As
you should be aware the Federal government officially shut down at 12:00 AM
this morning. We have now gone nearly an entire day without any progress being
made. The politicians still got paid and Obamacare enrollment still happened
but many people found themselves with no job to go to and no paycheck to be
had. This is our government at work.
While
the Democrats keep saying the Republicans are at fault and the Republicans keep
saying the Democrats are at fault I think we all have to come to the realization
that this was a combined failure. On the good side, this may be the most
decisive bipartisan effort in Washington in a long time but it also means that
we are paying for what has become the epitome of ineffective government. This
is what happens when the best interests of the people are a secondary concern
to the egos of elected officials.
There
are far reaching effects beyond the confines of Capital Hill that, in some shape
or form, could impact all of us. CBSnews.com put out a pretty good list soon
after midnight to break down the government breakdown:
Air Travel:
Federal air traffic controllers
would remain on the job and airport screeners would keep funneling passengers
through security checkpoints. Federal inspectors would continue enforcing
safety rules.
International
Travel: The State Department would continue
processing foreign applications for visas and U.S. applications for passports,
since fees are collected to finance those services. Embassies and consulates
overseas would continue to provide services to American citizens.
Benefit
Payments: Social Security and Medicare
benefits would keep coming, but there could be delays in processing new disability
applications. Unemployment benefits would still go out.
Federal
Courts: Federal courts would continue
operating normally for about 10 business days after the start of a shutdown,
roughly until the middle of October. If the shutdown continues, the judiciary
would have to begin furloughs of employees whose work is not considered
essential. But cases would continue to be heard.
Mail: Deliveries would continue as usual because the U.S. Postal
Service receives no tax dollars for day-to-day operations. It relies on income
from stamps and other postal fees to keep running.
Recreation:
All national parks would be closed,
as would the Smithsonian museums, including the National Zoo in Washington.
Visitors using overnight campgrounds or other park facilities would be given 48
hours to make alternate arrangements and leave the park. Among the visitor
centers that would be closed: the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New
York, Independence Hall in Philadelphia and Alcatraz Island near San Francisco.
Health: New patients would not be accepted into clinical research at
the National Institutes of Health, but current patients would continue to
receive care. Medical research at the NIH would be disrupted and some studies
would be delayed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be
severely limited in spotting or investigating disease outbreaks such as the flu
or that mysterious MERS virus from the Middle East.
Food
Safety: The Food and Drug Administration
would handle high-risk recalls, but would suspend most routine safety
inspections. Federal meat inspections would be expected to proceed as usual.
Head Start:
A small number of Head Start
programs, about 20 out of 1,600 nationally, would feel the impact right away.
The federal Administration for Children and Families says grants expiring about
Oct. 1 would not be renewed. Over time, more programs would be affected.
Several of the Head Start programs that would immediately feel the pinch are in
Florida. It's unclear if they would continue serving children.
Food
Assistance: The Special Supplemental Nutrition
Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, could shut down. The
program provides supplemental food, health care referrals and nutrition
education for pregnant women, mothers and their children. School lunches and breakfasts would
continue to be served, and food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program, or SNAP, would continue to be distributed. But several
smaller feeding programs would not have the money to operate.
Taxes: Americans would still have to pay their taxes and file
federal tax returns, but the Internal Revenue Service says it would suspend all
audits. Got questions? Sorry, the IRS says taxpayer services, including
toll-free help lines, would be shut as well.
Loans: Many low-to-moderate incomes borrowers and first-time
homebuyers seeking government-insured mortgages could face delays. The Federal
Housing Administration, which guarantees about 30 percent of home mortgages,
would still approve single-family loans, but with delays. Multi-family mortgage
approvals would be suspended. Action on government-backed loans to small
businesses would be suspended.
Science: NASA will continue to keep workers at Mission Control in
Houston and elsewhere to support the International Space station, where two
Americans and four others are deployed. The National Weather Service would keep
forecasting weather and issuing warnings and the National Hurricane Center
would continue to track storms. The scientific work of the U.S. Geological Survey
would be halted.
Homeland
Security: The majority of the Department of
Homeland Security's employees are expected to stay on the job, including
uniformed agents and officers at the country's borders and ports of entry,
members of the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration officers,
Secret Service personnel and other law enforcement agents and officers. U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services employees would continue to process green
card applications.
Military: The military's 1.4 million active duty personnel would stay
on duty, but their paychecks would be delayed. About half of the Defense
Department's civilian employees would be furloughed.
Prisons: All 116 federal prisons would remain open, and criminal
litigation would proceed.
Veterans
Services: Most services offered through the
Department of Veterans Affairs will continue because lawmakers approve money
one year in advance for the VA's health programs. Veterans would still be able
to visit hospitals for inpatient care, get mental health counseling at vet
centers or get prescriptions filled at VA health clinics. Operators would still
staff the crisis hotline and claims workers would still process payments to
cover disability and pension benefits. But those veterans appealing the denial
of disability benefits to the Board of Veterans Appeals will have to wait
longer for a decision because the board would not issue any decisions during a
shutdown.
Work
Safety: Federal occupational safety and
health inspectors would stop workplace inspections except in cases of imminent
danger.
However,
this is just about all the neutral news coming out of the mouths of the media
regarding this issue. Some coverage has been outright biased (MSNBC) while
other reports ‘talk to the people’ who all seem to place the blame squarely on
Congress. I agree that they are to blame, both sides of the aisle, but so is
the rest of the federal government at this point. By the way, all of you ranting on Facebook and Twitter are not helping the situation either. In fact, it's getting so bad on social media that you should all run for office.
This is the 17th shut down of the federal government since 1976. Fault
has been assigned to each of the parties at any given instance but why don’t we
finally take a look at the situation and realize that this is, and has always
been, a bipartisan clusterf**k. This will blow over like the legislative flatulence
that it is and life will go on just like it did the previous 16 times. Just don’t
expect anything to get resolved and remember that there is a reason why we hold
elections.
To
sum up the current state of Washington politics I will borrow a technical acronym
from the military… SNAFU!
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