US government shutdown- where will you be?

[Skylar1]

lol

So, looks like there's not much time left until they have to shut it down.

Doesn't come at any surprises though. This is the most dysfunctional body of lawmakers I think I've seen. Rather than actually doing any real work (which would benefit both parties) they throw temper-tantrums like children, whining and complaining about how they 'never get what they want' whaaa whaaa, boo-hoo. Good idea though, let's push something down the line that should have been done well over half a year ago, and then we can just blame the other side for it, tee-hee.

Forget comedy central, just turn on C-Span, because that's pretty much what it's been coming down to lately. I'm shocked they haven't yet degraded to the point where they're hurling "yeah? well, Yo mama so fat..." jokes.

No biggy though, right? I mean, it's only peoples livelihoods at stake. "being right" is apparently more important than the 2 million people that won't have a pay check at the end of the week.

Edit: Oh, I forgot to mention. Don't take the republicans word for anything. They DON'T CARE about reducing federal spending, they just want to use that as an excuse on the tailwind of the Taxpayer's sentiments to nix the programs and oppertunities that are politically threatening to them. that is all

[GameGeeks]

While I agree with you about the state of the government I don't see it as that big of an issue. I hope they choose to pay those people like last time but at worse it's only a short amount of time that they don't get payed. Like you said before, there was one in the 90's and no one even mentions it today. Despite the one that may happen now.

[animeyay]

It won't affect my job since I work at a private company, but I kinda wanna see it happen, just to experience the dramatic effect it'll have on my area. (I live 4 Metro stops away from DC.)

[Anoleis]

I smell some sort of bias, but I'll let it pass.
I haven't been paying attention to all of the drama in DC. Hopefully they get their crap together before we start up a proverbial river of excrement.

[Wio]

Edit: Oh, I forgot to mention. Don't take the republicans word for anything. They DON'T CARE about reducing federal spending, they just want to use that as an excuse on the tailwind of the Taxpayer's sentiments to nix the programs and oppertunities that are politically threatening to them. that is all

There's no contradiction here. The Republicans are proposing bills to cut spending and the Democrats are rejecting those bills. Whether or not they are only willing to cut politically threatening programs is very much up to debate, and even assuming such is true, they would still be the only party of the two cutting something.

Democrats like Obama say that we need to take a scalpel to the budget. Yet they say "You can't cut that!" to every suggestion of cutting. What do you call something like that? It's not a blatant lie, rather it is either delusional or fraudulent.

So what do you want? Should the Republicans just shut up and pretend that 93% debt to GDP ratio is fine?

[DeathBlade/13.666]

Well, As for not getting paid...It's gonna blow come bill time. I really hope they either figure it out and pass it soon, or pass another extension. And FYI, They've introduced into legistlation (because of these past few weeks) a bill to make the Government still pay it's employees. Plus If the budget doesn't get approved, the only people that'll get paid is Federal Judges. Not even Congress and the President.

As for the politics of it, Eric's fairly right, but when the shoe's on the other foot, the results are the same. It doesn't matter who's in power, the other will fight it's authority and make demands "For the good of the People". Currently yes, the Republicans want stuff cut, and the Democrats are fighting it, but has anyone looked into what's being cut? And the last I heard, the Republicans didn't state what they wanted cut, only 17% percent cut off. Granted that was 3 weeks ago just after the pay extension. But I wonder where in the fine print is Congress's next pay raise. And $10 says it won't be cut from the final budget. Plus I wonder where that 17% will come from; Health Care, Military, Homeland Defense, Social Security, Space Exploration, Department of this, Department of that.

In the end, in my eyes it's all Hogwash and Squabble. Meanwhile, I've got bills to pay and things to do and no cash to do it with.

[Wio]

DeathBlade, if you were in the private sector for analogy's sake, you'd be laid off because your employer would have gone bankrupt. The tax payers can't afford all the federal services.

[Jewunit]

This is a pretty big issue. We will find out the outcome in only four hours. >'> If they shutdown my passport will get soooo delayed.

[DeathBlade/13.666]

DeathBlade, if you were in the private sector for analogy's sake, you'd be laid off because your employer would have gone bankrupt. The tax payers can't afford all the federal services.

Yes, in the private sector I would be. But then again, a Government is not a Business. Yes, the country is in the hole, and with a struggling economy. But it's just like 70% of the Middle Class in the U.S.; Bills to pay, things to do, and debt up to their waist, but they still keep on keeping on. And because of that, I've still got a job. As for the federal Services, The tax payers would be able to cover them if everyone paid their taxes fair and square. Plus it doesn't help if the Government doesn't save the tax payers money. Even if they "cut" from the budget, it's still gonna cost just as must, Because when they say "cut" they really mean they reallocated the funds elsewhere. Instead of $1.5 million to Education, $950,000 goes to Education and an extra $550,000 goes to Homeland Defense.

[Wio]

Yes, in the private sector I would be. But then again, a Government is not a Business. Yes, the country is in the hole, and with a struggling economy. But it's just like 70% of the Middle Class in the U.S.; Bills to pay, things to do, and debt up to their waist, but they still keep on keeping on. And because of that, I've still got a job. As for the federal Services, The tax payers would be able to cover them if everyone paid their taxes fair and square. Plus it doesn't help if the Government doesn't save the tax payers money. Even if they "cut" from the budget, it's still gonna cost just as must, Because when they say "cut" they really mean they reallocated the funds elsewhere. Instead of $1.5 million to Education, $950,000 goes to Education and an extra $550,000 goes to Homeland Defense.

I'm not saying that governments are private sector businesses. The point of the analogy is to show that there is nothing unusual about employees being out of work due to their employers not having their stuff together. The government subject to maintaining a budget due to economic realities, not because some greedy capitalist said so. It is that you expect your paycheck to be something of value that this is true.

I say this because I find many people failing to understand this. Republicans think cuts are significant to merit a shutdown if not passed. Democrats say that it's insignificant to merit a shutdown, in which case they should fold. That they are not folding is indicative of either a lie or a contradiction.

[animeyay]

I'm keeping my Google News page open, just so that I can check frequently for updates.
Like I said, as mean as some people may think I sound, I kinda wanna see it happen.

[Skylar1]

2 hours left.

we'll see what happens next.

[Philhalo66]

i hope it doesn't happen i wont be getting a check tomorrow if it does.

[Shinn Kamiyra]

Meh, lost all interest in this when they couldn't even agree on what they were disagreeing about.

Call me sadistic if you will, but it's going to be amusing to watch how the people react if the government really is shut down. Let's see how this chaos continues to unfold.

[animeyay]

Deal reached...

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted

[Shinn Kamiyra]

Sure had that one down to the wire, they did. Oh well, it's all for the best, I suppose.

[GameGeeks]

From what I'm gathering, they cut the abortion bill.

[animeyay]

Sigh, that means life will go on boringly again.
Federal agencies are way too wasteful so I think they deserve some degree of warning. Guess not this time...

Actually, now I can contently go to DC tomorrow for the cherry blossom festival (sakura matsuri).
Should start calling friends to make them go with me lol. I wasn't expecting them to pass a budget one hour before the deadline.