By By William M. Schmalfeldt Oct 2, 2013 in Politics Washington - The mainstream media needs to bear a portion of the blame for the continuing government shutdown. While it is admirable and necessary for the media to tell both sides of the story, sometimes there is a clear line between who is right and who is wrong. Republican leaders find sympathetic microphones and TV cameras, tear at their hair, rend their garments and cry, "Woe be unto us. Why won't the Democrats negotiate with us? Why won't the president at least sit down with us and discuss the issue? Why has Pharoah hardened his heart against my people? We just want to negotiate!" It all sounds nice and reasonable. Why won't President Obama come down off of his high horse and just talk business with those nice Republicans? Because he did already. He gave them what they wanted. Then, they took Obamacare hostage. The current scenario is akin to someone snatching your wife and then complaining that they had to kill her, cut her into pieces and drop her in plastic bags in the bay because you would not sit down to discuss a ransom amount that went up every time you agreed to an amount. This shutdown needs to be called what it is: a Republican shutdown of government. This is not about "Congress acting like kids." This is about Republicans acting like gangsters. This is not about Democrats refusing to negotiate. Democrats negotiated. They agreed to Republican numbers on the sequester. Then the Republicans added the measure to defund Obamacare -- the law of the land, passed by both houses of Congress, signed by the president and upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court. The Republicans said, "defund Obamacare or no continuing resolution." Democrats said no. The GOP-controlled House of Representatives came back with "delay implementation of Obamacare for one year or no continuing resolution." The Democrat-controlled Senate said no. The GOP countered with, "OK, let's delay implementation and strip funding for Congress and their staff to assist in paying for their Obamacare." Democrats said no. Now, the GOP is offering to allow the National Institutes of Health to continue pediatric cancer research in a disingenuous attempt to force the Democrats into voting against cancer care for babies. Again, the Democrats said the GOP House has a clean continuing resolution on the table it can vote on, and the government will open right away. The GOP does not have the right to decide which government bureaus are open or closed, Democrats say. Yet the media continues to play this story as if both sides are at fault for the shutdown. One local TV station in Baltimore just aired a report taped at a local school where fourth graders told members of Congress to "get along and stop fighting." A good idea. If Democrats were dealing with fourth graders this would be a done deal. Unfortunately, they are stuck dealing with Republicans. Let's look at the case of the current federal government shutdown. This is not a case of "both sides failing to reach an agreement" as is being widely reported. This is a case of Republicans in the House of Representatives seeing a chance to defund Obamacare, adding this defunding as an amendment to the continuing resolution to keep the government operating, and Democrats putting their feet down and refusing to be held hostage any longer.Republican leaders find sympathetic microphones and TV cameras, tear at their hair, rend their garments and cry, "Woe be unto us. Why won't the Democrats negotiate with us? Why won't the president at least sit down with us and discuss the issue? Why has Pharoah hardened his heart against my people? We just want to negotiate!"It all sounds nice and reasonable. Why won't President Obama come down off of his high horse and just talk business with those nice Republicans?Because he did already. He gave them what they wanted. Then, they took Obamacare hostage. The current scenario is akin to someone snatching your wife and then complaining that they had to kill her, cut her into pieces and drop her in plastic bags in the bay because you would not sit down to discuss a ransom amount that went up every time you agreed to an amount.This shutdown needs to be called what it is: a Republican shutdown of government. This is not about "Congress acting like kids." This is about Republicans acting like gangsters. This is not about Democrats refusing to negotiate. Democrats negotiated. They agreed to Republican numbers on the sequester. Then the Republicans added the measure to defund Obamacare -- the law of the land, passed by both houses of Congress, signed by the president and upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court.The Republicans said, "defund Obamacare or no continuing resolution." Democrats said no.The GOP-controlled House of Representatives came back with "delay implementation of Obamacare for one year or no continuing resolution." The Democrat-controlled Senate said no.The GOP countered with, "OK, let's delay implementation and strip funding for Congress and their staff to assist in paying for their Obamacare." Democrats said no.Now, the GOP is offering to allow the National Institutes of Health to continue pediatric cancer research in a disingenuous attempt to force the Democrats into voting against cancer care for babies. Again, the Democrats said the GOP House has a clean continuing resolution on the table it can vote on, and the government will open right away. The GOP does not have the right to decide which government bureaus are open or closed, Democrats say.Yet the media continues to play this story as if both sides are at fault for the shutdown. One local TV station in Baltimore just aired a report taped at a local school where fourth graders told members of Congress to "get along and stop fighting."A good idea. If Democrats were dealing with fourth graders this would be a done deal.Unfortunately, they are stuck dealing with Republicans. This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com More about In the Media, Obamacare, Congress More news from In the Media Obamacare Congress