The list of collateral effects of a potential government shutdown keeps growing and people are none too pleased about it. Here are just a few of the negative impacts that could arise if Congress and the White House fail to reach an agreement on the budget (click here to view in chart form):
- The lawmakers who hold the cards will still get paid. Their staffers might be furloughed, though. That has prompted a few lawmakers to announce they'll refuse shutdown pay,but even that has elicited critiques of political posturing.
- Roughly 800,000 federal workers won't get paid because they're considered nonessential and therefore, the first to be furloughed. That includes people who work in national parks because they'll be closed, ruining countless long family road trips. And it's not just the loss of income that hurts – for many, it's being labeled dispensable when they know their jobs are anything but nonessential.
- As the shutdown looms, some political leaders are taking the opportunity to fundraise and rally their supporters. The executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sent out an appeal asking for a minimum $5 donation saying the organization wants to raise $100,000 in the next 36 hours.
- You'll still get your Social Security checks but don't expect anyone to be around to answer your questions about benefits. The people who take questions on Social Security and Medicare questions will not be at work and most government websites will shut down or have limited functionality.
- Various agencies with the Department of Health and Human Services will operate in a patchwork fashion. The National Institutes of Health will not accept new patients or start new clinical trials. The Food and Drug Administration won't operate at full capacity but will have some inspectors on staff. As a result, all FDA inspections of food processing facilities and drug manufacturing plants will be prioritized by risk.
- Word is getting around that a government shutdown doesn't actually save taxpayers money. For one, it will cost the government money to ensure a smooth transition to a shutdown. Then there's the lost revenue from a variety of sources, from government services to gift shops in government-run attractions such as Yosemite National Park and DC's National Gallery of Art.
How would a government shutdown anger you?
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This is bs. Im in the military and me not getting paid is a big deal. Im not deployed but if i was and my family could not get a paycheck i would be livid. And all the chowhalls on base will be closed so how r we supposed to eat? We have to go off base and spend more of our money instead of the government providing us with the essentials we were supposed to be provided. I would love to see one of these lawmakers go one month on my paycheck and then see how they do without it. But alas this is not the case. While i will be trying to figure out how to pay for food and bills these lawmakers will be driving there mercedes and eating their fine cuisine while they wonder how they can make it look like they are the heroes fighting for the people on this and so they can go on tv and show their potential voters they care when really they are to stubborn to argree to anything the other side of the arguement has to offer because their afraid it would make them look weak. They dont care how it affects the military but they are damn sure expect us to go where they expect us to go when they expect it. For those of u who feel the need to defend these lawmakers, i pity u. I honestly dont believe they care about u any more than the rest of us. And if any of u r thinking "well if u think tht way than u should not have joined the military." I didnt do it for them. I did it for all of u. I did it so if the worst comes i can stand in front of the flames and defend the people of this country till my last dying breath. Semper Fidelis
Oh come on. This list is so petty. Grow up and quit whining.
agreed
If you cant take of your own home, how gonna tell someone else how to take care of theirs?
People come down on either side of this issue depending on whether they depend on the government. I don't depend on the government for my existence, therefore I don't care about a potential shutdown.
Hopefully they can keep it shut down for a few months – we need a balanced budget not more debt.
We had a balance budget – one that produced a surplus. Under President Clinton. Thank your savior W for the budget deficits we now currently enjoy.
This isn't about racism its about partison politics and both sides play a part. We need to start working together as americans instead of playing favorites and allowing racism to skew our view of the real problem.
Congress should NOT be paid should they shut down the govt!
now this is someone who makes sense OPERATION AMERICAN FREEDOM.. GOOD LUCK AMERICANS.............. UR JJUST AS DUMB AS I THOUGHT U WERE............... SO SAD.................... REMEMBER.........ILLUMINATI... FREEMASONS AND SKULSS AND BONES SECRET SOCIETIES........... WILL RULE BUT BECAUSE U ARE ALLL.. BRAINWASHED............ REMEMBER ME JOSIE.... GOODBYE AND GOODLUCK I GAVE U INSIDE SCOOPS NOBODY CARES...... THAT IS UR PROBLEM BYE .I ALWAYS KNEW AMERICANS .. NOT TOO INTELLIGENT
^ josie dont change your name we still know its you and also you call us "not too intelligent" but why dont you read your post TALLLKINGGG LIIIKEETHIISSSS DOESSSNTTT LOOK VERRYYYY GOOOOOOOOOOOOD
Is this warning enough?? Should I run for the hills?? At the rate I am losing faith in any security I may have in this 1st world country, I will be in survival mode by the end of the year, living off the land.
buddy.......................stop and think..................but if ur brain cant reach that state what can i say.............. TOO BAD FOR YOU
If I remember correctly, the last time the gov shut down, all the furloughed employees received back pay when they returned to work. If anyone else remembers it that way too, please confirm
Senator Al Franken has proposed a "Pay for War" resolution that would require Congress to raise taxes and/or cut spending before authorizing new acts of war, so that American foreign adventures can't contribute to the national debt.
"We have to ensure that Iraq and Afghanistan remain anomalies in American history," Franken said on the Senate floor Wednesday. "And that's what my resolution seeks to do. It will ensure that future wars don't make our deficit and debt problem worse. It will ensure that Congress and American citizens must face the financial sacrifice of going to war. And it will force us to decide whether a war is worth that sacrifice."
"In the last ten years our wars have been paid for by borrowing," Franken said. "The Iraq War was accompanied by a massive tax cut. That failed fiscal experiment created the impression that war requires no financial sacrifice. We know that is just not true. The question is who will bear the financial sacrifice, the generation that has decided to go to war or its children and grandchildren?"
I agree Amigo. The wolves have shed their sheep's clothing.
Shut it down and rethink the national strategy. What we've been doing is not working.
The Federal Government pays for the trash pickup in Detroit? What?
Time for the Wonderful People in the Rust Belt to pay to pick up their own trash (but then where do you start?)
Shut it down.
policiticans will all BURN IN HELLLLLLLLLLLL AND THAT IS A FACT
Politicians will burn in hell for a fact, huh Josie? Now you are the one deciding everyone's eternal fate? I'm pretty sure that you are not God.....he can put together a coherent sentence.....and he doesn't have to use ALL CAPS TO GET HIS POINT ACROSS!!!
It is official members of the military are only getting 1/2 of there paycheck. How do they expect us to leave our families and deploy around the world to make america safe, but our paychecks are not safe?