Welcome to the shutdown.

The U.S. government shut down at 12:01 a.m. ET Tuesday after lawmakers in the Senate and the House could not agree on a spending bill to fund the government. Or, in other words, the government has decided to shut down because it cannot agree on how to spend the imaginary money it does not have.

Either way, the recent government shutdown has left America with two parties – winners and losers.

The winners of the shutdown are President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party. The losers are everyone else.

At the end of the day, Obama’s signature domestic achievement, the Affordable Care Act, has survived the conflict intact and un-amended by House Republicans. This is quite the positive turnaround for Obama’s political ventures in regards to last month. Just several weeks ago, the administration was desperately struggling to win approval from Congress to intervene in Syria — an issue Obama has seemingly forgotten for the time being.

Now Obama can finally celebrate a major win over Republicans, which is an uncommon victory considering the fading prospects for gun control legislation or immigration reform during his presidency.

This whole charade is meant to give one last boost to Obama’s legacy and to guide public opinion in placing all the blame on the Republican Party. Looking at history, Americans will find that this is not the first time this tactic has been used.

The last government shutdown occurred in 1995-1996 when President Bill Clinton faced off with the GOP-controlled Congress, according to Pew Research Center. That crisis strengthened Clinton’s image and significantly set back the Republican Party, who had plans of regaining the White House in the 1996 elections.

Democrats are secretly high-fiving each other about the political fallout they believe will result from the shutdown, and the strong campaign issue they will be able to use against GOP candidates in next November’s election.

It is ironic how Obama is accusing Republicans of acting stubbornly and refusing to seek a bipartisan agreement, when he forcibly passed the health care reform bill in 2010 without a single Republican vote.

Obama wants Republicans to thank him for ‘gifting’ America with a health care plan that we are forced to purchase and fined if we don’t. A plan that allegedly covers at least 10 million more people without adding new doctors. A plan passed by a Congress that did not read it but exempted themselves from it. A health care plan structured to be funded by a government that is already broke. If Obama is waiting for an overwhelming ‘thank you’ from the American public, he shouldn’t hold his breath.

Nonetheless, Healthcare.Gov was launched Tuesday morning – a website where citizens can sign up for Obamacare health coverage. Yet widespread technical glitches made exchanges nearly impossible Tuesday morning. Obama warns there will be ‘months’ of glitches in the implementation of the health care reform, according to The Washington Times.

Tuesday morning, 800,000 federal workers were sent home, national monuments and parks were closed, and the beginning of countless inconveniences and problems commenced, according to CNN.

Most recently, the Senate rejected a House motion to form a conference committee Tuesday night in order to negotiate the differences between the two chambers.

No one knows how long the standoff will last, even with Congress approaching another deadline to raise the debt limit or face a U.S. government default in mid-October. With Democrats unwilling to negotiate, the United States seemingly waits for Republicans to back down. Only time will tell who will bend first.

-Ashley Lynn Fisher is a junior English major from Gig Harbor. She can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of Student Publications.