Thousands of people around Ohio are beginning to feel the effects of the federal government shutdown. Regional Social Security offices have canceled in-person appointments and the state’s national parks and forests are closed. The advocacy group, Fair Share Ohio, says 25,000 federal employees who live in Ohio stayed at home today and could not go to work.
U.S. House Republicans have said the Senate and President Obama are to blame for the shutdown because they refused to accept the so-called compromise approved by the Republican-controlled House. But that plan would’ve delayed funding for the Affordable Care Act, something the Democrats have repeatedly said they wouldn’t touch. Ohio Fair Share’s Randi Gregory believes it’s unreasonable for the House to force changes to the ACA.
“The president won re-election, he ran on that and it is the lay of the land now. It went to the Supreme Court, it was deemed to be constitutional. So they need to concede to that fact and not try to hold everyone else hostage because they’re angry that they lost,” says Gregory.
The latest reports say the Senate has rejected an offer by the House to meet for a conference committee. According to the Associated Press, Majority Leader Harry Reid says he won’t meet as long as the Republicans continue to hold up a straightforward spending agreement.