The federal government may shut down if Republicans and Democrats don’t reach a compromise on the federal budget by midnight tonight.
Both parties agree that there is a need to reduce spending, but while Republicans want to cut 66 billion dollars, Democrats want to cut only 30 billion. Alachua County Republican Party Chairman Stafford Jones says the government has to cut more from the budget, not less.
“I tend to favor the Republicans because even 60-something billion [dollars] is a tiny, tiny, tiny portion of the three trillion [dollars] that we’re actually spending every year to run the government,” he says.
Alachua County Democratic Party Chairman Jon Reiskind says the dispute is a result of intimidation of the GOP, not the budget itself.
“This shutdown has nothing to do with the budget whatsoever. It has to do with the social agenda of the right wing that has intimidated much of the Republican party,” he says.
Despite their differences, both Jones and Reiskind say neither party wants a shutdown.