Last Monday night, on September 30th, Congress found itself in a very sensitive situation between the Democrats and the Republicans. This situation came to a head the past week due to disagreements on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare), a government policy that aims to provide access to discounted health care for all Americans. Obamacare allows for affordable health care, gives 19 to 25 year olds the ability to stay on their parents’ health care, and permits those with pre-existing conditions to receive treatment, with no prejudice towards gender or age.

However, Republicans oppose this policy due to the 2% tax increase for all who do not use it and the increase in prescription costs, amounting to an additional $84.8 billion in fees over the next ten years (CNN). This policy already began to take effect, but in a last attempt to halt it, an ultimatum was posed on Congress: delay Obamacare for one more year or face a partial shutdown of our government.

Tuesday morning, Congress was left in a deadlock, and when the clock struck midnight, the government shutdown took effect on not only Congress but millions of families. Among other problems, this partial shutdown stops the FDA from performing almost all of its inspections, shuts down all national parks, delays payment to 1.4 million active duty soldiers and temporarily fires over 800,000 government employees.

*Editor’s Note: As of when the Tribune went to the presses, the government had entered its first full week of shutdown.