Government enters shutdown mode

Congress was unable to avoid a government shutdown for the first time in 17 years after failing to pass a budget before the Oct. 1 midnight deadline.

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The move comes after House Republicans refused to waiver in their attempts to defund the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.

Under the shutdown, more than 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed from work.

The Department of Commerce, Department of Education, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of the Interior, Department of Justice, the Department of Labor, and NASA saw over 80 percent of their workers furloughed.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also feeling the effects of the shutdown at a critical time – the onset of flu season. Michael Frieden, director of the CDC, said in an interview with CBS News he was losing sleep over the thought of not being able to combat potentially dangerous outbreaks due to major cuts in funding.

“What we won’t know is what’s happening with flu,” Frieden said. “Where is it spreading? What types of flu are spreading? Should we be using one medication or another? Is it in nursing homes or elsewhere? This really interferes with our ability to protect people.”

National parks and tourist attractions run by the federal government are also closed for operation. White House tours have been cancelled and the Smithsonian National Museum is closed. Yosemite National Park was closed on its 123rd birthday. Services at Shawnee National Forest, Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge and Rend Lake have ceased as well.

Despite the government going into shutdown mode, enrollment for Obamacare began Tuesday was nearly unaffected. It did face some problems with too many users crashing the servers and glitches with the national website.

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The government has entered shutdown mode before, most recently in 1996 when it closed for 28 days, but many people feel a resolution for this shutdown is going to come more slowly. David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, said by what he has seen in the media this shutdown is much more disconcerting.

“It was not as widespread last time,” Yepsen said. “There were some agencies of government that had had their appropriations. And there was always a sense that it wasn’t going to last very long because people were talking. There was a sense in Washington of groups talking and cutting deals. (Bill) Clinton was working at it, Newt Gingrich was working at it. This is worse, you don’t have that sense now that this is temporary or that somebody is talking.”

If the shutdown is prolonged it is likely to have major political ramifications as well, particularly for Republicans.

“The polling indicates the Republicans are doing more damage to themselves than the Democrats are doing to themselves,” Yepsen said. “More people blame the Republicans for this than are blaming the Democrats. I’m not taking sides when I say that, I’m just making the observation based on polling data. Nobody looks good in this, but Republicans look worst of all.”

Yepsen also said politicians may have to work especially hard to retain their seats in Congress in 2014.

“People are thoroughly angry with politics and politicians and government,” he said. “I think anyone who is an incumbent is going to have to face the music with voters, particularly if this takes a long time.

 Obama talks with Iranian president

The phone call may have only lasted 15 minutes, but it has the potential to be one of the most important calls of the decade.

President Obama spoke on the phone with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Friday, the first time the leaders of the two nations have spoken since 1979. The phone call capped-off Rouhani’s five-day visit in New York to the United Nations where the more moderate president worked to diffuse some of the tension between the two nations.

Iran is currently under heavy economic sanctions due to their nuclear program. The sanctions were placed in 2010 and seem to be having a huge impact on the economy of Iran, leading Rouhani to seek diplomatic means.

Obama expressed cautious optimism that the issues between the nations could be resolved in a White House press release.

“While there will be significant obstacles and success is by no means guaranteed, I believe we can reach a comprehensive solution,” he said. “I do believe that there is a basis for a resolution.”

Rouhani said in a press conference he was committed to his country’s attempts at a resolution, and felt that with significant work from both sides, the countries could set aside their past differences.

“Step by step, we will build confidence between our presidents and our countries,” Rouhani said “ With sufficient will on both sides – and I assure you that on Iran’s side the will is 100 percent – the nuclear file will be resolved in a short period of time.”

Farhat Haq, a professor at Monmouth College teaching courses in International Relations, said she thought the phone call was a huge move.

“Right now this is the right moment for a real dialogue to happen because the sanctions put into place in 2010 are really showing impact now … That’s starting to really hurt Iranian businesses. The economy is really in dire straits. Iran has a very strong interest at this point to negotiate.”

Haq also said the United States has just as much to gain as Iran in using diplomacy instead of clashing like in the past.

“For the United States too, given all the other troubles that are going on, if we are able to make sure Iran is not developing nuclear weapons I think that would be a huge victory not just for the Obama administration, but for America,” she said. “In the long run, I think it’s best for American interests that we do normalize relations with Iran.”

Iran and the United States have been at odds since the 1979 Revolution in which the Shah was ousted. Tensions stayed fairly strained throughout the past 34 years. Rouhani’s predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad increased tensions in recent years due to his criticism of the western world and Iran’s nuclear program.

Haq said the more moderate Rouhani may mark a significant change in Iran’s politics. Rouhani returned to cheering in the streets of Iran after his visit to the United States.

However Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his address to the UN said he was not fooled by Rouhani’s demeanor.

“Now I know Rouhani doesn’t sound like Ahmadinejad,” he said. “But when it comes to Iran’s nuclear weapons program, the only difference between them is this: Ahmadinejad was a wolf in wolf’s clothing; Rouhani is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a wolf who thinks he can pull the wool over the eyes of the international community.”

Rouhani said in a press conference that he intends to have a concrete plan for resolving the nuclear issue by Oct. 15.

Seth Richardson can be reached at [email protected] or 536-3311 ext. 257.