College of Economical Knowledge
As the day draws near….the deadline, the ultimatum, the line in the sand, the threat, the….well you get my point…….few people realize just what is meant by a governmental shut down…..allow me to assist them in the knowledge of what quiet possibly will occur when the threat is activated……
It has been 15 years since the last federal government shutdown over spending disagreements. Here are some facts about what could happen:
* Hundreds of thousands of the 4.4 million federal workers could be idled as nonessential, disrupting all but vital U.S. services such as national defense, emergency medical care and air traffic control. In addition, some employees of federal contractors may also be furloughed.
* Unlike the last two shutdowns, both of which occurred in the 1990s, this one would take place during tax preparation and filing season. That could mean delayed tax refunds to an untold number of Americans, congressional aides say.
* The last shutdown closed much of the federal government from December 16, 1995, to January 6, 1996. National parks and museums were closed, an estimated 200,000 applications for U.S. passports went unprocessed and work on more than 3,500 bankruptcy cases was suspended.
* Also during the last shutdown, new patients were not accepted into clinical research at the National Institutes of Health, hotline calls to NIH about diseases were not answered, and toxic waste cleanup work at 609 sites stopped.
* A shutdown may be felt on a number of fronts, including delays in approving import and export licenses, Social Security applications and benefits for military veterans, congressional aides say.
* Essential personnel in the last shutdown — employees who remained on the job — included members of the U.S. military, federal criminal investigators, those involved in federal disaster assistance and workers vital to keeping crucial elements of the U.S. money and banking system up and running.
(Thanx to Thomas Ferraro for the facts)
I know this is just a stunt, but if not can someone explain to me how this will balance a budget (as if there is a chance in Hell that will ever happen)? Explain how this is good for a struggling economy?
(Pause here and wait for someone to step up and take the challenge of an explanation)……..(and wait)……
I am tired of waiting….then why do it? Since you whole promise machine has promised to lessen the deficit and create jobs….if those neither then why pursue such tom-foolery? My guess would be that it is either political theater or a major bluff……but what happens if the Dems call the bluff? Then the public is SCREWED! AGAIN!
Same old game – politics. NOTHING will change until you alter the system!
Exactly! The time is now and the reason is democracy is dying a slow a not so painful death…..
It’s the same old game – politics. NOTHING will change until you alter the system! 👿
Look for a post on “Is America One Country”…it is a tricky one but I will be working on it anyway……
Quin did you see the retweet on the lottery for schools in the UK?
No – can’t find it, but if it’s what I guess then I say it’s probably really BS – if people get the choice they are promised (and I think they will – eventually) then the problem goes away. In the meantime… it’s what Labour created!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/8351638/The-schools-lottery.html
Thanks for that – yes, well, like I said – there’s a great deal of BS floating around, but it IS a good example of just how wrong Labour got it all in the UK. Over their thirteen year tenure, they presided over HUGE increases in taxes (particularly in the area of so called “stealth taxes” – where a new and less than apparent tax or other charge is introduced) and public spending went through the roof on education, medical facilities, the police and the rest – and yet virtually ALL those services are now worse (some FAR worse) than when they came to power. Additionally, law and order declined, fewer people worked, a culture of “someone else will pay” blossomed and flourished along with idleness, drug addiction, home grown terrorism and a general malaise amongst the citizens of much of the country.
The result of all that? Our greatest claim to fame? The UK now has the HIGHEST priced fuel in the whole goddamned WORLD (way, way more than DOUBLE what you in the US pay) and some of the worst educated students anywhere in the developed world (outside of the US at least).
IF state schools (to which the vast majority of students go), were all much of a muchness, there wouldn’t be a problem, but in the same area you can easily get one BRILLIANT one and two or three bad ones with at least being absolutely AWFUL!
THAT is the legacy of Labour and how this current lot are going to sort it out I have NO idea – they seem willing and even determined, but you can’t correct a whole generation or so of utter failure overnight – if at all.
Just as your politics tend to lean towards the right, ours lean to the left, but the result is exactly the same – TOTAL SHIT!
That whole thing sounds a lot like our charter schools which is determined by a lottery……the kids are at the mercy of an idiot with a bingo machine…….
When did it first become politically incorrect to select bright students on the basis of the fact that they WERE bright, eh? I do so long for the days when the lunatics DIDN’T run the whole goddamned asylum!
So true…..my daughter would not be where she is today if we had to wait on a lottery…..it is a STUPID way to run education!
It’s a stupid way to run anything – except a lottery of course.
For sure……I am sorry if they got a lame ass idea from the US…..
Oh, I doubt it’s America’s fault – we’re VERY capable of being utterly stupid alone and quite unaided!
HA! what can I say to that….other than good one!