So CNN has a report about "A Government shutdown and You" and how us little people will be impacted. http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/23/politics/government-shutdown-daily-life/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 10. Vacation all I ever wanted: Need to get away? Well, you can't. At least not to national parks. Or to national zoos. Or to national museums. They'd all be closed. That's 368 National Park Service sites closed, millions of visitors turned away. Okay... summer's over I gotta work. Why don't we privatize the Nation Park Service? 9. Holiday. Celebrate: Don't come to work if you're a federal employee. You're on furlough. (Offer not valid for workers in "critical services," such as air traffic controllers, hazardous waste handlers and food inspectors.) SO they real jobs are okay, just the worthless ones get to stay home 8. I won't back down: The good news (for you) is that the men and women in uniform would continue to keep you safe. ok, good 7. If you drive a car, I'll tax the street: You may be thinking, "No functioning government, no need to pay taxes." Think again. The Man would continue to collect taxes. U.S. bonds would still be issued. And other essential banking functions would go on. So far I'm not seeing a problem 6. Wait a minute, Mr. Postman: You know that whole "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night" thing? Apparently, the U.S. Postal Service works through shutdowns as well. Sorry, you won't catch a break from the junk mail. But hey, you may already be a winner! So I'm still going to get all of my mail 5. I want a new drug: Oh, the irony. The Republicans want to defund Obamacare in exchange for funding the government. But the health care act at the center of this storm would continue its implementation process during a shutdown. That's because its funds aren't dependent on the congressional budget process. what? 4. Pass the ammunition: Not so fast. A shutdown would affect the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Translation: That gun permit you wanted processed wouldn't happen anytime soon. Well that's good right leftists? Less evil guns walking the streeets 3. Money (that's what I want): Well, if you own a small business and needed a loan from the government, you'd have to wait. If you were planning to buy a house and needed a federal loan, you'd have to wait. If you're a veteran, you might have to make a few trips to the mailbox before that check arrived. oh, no, its a little slow? 2. Anything dirty or dingy or dusty: Oscar the Grouch is a company of one. No one loves trash. But if you live in Washington, expect it to pile up if there's a shutdown. There wouldn't be anyone to collect your garbage. Washington's budget has to be approved by Congress. No budget for the city = no trash collection. And, according to The Washington Post, D.C. produces about 500 tons of garbage each week. Really? that's their own fault. 1. I'm proud to be an American: Perhaps the biggest hit would be to the collective psyche. America is the largest economy in the world and a beacon for how democracy ought to work. To watch elected lawmakers engage in a high-stakes staring contest with no one willing to blink is no way to do business. A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found that 51% will blame Republicans if the government closes its doors. The U.S. has operated without a budget since 2009 and has avoided a government shutdown with last-minute deals. It's been one stomach-turning sequel after another. Fucking really? The worst would be a wounded psyche? Shut the fucker down!
I think it's time to sequester the use of Air Force One for official business only. No more vacations and fund raising trips.
So the idiots whose fault this crap is will still get paid, of course. And while they negotiate -- or, rather, refuse to negotiate -- about increasing how much money they can spend while they haven't got any money -- they still seem to find hundreds of millions at a time to throw at other countries for no return whatsoever.
The govt should give 100 or 200 billion to NASA. No excuses that they don't have it to give. If it was Detroit, or the bad parts of Chicago or any other sucking financial black hole, they would find the money. But I forget. You can't get much in the way of votes out of NASA. Slums full of reprobates and lowlifes on the other hand... What a government of glorified prostitutes. Yes, shut it down and FIRE EVERYONE IN IT. Restart it from the ground up with entirely new people.
Because shutting down the gov't wouldn't hurt honest hardworking people. I know it's "cool" to think all of the gov't workers are shitbags...it's also very ignorant. For example, you're happy your ass is still going to be protected by the military...well that's all well and good until those ships plains and tanks aren't getting repaired by the furloughed civilians who do most of the big work on them. I can't speak for the other services, but I know most of the navy active duty people do not have the expertise or equipment to conduct anything greater than the most minor repairs on ships.
Air traffic controllers, hazardous waste handlers and food inspectors; mailmen, police officers, soldiers: Will they still get paid (with what?) or is it just illegal for them to stay home even though they're not being paid (and for how long?)?
I think they basically get IOUs, same as the military normally gets in a shutdown. The rest of us only get back pay if it's specifically authorized by Clowngress.
