On midnight of October first, our government shut down for the first time in seventeen years. Why? Congress is constitutionally in charge of passing spending bills that fund the government. When it doesn’t, funding grinds to a halt. House Republicans demanded a new spending bill would be added to defund Obamacare, which has already been passed. Even so, Republicans continued to point fingers and the federal government will be shut down until the budget problems are resolved. (Yan) So, the big question is, what happens to the American citizens? Many things will remain the same, including the post office, law enforcement, T.S.A., and air traffic controllers. This is because they are deemed vital to our country’s survival and must work without pay while the government is shut down. (DiMargo) Unfortunately, this leaves loads of non-essential groups, such as national park service workers, without a job until funding resumes. Luckily for us (or unluckily depending on how you view it) school will continue as normal, as well as other state or locally-funded places. Although it doesn’t directly affect us a much as other cities, it still has created great inconvenience for people related to the National Park Service. Hopefully our government will come up with an idea to fix the budget soon, but until then, federal workers might be able to enjoy a few days off.
Carissa DiMargo. “What You Can and Can't Do During the Government Shutdown”. NBC Washington. 2 October, 2013. Web. 2 October, 2013. nbcwashington.com
Holly Yan. “Government shutdown: Get up to speed in 20 questions. CNN. 1 October, 2013. Web. 2 October, 2013. cnn.com
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