Is President Obama responsible for the government shutdown?

Answer 1

No, he is not. Republicans say that he is, but that is political rhetoric (one side always blames the other side). The fact is the shutdown wasn't even the fault of most Republicans, although they went along with it. By most accounts (including Republican accounts), the shutdown was pushed by one faction of the party, the so-called Tea Party wing. Their members had very specific demands and they were willing to shut down the government if they did not get their way. Some Republicans who had lived through the 1995 shutdown (a disaster for the Republican party) did not think shutting down the government was a good strategy, but with the Tea Party the dominant faction, there was no turning back from it.

That said, Republicans believed the president was to blame because he refused to agree to eliminate the Affordable Care Act (or "Obamacare") the way they wanted him to. They also wanted deep cuts in spending, but the president said that he refused to enter any negotiations on the budget until the government was re-opened.