The blame game has become tiresome

Immediately after the government shutdown took effect, pollsters began asking the question.

Who’s to blame?

Cocooned in Washington, political elites aren’t ready for the answer. In the middle of America, your average blue-collar worker, teacher or retiree doesn’t see a Republican shutdown or a Democratic shutdown.

They just see a shutdown. They see a major disruption, one that grows worse every day that Congress is unable to find a resolution.

As of this writing, it’s unclear how long this most recent shutdown will last. The House is in recess until Oct. 13 as the Senate tries to cobble together enough votes to reopen the government and get essential workers paid.

Even if there is a solution, the first shutdown since 2019 serves as another crack in the armor of American exceptionalism. A brief shutdown is a reminder that our nation’s elected leadership, mired in toxic politics and distrust, can no longer deliver one of the basic functions of government.

Some blame rests with the debt ceiling, which requires congressional action to increase deficit spending beyond a certain level. This wasn’t a problem back when Congress had a political center, but party extremists see more value in crisis than compromise.

That means Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is more worried about his primary challenger than a solution to the impasse. Republicans pointed this out when Senate Democrats rejected a "clean" funding bill without partisan riders (something Democrats have demanded in the past).

But Republicans are not without risk. They fail to grasp that the party in charge tends to get blamed for these things, especially if the administration’s strategy is to cynically apply as much pain as possible the longer it goes on.

So the public, growing weary of this constant budget brinkmanship, is reminded of the words from a 1972 song: "Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. Here I am, stuck in the middle with you."

They just want a solution, not more blame. So far, they aren’t getting it.

Just look at the statements from Republicans and Democrats in the hours and days after the shutdown took effect:

"Democrats just voted to shut down the government."

"This is a Democratic-led shutdown."

"The Republican shutdown has just begun because they wouldn’t protect Americans’ health care."

Some real zingers. Imagine if these elected officials worked just as hard looking for a solution.