The Republican party is the chief cause of govt. inaction for crucial issues.

My arguments center around the evidence that most legislative action has been blocked by Republicans for unsuitable, political and otherwise irrational reasons. I'll start with the biggest impact of their inaction- the government shutdown. There is no doubt that the shutdown was caused by House Republicans in an attempt to derail Obamacare. The thing is, Obamacare isn't even directly funded by the budget. The healthcare bill was more or less used as a bargaining chip. Granted, it does have its flaws, such as raising taxes, it does ensure insurance for all, eliminates discrimination for buyers and excludes no-one, and it improves healthcare quality. So is this one law worth shutting down the government and putting a nation into panic over? It isn't. Especially when the budget had little to do with it. Therefore, what they did was essentially blackmail the country. But when you consider the amount of time and effort wasted in trying to repeal Obamacare, it's astounding. The House has tried 54 times since 2011 to chip away at Obamacare. A bit excessive? [1] [2] [3] Immigration reform is a crucial issue now, with the undocumented children crisis at the border. Yet the Republicans flatly refuse any Democrat attempts to reform it, preferring the current, broken system. House leader Eric Cantor himself has said that Republicans wanted nothing of the plan and wouldn't even consider it in a deliberation. 34000 immigrants are held in detention centers each night, as thousands upon thousands of people make a long, treacherous journey to this country. What about reform? Almost every attempt has been shot down. As Representative Jason Chaffetz explained, "One of the root challenges is the lack of trust in President Obama... "It"s a shame because we agree perhaps on most of the issues, but getting past the basic hurdle of who we can work with is hard." This is the main problem in Congress. The Republicans won't even work with the Democrats, not only to appeal to the Tea Party which distrusts Obama, but because of the method of approach altogether. Politics aren't important, solutions are. [4] [5] The economy is another issue. The style of economy they pursue is a major issue. One issue is trickle down economics. That's Reagan's idea that why letting the rich keep more money, then they'll invest more and let the economy jumpstart. Only problem- it doesn't work. No, all it's really done is to dramatically increase our horrendous income inequality and let the top 1% be richer. So when the Democrats come out demanding more regulation, the Republicans argue with laissez-faire economic arguments, declaring Obama's ideas socialism. What the facts point to is that less regulatory, Republican economic values have offered little help (higher debt, massive deficits) , while Democratic policies offer more. (Income equality, job growth) [6] [7]In their constant desire for this flawed system, all Republicans are doing is 1) supporting something that would ruin the economy and 2) only add to the backlog of partisan bickering. Another failed economic policy they're trying is massive govt. cuts and less interference. These ideals are actually copied from the EU, which tried the same thing. The result? Greece, Spain, and Ireland going or nearly going bankrupt. These Reagan-esque policies which Republicans insist should be used in place of Obama's tax increases only result in drained federal reserves, no money for both consumers and the govt., and therefore leaves the govt. helpless in a crisis. So what happens when Obama proposes not doing these things? He gets blocked. Months-long debates on tax increases that may help the country are ignored, and Democrats have to reach a compromise which hardly allows for any of the intended benefits. This stubborn insistence on the GOP's part only hampers the potential growth of this country This is in part not only due to Tea Party stubbornness, but also due to that of House leader Boehner's insistence not contradicting and uncompromising policies. . [7] [8] I'll go into more detail in round 3, but for now I'm interested in my opponent's argument. Sources: 1. http://www.cnn.com... 2. http://obamacarefacts.com... 3. http://www.washingtonpost.com... 4. http://thehill.com... 5. http://www.nytimes.com... 6. http://www.forbes.com... 7. http://www.huffingtonpost.com... 8. http://www.thefiscaltimes.com...