I think other people know more about it than I do, but the way that I kind of view it is Democrats have the Affordable Health Care Act and the Republican chairs offered them ideas to tweak it a little bit, but they’re not accepting any of them. As far as I see it, they’re both being kind of picky about it.”
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“I know very little, just that they’re shut down and it’s only a partial shutdown,” said junior Shaunell Schiess said. “That’s about it.”
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“I know that it was basically because the Republicans didn’t want to fund the budget because they don’t want to fund the Obamacare act,” said senior Ashley Lee. “So they said they’re not going to fund anything or they’re going to fund everything but Obamacare, and so the Democrats want to fund Obamacare and they don’t want to give in, so they are at a standoff.”
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“I know that it was caused by the Republicans and Democrats not reaching an agreement passing certain bills, but the main issue was Obamacare,” said Jeremy Schumann, a senior. “They didn’t want to pass Obamacare, so that’s why the government shut down, and because of that, a lot of things have been shut down. All the national parks are shut down, all the non-required, I guess, government buildings and operations have been shut down.”
Do these students have their facts right? According to CNN, “Congress has one key duty in the Constitution – pass spending bills that fund the government. If it doesn’t, most functions of government – from funding agencies to paying out small business loans and processing passport requests – grinds to a halt. But some services, like Social Security, air traffic control and active military pay, will continue to be funded. Oh, and Congress still gets paid, too.”
CNN also found Obamacare isn’t actually part of government funding; it’s just being used as a bargaining chip.
– While it seems that a lot of students know what is going on, this is only a small percentage of the student population here at USU. What would help students to know what is going on in today’s world, and how could the Statesman help you? Email responses to gillian.ponce95@gmail.com