This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Right this minute, kids are being denied cancer treatment, nutrition assistance for women, infants and children is being lost, local food banks are endangered, domestic violence shelters are at risk of closure and kids are being kicked out of Head Start.
And Rep. Rob Bishop is having a sad day because there are barriers up at monuments in D.C. ("Bishop to feds: 'Remove the barriers'") Are you serious? Rob, this is your shutdown. This is what your party voted for. Michele Bachmann said "the shutdown is exactly what we wanted".
The Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress in 2007, had serious political differences with President Bush, and yet passed a clean debt limit increase. Are House Republicans suffering an epidemic of Late-Onset-Maturity?
A recent Quinnipiac University poll shows voters overwhelmingly opposed to shutting down the government as a way to stop the implementation of Obamacare. But the basic norms that used to govern Congress have been hijacked by the tea party, and Utah has done more than its fair share to support these clowns. None of Utah's pathetic delegation, including Jim Matheson, will likely pay the price for their treason at election time. What a shame.
Susan Christensen
Salt Lake City