Good Afternoon concerned or bored students, this is Dr. Cooper. These are troubling times we live in. The government es cerrado. It is CLOSED.
I will do my best to give an explanation of what the heck this is and what it means to you. First off, the military is still functioning, all laws will still be enforced, and riots, while fun, are frowned upon. Every year the government must pass a bill approving the spending budget for the year. The past couple years it has been more difficult to get them passed because Democrats and Republicans are arguing over how much money the government should be spending (Democrats- more. Republicans- less). This year ObamaCare started on October 1st, coincidentally the deadline for the new budget to be passed. Since the House of Representatives (controlled by the Republicans) have unsuccessfully tried to repeal ObamaCare 42 times, they tried to cut off funding for it in the new budget bill, virtually killing it. The Senate (controlled by Democrats) and Obama refused to approve any budget bill that included any altercations to ObamaCare. But instead of compromising, both sides refused to negotiate and BOOM! Shutdown!
When the government shuts down, that means they aren't allowed to spend money for the majority of things. Now, it is technically impossible for the entire government to close without the world ending, so all essential services are intact. The military still gets paid, emergency services, the National Weather system, intelligence agencies, the Postal Service, etc are still operating. Social Security checks are still being sent, for now. All nonessential stuff, like national parks, museums, memorials, staff offices, and most of Washington D.C are all closed. That leaves several hundred thousand government employees laid off, all nonessential workers. Others, such as prison wardens and Washington D.C police, are still required to work but aren't being paid.
Negotiations, if any, are moving at a glacial pace. On October 17th, the government must pass a new bill regarding the so-called "debt ceiling". The debt ceiling is the limit on how much debt the country can have, therefore limiting how much money the government can borrow. If the debt ceiling isn't increased by Oct 17th or worse- if the government is still shutdown too- it would have devastating effects for the world. The Treasury would run out of money to pay people, the economy would tumble, thousands more people would lose their jobs, and chaos could potentially erupt. Most people now think that Congress will make some kind of deal that will combine both issues together and stave off a catastrophe.
That isn't to say people aren't mad. New polls show that 60% of Americans say they would fire every member of Congress if they could. 53% percent of people also blamed Republicans for the shutdown, and 31% blamed Obama. Frankly I'm not suprised.
The following GIF is what how most people feel when they think about the government issues...
If we're all still alive next week then come back for my Random History Blog Article. And if there's an apocalypse, good luck.
Information courtesy of NBC News
Pictures: http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/8728687/image/77210129-sorry-we-re-closed
http://blogs.denverpost.com/opinion/2013/10/01/cartoons-of-the-day-government-shutdown/41771/
http://www.gifbay.com/gif/just_found_out_the_government_shutdown_means_no_panda_cam-89309/
When the government shuts down, that means they aren't allowed to spend money for the majority of things. Now, it is technically impossible for the entire government to close without the world ending, so all essential services are intact. The military still gets paid, emergency services, the National Weather system, intelligence agencies, the Postal Service, etc are still operating. Social Security checks are still being sent, for now. All nonessential stuff, like national parks, museums, memorials, staff offices, and most of Washington D.C are all closed. That leaves several hundred thousand government employees laid off, all nonessential workers. Others, such as prison wardens and Washington D.C police, are still required to work but aren't being paid. Negotiations, if any, are moving at a glacial pace. On October 17th, the government must pass a new bill regarding the so-called "debt ceiling". The debt ceiling is the limit on how much debt the country can have, therefore limiting how much money the government can borrow. If the debt ceiling isn't increased by Oct 17th or worse- if the government is still shutdown too- it would have devastating effects for the world. The Treasury would run out of money to pay people, the economy would tumble, thousands more people would lose their jobs, and chaos could potentially erupt. Most people now think that Congress will make some kind of deal that will combine both issues together and stave off a catastrophe.
That isn't to say people aren't mad. New polls show that 60% of Americans say they would fire every member of Congress if they could. 53% percent of people also blamed Republicans for the shutdown, and 31% blamed Obama. Frankly I'm not suprised.
The following GIF is what how most people feel when they think about the government issues...
If we're all still alive next week then come back for my Random History Blog Article. And if there's an apocalypse, good luck.
Information courtesy of NBC News
Pictures: http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/8728687/image/77210129-sorry-we-re-closed
http://blogs.denverpost.com/opinion/2013/10/01/cartoons-of-the-day-government-shutdown/41771/
http://www.gifbay.com/gif/just_found_out_the_government_shutdown_means_no_panda_cam-89309/
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