One election can easily change the future of an entire country. With the Republicans capturing the majority in the House of Representatives and with a Democratic president who hasn’t shown a willingness to modify his current plans for America, it leaves us wondering what will happen next.

With hot topics like the economy, reducing our country’s deficit, and Obama’s healthcare plan being discussed, and both parties not willing to budge from their position, could the federal government be headed toward a repeat of the shutdown that happened in 1995?

On November 2, an estimated 90 million voters came out to vote nationwide. That marked a 42 percent increase from the 2006 midterms. The Republicans 60-seat gain in Congress revealed the frustration of Americans at the government’s sluggish decision-making as they try to revive our dismal economy.

The Democrats had their plans all laid out to get a stimulus and healthcare bill passed, but now the Republican opposition looks to bring them to a grinding halt. If both parties remain unwilling to compromise or move from their positions, we will see a reenactment of the government shutdown of 1995.

When the financial year had ended on September 30, 1995, Democratic President Bill Clinton and the Republican-run government hadn’t come to an agreement on a budget for the next year.  Since Clinton was unwilling to negotiate the budget cuts that the Republicans desired, Newt Gingrich, then Speaker of the House, expected the president to give in to his treat to not raise the debt limit. It didn’t happen that way.

By November 14, after politicians from both sides met the previous day to try to resolve the issue, Dick Armey, the House Majority Leader, told Clinton that since he was not willing to accept their budget for the next fiscal year, then they would instigate a government shutdown. The effects of the shutdown were seen immediately seen when different areas of the government were unable to continue working the next day.

The situation was resolved by a temporary spending bill that handled the $800 million needed to pay the laid off government employees, but a second shutdown took place shortly thereafter because of repeated clashes between President Clinton and Congressional Republicans.

Everyone was blaming everyone else. The Republicans blamed Clinton for not agreeing to their budget plan and Clinton blamesd the Republicans for not listening to his suggestions. However, one small, but very untimely, slip of the tongue by Gingrich finally ended the stalemate. He said that he caused the shutdown because Clinton forced him and one of his colleagues to sit at the back Air Force One. The public sided with Clinton and this event helped him to win the 1996 election for the Democrats.