How would an unsigned US government funding bill affect america?
It seems that The US government cannot decide on how to fund the government. split between the Republicans and Democrats in terms of how deep the cuts should be.
Apparently, if the funding is not signed off by Friday, the government goes into shutdown.
Apart from being surprised that such a situation could occur, how is it going to affect the US if that does come to pass?
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
As I recall, this happened when Clinton was in office, maybe about 15 years ago, the government was shut down for a few days. Not too much resulted from it, other than political fallout. Probably the worst thing that could happen that would affect people directly is if benefit and pension checks don't go out, but when it happened under Clinton, IIRC, they made sure that the checks were still processed.
As Sarah said, this is not as extreme as it sounds. It will largely affect govt. buildings and parks the hardest. Even the checks tend to still go out. This will likely hit the Republicans harder then the Democrats in the public opinion court. If it somehow lasts for weeks it will get ugly but I am doubtful the parties will let it last longer than a week.
I'm still surprised that your government can effectively be forced to stop running like this? Who does the money belong to, to fund the government, if not the government?
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Well, I think basically it's because the government can't run without the consent of Congress, and Congress won't give consent if there isn't a budget. And if This only applies to non-essential services. Essential employees like police will keep working.
Why does that make Congress sound like a bunch of beancounters.
I guess this is one of those checks and balances that exist in US Politics.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
From the earliest days of US, (1789 on) The Congress held the purse strings as a strong check on the Executive branch.
If the Clinton precedent is any guide, Congress - once again dominated by the Republicans, although just in the House this time and not both the House and Senate - will take the lion's share of the political blame for any shutdown. Hard to say how it will play out this time, but obviously I hope they find common ground ASAP and get a budget passed. This whole rigamarole is embarrassing.
Well it looks like something was signed off at 5 minutes to midnight. Was it really all over Planned Parenthood?
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
No, it wasn't completely over Planned Parenthood but it was a big chunk of it. Tea Party wants far more cuts and oddly all over social programs. Tea Party and regular Republicans want to make the Bush Tax cuts for the wealthy permanent. Tea Party is pushing hard to change medicare and medicaid programs. The medical programs for the elderly (over 65) and the poor (not sure the exact math for this one). Oddly few of the deficit worriers seem to be willing to target the military for any real cuts or of course cancel the Bush tax cuts that is only for the rich. So this is a hidden war on the middle-class and the poor.
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