Congress Battle Over Health Care Threatens Budget Stability

September 27, 2013

Tensions are high in the U.S. Capitol ahead of a midnight Monday deadline to extend federal funding authority to avoid a partial government shutdown. As the U.S. Treasury Department also recently announced that Congress will also need to raise the nation's debt ceiling by October 17, lawmakers may find themselves overwhelmed by a cascade of crises.

Experts say that ideological differences between Democrats and the most conservative Republican lawmakers over the role of government in Americans' daily lives are making it increasingly difficult for Congress to conduct its most basic tasks.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz even read a children's story during an all-night Senate session in the midst of a battle that could lead to a government shutdown. Critics called it political theater, while others recalled the iconic American movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, in which James Stewart plays a junior senator railing against corruption.

Some Americans see a replay in this most recent budget drama. Analyst Charlie Cook predicts Congress will eventually fund the government and raise the debt ceiling. Even if the deadline is missed by a few days, he says, it will get fixed.

"You know the thing about the shutdown, and the debt ceiling as well, is this is like a movie. You know the ending, you just don't know how agonizing and how traumatic it is going to be, but you know what the ending is going to be, and we all know that," said Cook.