Federal government shutdown

[Anonymous]

Your prediction: will it happen or not?

I suspect yes.

[Anonymous]

Yes.

I don't think it will have the impact republicans want, though.
Here is what happened in 1995:

Though sometimes difficult to verify and quantify, the CRS study provided the following examples of reported impacts on the public at large of the 1995 shutdown:

* 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
* 200,000 applications for passports unprocessed
* U.S. tourism industries and airlines reportedly sustaining millions of dollars in lost revenues
* multiple services for military veterans were halted, ranging from health and welfare to finance and travel
* approximately $3.7 million of Washington. DC-area federal contracts were adversely affected

Perhaps the biggest concern of the general public when a government shutdown is being discussed is the effect on entitlement programs. According to the CRS, "although the funds needed to make payments to beneficiaries may be available automatically, pursusant to permanent appropriations, the payments may be processed by employees who are paid with funds provided in annual appropriations acts. In such cases, the question arises whether a mandatory program can continue to function during a funding gap, if appropriations were not enacted to pay salaries of administering employees."

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#ixzz1EWHICJ3W

[Anonymous]

no...

unless they WANT to create chaos in order to use more violent and suppressive actions against it's people. If it shuts down, it'll be as a manipulation tool in order to gain more control.

[Anonymous]

No, the democrats understand that continuing to raise the debt ceiling to ridiculous levels is a recipe for disaster and they are All about a balanced budget amendment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, the democrats understand that continuing to raise the debt ceiling to ridiculous levels is a recipe for disaster and they are All about a balanced budget amendment.

Hold it! George Bush came into office with a surplus and screwed up royally with an unnecessary war that is costing billions, ultimately trillions, of dollars. Obama is a disaster but he also inherited a tsunami of disasters from Disastrous George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, et al.

[Anonymous]

I predict a three day shutdown and that unlike last time, the federal employees will not get paid for those days. The closed days will be treated as furlough days.

[Anonymous]

I thought the CR expires in early March-5th or 6th? Why is this imminent?

[Anonymous]

With the Senate out of session all next week, they only have a few working days left to take up a bill before March 4, when the current CR expires. Most agree that it won't be enough time to reach an agreement and Boehner has already said the House won't pass another short-term measure unless it includes significant cuts--which is the exact reason they can't agree on the longer-term bill.

[Anonymous]

You've got social democrats without spines and "free market" liberals without honesty.

The GOP has not proposed Idea One for cutting expenditures on Social Security, Medicare/aid, and defense.

Don't feed me BS about privatization as that is just going to increase spending short-term when we can least afford it (paying benefits to current recipients while the spigot of FICA taxes is shut off.)

Time to be talking about getting out of Europe and Northeast Asia. Time to be talking about means-testing our old age programs.

Instead we get BS about not funding Obamacare, cutting the SEC's budget, and cutting the EPA, all of which combined don't even total the $100 billion the GOP promised.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, the democrats understand that continuing to raise the debt ceiling to ridiculous levels is a recipe for disaster and they are All about a balanced budget amendment.

Hold it! George Bush came into office with a surplus and screwed up royally with an unnecessary war that is costing billions, ultimately trillions, of dollars. Obama is a disaster but he also inherited a tsunami of disasters from Disastrous George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, et al.

He didn't come in with a surplus. Running a few surplus budgets as happened under Clinton does not mean that the DEBT is erased. Deficit=annual figure, debt=cumulative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I predict a three day shutdown and that unlike last time, the federal employees will not get paid for those days. The closed days will be treated as furlough days.

You can shut down the government and lock all essential employees out, but I don't think you can refuse to pay them. Furloughs happen to local and state government workers, but they are planned for and spread throughout the fiscal year and are part of their union agreements.

[Anonymous]

I think it will happen but Obama isn't Clinton and Boehner isn't hated like Gingrich, and Dems will not come out looking/smelling like a rose and Republicans will. Fed employees will be furloughed.

[Anonymous]

I think this will be devastating to Metro. Imagine 100,000 + workers at $10 per day (conservative estimate of 2 round trip rush hour trips, not even considering parking) X however many days . . . . they will be out MILLIONS of dollars and they will never get that money back.

[Anonymous]

Yeah but Metro is incompetent any way you look at it. They would manage to majorly screw something up even if things were in their favor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it will happen but Obama isn't Clinton and Boehner isn't hated like Gingrich, and Dems will not come out looking/smelling like a rose and Republicans will. Fed employees will be furloughed.

You sound excited. If you live and work in the DC area and are employed in private industry, this is your problem too.