ATLANTA -- The government shutdown prospect is dividing members of Congress along party lines – just as it did in 2013, which was the last time the government shut down. Republicans engineered it over implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
This time, it’s about DACA. Democrats are insisting on a law to allow the so-called Dreamers to live in the US legally.
"The president has stated that he would sign whatever bipartisan legislation is put on his desk to protect dreamers," said Yehimi Cambron, a DeKalb County schoolteacher – and a Dreamer. "So it's time!"
Sounds simple. And in 2013, Republicans like Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) who wanted to overturn Obamacare also made it sound simple.
"I think we’re all united behind protecting folks from the harmful effects of this bad law," Graves told us on the lawn of the US Capitol in October 2013.
But it wasn’t simple in 2013 either.
"I think the Republicans are going to have to cave in. They're going to have to cave in," Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) said in an interview at his Capitol office in 2013. "And I expect them to."
Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) told us in 2013 he would donate his salary to charity during the shutdown, which he supported. He does not support the shutdown this year.
"The Democrats decided they would rather have a shutdown than actually negotiate," Collins said Friday. "To simply hold the government hostage to something that is ... not pending is really doing a disservice to the state of Georgia and the country."
Hank Johnson’s prediction came absolutely true in 2013. The Republicans backed down. Now the onus will be on the Democrats –if there’s another government shutdown.
