Dysfunction smothers hope

For the first time in nearly two decades, the federal government staggered into a partial shutdown Monday at midnight after congressional Republicans stubbornly demanded changes in the nation's health care law as the price for essential federal funding and President Barack Obama and Democrats adamantly refused.

http://www.thespectrum.com/viewart/20130930/DVTONLINE01/309300036/Dysfunction-smothers-hope