There have been a lot of talks lately about government shutdown. Everywhere you turn it’s “will the government shutdown” or “countdown to shutdown”. Everyone has got everybody creating a big hoopla about this thing so what I have tried to do is simplify this whole issue to provide a better understanding about what the shutdown is and how it will affect you.
Ok, each year a budget has to be approved before the government can be functional. Now, as I stated before, the budget is nothing more than what the federal government expects to receive and pay out each year. Normally we end up as a country over budget but the issue isn’t that, its how much money the government pays out to certain programs and there was amendment after amendment trying to cut money from programs in that budget. Amendments ranging from cutting Planned Parenthood to defunding the healthcare law (now tell me that wasn’t a straight political move). The issue is the Republicans wants cuts in programs that The Senate and the White House simply will not do. And when the federal government cannot decide on how they spend “our” money, the government shuts down.
So, what happens when the government shuts down? The “real” answer is no one knows. “But wait, I have been hearing things like they are cutting parks and recreation and federal employees will not be able to work and all of that so what do you mean no one knows?” Well, the reason why we don’t know is because every government has their own “shutdown” plan. This is a plan that is devised by the current president and his officials in the event that the government does shut down. What people are talking about now is what happened when the government shutdown in 1995. Here is the rundown:
In 1995, Congress sent a bill to Bill Clinton that he refused to sign and the government shut down. When that happened:
· no new patients were accepted into clinical research trials at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
· NIH disease hotlines were closed
· the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) stopped disease surveillance
· toxic waste clean-up work at more than 600 sites was stopped
· delays in processing of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives applications by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF)
· work on more than 3,500 bankruptcy cases was suspended
· cancellation of the recruitment and testing of federal law-enforcement officials, including the hiring of 400 border patrol agents
· delay in the processing of delinquent child-support cases
· closure of 368 National Park Service sites, with an estimated loss of 7 million visitors and accompanying tourism revenues to local communities
· closure of national museums and monuments, with an estimated loss of 2 million visitors
· approximately 20,000-30,000 visa applications by foreigners unprocessed each day
Also, federal employees were sent home without pay. So, people are now assuming the same things will happen again which is a safe assumption but realistically, no one really knows what will happen if/when the government shuts down.
So, how does this affect you? Well, you have to understand that “assuming” all of these things that happened in 1995 happen again, just reading above will answer that question, but you really won’t know until it happens. Is there anything you can do right now to prevent issues related to this? I wish I could say yes but right now, the fate of the shutdown lies within two parties that are nowhere near eye to eye about money. I wish I had a positive ending about this one but I don’t. All you can do now is hope somehow they agree which judging by the amendments they put in the spending bill, you would be better off expecting the worse.
Read more at Suite101: Government Shutdown of 1995: What happened and why? http://www.suite101.com/content/government-shutdown-of-1995-what-happened-and-why-a349787#ixzz1Ek7zjiNi
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