Starting at 12:00 am on Oct. 1, the federal government entered its new fiscal year and the partial shutdown began. Many students have been wondering, “What does this mean and who will it affect?”

The government lost funding to “non-excepted” services, meaning that federal services not absolutely vital to America will cease to be funded. This is due to Congress’s inability to pass a budget. Specifically, the Republican-led House wants to defund the Affordable Care Act, while the Democrat-led Senate will not budge on keeping Obamacare funded and is refusing to pass any bills that change Obamacare.

“The government is spending more than they are taking in so they’re trying to figure out if they need to add more taxes or cut spending and the Democrats and Republicans can’t agree,” explained senior Elizabeth LaLuzerne.

It’s easy to see how the process became gridlocked as neither side is willing to budge on their opinion. “A bunch of old white people can’t decide what to do with our budget,” said junior Matt Jirsa in a decidedly opinionated view on the situation. Let it be noted, however, that there are 117 members of Congress who are either foreign-born or not Caucasian.

This is the first time the federal government has partially shut down since 1995, but the two situations are quite different. “They don’t know what they’re doing and they’re spending too much money that we don’t have,” commented sophomore Michael Downey on the shutdown. This sums up both the ‘95 shutdown and the current shutdown, although in 1995 there was much less partisanship between liberals and conservatives.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and President Bill Clinton were very open to compromising and sharing ideas. Currently, President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner have been amidst intermittent discussion, as though neither are ready to begin the process of compromising. The last shutdown was a series of two shutdowns that added up to twenty-eight days. America’s current situation may spell out more dire terms, as Republicans and Democrats tensions’ are running high, and at this point, neither side is intent on giving in.