U.S. government shutdown: Editorials across the country

There are few signs yet to suggest the U.S. government shutdown will come to an end anytime soon.

So far, polls suggest that most Americans are putting the blame on the Republicans. Time will tell whether public opinion shifts as the shutdown drags on.

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• Learn more about the Republicans, the Democrats and the blame game
• The U.S. government shutdown by the numbers

In the meantime, here is a sampling of what newspaper editorials have said in recent days about which political factions they believe are responsible for the shutdown:

Wall Street Journal

We support the Republican effort to get the best deal they can, especially in the face of Mr. Obama's cynicism. But sooner or later the GOP will have to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling that expires two weeks from now.

New York Times

Republicans routinely claim, without evidence, that the Affordable Care Act is hurting the economy. But they ignore the actual damage that their single-minded crusade against the law has done to the country.

USA Today

This shutdown, the first in 17 years, isn't the result of two parties acting equally irresponsibly. It is the product of an increasingly radicalized Republican Party, controlled by a disaffected base that demands legislative hostage-taking in an effort to get what it has not been able to attain by the usual means: winning elections.

Los Angeles Times

Unlike the GOP's previous flirtations with a government shutdown, this fight isn't being waged in the name of lower deficits and debt. It's just a desperate attempt to score political points against the Affordable Care Act before it goes fully into effect and the benefits become clearer.

Denver Post

This is a battle Republicans cannot win. President Obama and Senate Democrats have no incentive to offer concessions so long as the public doesn't hold them responsible for any resulting hardship. Republicans are most likely to be blamed, and then, when the consequences get bad enough, they'll have little choice but to capitulate.

Tampa Bay Times

The blame for the federal government shutdown that affects millions of Americans rests squarely on the backs of House Republicans who would rather protest President Barack Obama's health-care reform than govern the country. They have created an avoidable crisis by clinging to a political strategy that is doomed to fail, and Florida Republicans who are falling in line with the extremists are part of the problem rather than the solution.

Kansas City Star

The government of the people of the United States is partially shut down because a faction of the Republican Party insists on tying further spending to the crippling of President Barack Obamas health-care law.This is a new low in our nations politics. Americans have every reason to be ashamed of their Congress right now.