Government in Default:
Here we are on October 1st at the beginning of a new fiscal year for the government. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have blinked in the negotiations to fund the government by raising the debt limit. It is a Congressional duty to pass spending bills that fund the government. They have not done this in time and so the government is shutting down. A shutdown has happened before, the last time about seventeen years ago. According to the Congressional Research Service the last two shut downs cost the country $1.4 billion. This time it is estimated that it may cost $1 billion a week.
The architect of the current shutdown is said to be North Carolina Representative Mark Meadows. Meadows is a freshman representative from western North Carolina who considers all the complaints from his constituents about Obamacare as his mandate to hold the government hostage over an increase in the debt ceiling. Actually, raising the debt ceiling is to borrow money to pay for things that have already been approved by Congress.
Here are some effects of the shutdown: National parks, zoos, and museums are closed. Non-essential federal employees were sent home and put on furlough without pay, an estimated 800,00 of them. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is shut down. No permits will be issued. Government loans and mortgages are on hold.
Here's what is not affected: Social Security, air traffic control and active military pay will continue to be funded. The Postal Service, which is funded separately, will continue to operate.
America is the world's largest economy and a model of how democracy should work. Elected lawmakers unwilling to negotiate and willing to let our nation go into default is not what America is about.
In my opinion we have elected politicians when what we need are statesmen. A CNN poll found that 51% of our people would blame the Republicans for the shutdown. We need to let our elected officials know that this type of irresponsible behavior is unacceptable. Public outcry seems to be effective in motivating elected officials. America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. We need to do the right thing.
