As day one of the government shutdown continues, many people are left wondering what happened? If the leaders of both parties said they didn't want the government to shut down and President Barack Obama, along with congressional Democrats, were poised to negotiate in good faith and make reasonable compromises, how did we get where we are?

While President Obama had to stay in Washington, D.C., to address the situation in Syria, he sent a video message to the convention attendees, thanking them for their hard work and reiterating his support for unions and working families. Watch the video in the post. 

President Barack Obama will be one of the keynote speakers at the AFL-CIO 2013 National Convention in Los Angeles from Sept. 8–11. Here are 12 key quotes from him that highlight his commitment to working families.

President Obama continued his visits to different parts of America to discuss the economy. This is his attempt to use the Bully Pulpit of the Presidency to direct a national dialogue. The president said, “There are no simple tricks to grow the economy. What we need is a serious, steady, long-term American strategy that reverses the long erosion of middle-class security and gives everyone a fair shot to get ahead.”

This week, President Obama kicked off a series of talks to America's working families on the economy. He started in Galesburg, Ill., where he succinctly described a solution to our economic troubles: making the middle class the engine of American prosperity. Obama said:

I care about one thing and one thing only, and that’s how to use every minute of the 1,276 days remaining in my term to make this country work for working Americans again.

With the debate in Washington set to return to the budget and the economy after the August congressional recess, President Obama today said, “The stakes for our middle class could not be higher.” In the first of several speeches set for coming weeks on the economy, Obama told the audience at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., that because of a Republican-led "endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball."

The Economic Policy Institute’s (EPI) Robert Scott has issued a report on the early results of the U.S.-Korea trade agreement (often called KORUS).  It’s not good for U.S. workers, who have already lost about 40,000 jobs because of the increasing trade deficit with Korea. 

Last week, the White House announced changes in projections for fiscal health. In June, the government will have a surplus and the projected deficit for this year will be $214 billion less than originally projected. That means the deficit will be 4.7% of GDP (the nation’s total income), down from the original forecast of 6%.  Moreover, the deficit will be below 3% of GDP by 2017. Now it is time for the follies to begin.

As Congress left Friday for a weeklong vacation for the Independence Day holiday, a July 1 deadline passed without congressional action on student loan interest rates. New subsidized federal Stafford loans issued after that date will incur a new rate of 6.8%, up from the current 3.4% students pay. Time still exists to fix the rate increase, however, as most students don't sign their loan paperwork until early August. Without legislation to reverse the increase, some 7 million students will see rates on their subsidized loans double at a time when student loan debt has reached more than $1 trillion and more and more economists are saying the massive student loan debt problem is becoming a drag on the economy.

The U.S. Senate today voted 84-15 to begin debate on the Gang of Eight's immigration bill, The Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, after Republicans failed to muster a filibuster. The legislation provides a road map to citizenship for aspiring Americans.