Editor’s Note: Since published, the government has shutdown. For the first time in 17 year, on Monday night, the government did not agree on a new budget and refused to extend the former one.
While it’s been 17 years since the last federal government shutdown, things aren’t looking promising for the U.S. tonight. Congress is at a standstill; Republicans are doing everything they can to defund or delay Obama’s Affordable Care Act and Democrats are doing everything they can to push back. The Senate wasn’t able to compromise and rejected the budget proposal last Friday leaving Congress in a mad scramble to get a budget passed by midnight on October 1 (tonight!) or suffer the consequences of a government shutdown in the morning.
Here are some of the things our country would deal with in the face of a shutdown:
- Slowed economic growth
- The temporary layoffs of up to 800,000 federal employees
- The closing of national parks, museums, and monuments in Washington D.C.
- Delayed processing of checks for those receiving Social Security or veterans’ benefits
- An almost complete shutdown of the Environmental Protection Agency
- Suspension of civil cases in the Justice Department
- Shutdown of E-Verify, the Department of Homeland Security’s program that allows business to check the immigration status of potential employees
As bad as this all sounds, the good news is that essential or lawfully mandated government services will remain open, including things like:
- U.S. Postal Service
- Traffic control
- Airport security
- Food inspection
- Emergency and disaster services
- Medicare
The irony of the situation is that Obama’s Affordable Care Act would still go live on October 1 because of the parts of it that rely on mandatory spending.
Even though the idea of our government shutting down may evoke images of our country being hurdled into an era of darkness and despair, be reassured that the longest U.S. Government shutdown lasted a grand total of 21 days. Regardless of what happens by midnight on October 1, 2013, we hope that our government will continue to do its best to push America to be the best country it can be.
For more infomation about the impending shutdown check out these sources:
- http://www.buzzfeed.com/bennyjohnson/ferris-bueller-explains-the-government-shutdown
- http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57605191/on-the-verge-of-a-government-shutdown-now-what/
- http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/09/28/weekly-address-averting-government-shutdown-and-expanding-access-afforda
- http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/30/absolutely-everything-you-need-to-know-about-how-the-government-shutdown-will-work/