It means that some stuff isn’t going to get done. But let’s see what some conservatives think will happen.
BEAUCHAMP: So you don’t believe there’d be any major economic consequences for a government shutdown or a default?
CARDENAS: I’m convinced there won’t be.
Al Cardenas is the head of the American Conservative Union (ACU). My response to this statement was an added “… to me”.
“It’s not going to be the end of the world, honestly, even if you’re on nutrition assistance from the federal government,” Kristol added. “I believe that no one is going to starve in Arkansas because of the shutdown.”
This is from Bill Kristol. Again, he’s not on food stamps, so he’s not worried about it. But…
Arkansas scrounged up leftover federal funds that will buy two weeks’ worth of school meals for tens of thousands of those kids, but when that money runs out no more will come from Washington unless the government reopens.
There is no guarantee other states will share Arkansas’s good fortune, either. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) will not issue new payments to states, meaning that any state that has already spent all its federal food assistance money will be without recourse. Utah’s WIC program shut down suddenly on Tuesday, leaving 65,000 residents without nutrition assistance. WIC administrators in Chicago and Wisconsin told Forbes they do not know how much of a funding cushion they have and fear a surprise cutoff to services. In Tennessee, contingency funding may or may notlast into next week.
Yes, federal money also pays for students on the free lunch program. These students may not have a meal during lunch at school until the government does something. I didn’t realize this until I started looking into this. I just e-mailed the principle at my local school to see if there were any local students affected by this and if I could help. At most schools, the equivalent of a single trip to McDonald’s will by three or four lunches for a student.
What about the costs of the shutdown?
A shutdown for between three and four week could cost the economy about $55 billion, by the estimate of Moody’s Analytics.
and
Washington, DC, loses $200 milliona day from lost wages and spending due to furloughs. That doesn’t include tourism.
and
One billion dollars a week will be lost from the US economy due to the roughly 800,000 federal employees laid off.
What about some services that are cut off?
Most people who frequent some websites have noticed that NASA, NOAA, and other government websites are off-line for the duration. Why is a mystery to me. A website, even one like NASA’s with millions of images is already built and shutting servers down won’t save that much money. Some services are considered essential, for example, NOAA’s National Weather Service is up and running.
I got the following list of shutdowns from USA.gov.
- Vital services that ensure seniors and young children have access to healthy food and meals may not have sufficient Federal funds to serve all beneficiaries in an extended lapse.
- Call centers, hotlines and regional offices that help veterans understand their benefits will close to the public.
- Veterans’ compensation, pension, education, and other benefits could be cut off in the case of an extended shutdown.
- Every one of America’s national parks and monuments, from Yosemite to the Smithsonian to the Statue of Liberty, will be immediately closed.
- New applications for small business loans and loan guarantees will be immediately halted.
- Research into life-threatening diseases and other areas will stop, and new patients won’t be accepted into clinical trials at the National Institutes of Health.
- Work to protect consumers, ranging from child product safety to financial security to the safety of hazardous waste facilities, will cease. The EPA will halt non-essential inspections of chemical facilities and drinking water systems.
- Permits and reviews for planned energy and transportations projects will stop, preventing companies from working on these projects. Loans to rural communities will be halted.
- Hundreds of thousands of Federal employees including many charged with protecting us from terrorist threats, defending our borders, inspecting our food, and keeping our skies safe will work without pay until the shutdown ends.
- Hundreds of thousands of additional federal workers will be immediately and indefinitely furloughed without pay.
The EPA is only doing ‘essential inspections’. I think it’s obvious that the GOP thinks there’s no such thing as an essential inspection. Oh and any rod work that’s using federal money stops.
But the TSA is on the case. Of course, they are working without getting paid. Indeed, they are required to work without pay. I seem to recall that not being right. Either the government needs to declare them ‘essential’ and pay them. Or send them all home and let’s see how many hijackings and bombs go off on US aircraft. My guess would be none and that would show just how useless the TSA is.
Of course, the House should be dealing with the shutdown, but instead are looking to sell off federal land to the highest bidder. Look at H.R 2657 taken to hearing on Oct. 3.
I love this line from the bill.
The term “identified Federal lands” means the parcels of Federal land under the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary that were identified as suitable for disposal in the report submitted to Congress by the Secretary on May 27, 1997, pursuant to section 390(g) of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–127; 110 Stat. 1024)
Even some creationists use more recent sources. This guy (Chaffetz R-Utah), wants to use a report that’s over 15 years old to decide to dispose of some 3.3 million acres of federal land. Of course, the people don’t want to (voters oppose selling off public lands), and those lands are important economically. This is especially true for the state of Utah (have you talked to your constituents Representative Chffetx?), which is losing $4.4 million in tourism income every day because its five national parks are shutdown.
In conclusion, services that actually are essential are being ignored, things like food and pay for people working, while other services continue. This isn’t a government ‘shutdown’. It’s just another tool in the arsenal of the insane people who are in our government. As long as it doesn’t impact them (and by law, it can’t), then this is just a game.
