The Shutdown in 10 Infuriating Sentences

This is a really good explanation of the shutdown.  Check it out.

Here's a sample.

1. Democrats have already agreed to fund the government at Republican levels.
2. Despite what you might have heard, there have only been two serious government shutdowns in recent history, and both were the result of Republican ultimatums.
3. Democrats in the Senate have been begging the House to negotiate over the budget for the past six months, but Republicans have refused.
...
7. Contrary to Republican claims, the deficit is not increasing—it peaked in 2009 and has been dropping ever since, declining by $200 billion last year with another $450 billion drop projected this year.
8. A long government shutdown is likely to seriously hurt economic growth, with a monthlong shutdown projected to slash GDP in the fourth quarter by 1 percentage point and reduce employment by over a million jobs.

The shutdown is not one of those "both sides do it" things. It's not the fault of gridlock or partisan politics.

The Republicans are responsible. They are admittedly, gleefully, anarchically responsible. They're pushing us all over the cliff.