U.S. Government Shuts Down

Tuesday, the United States federal government shut down because congress could not come to agree on a government spending bill.  The spending bill for the government must be agreed upon by both the democrats and republicans, and neither side will budge.  Obama even talked to the Democratic and Republican leaders in congress Wednesday to try and help resolve the problem.  The U.S. government will not start back up until both sides of congress come to agree on government spending.

Personally, I think that there are much too many problems going on in the United States right now for the government to still be arguing like children over what the spending bill should be.  The only way the problem will be solved is if one side steps up and proposes an offer to meet half way on a certain spending bill. Both democrats and republicans are acting selfish if they have to spend extra time to come up with a spending bill when they could be using that time to solve other important problems that we have in the United States.

The federal government shutdown really has no direct effect on our lives, or so it may seem to most.  National parks are being shut down in Washington DC as well as all around the U.S. until the spending bill is decided upon.  Also, it would be awesome if you would not have to pay taxes because the government is shut down, but unfortunately that’s not how it works.  Taxes will still be collected and also federal bonds are still being issued.  Thankfully, all mail will still be sent and received like always.

One major effect that the shutdown of the U.S. government is having on Washington D.C. is that garbage will not be collected during the shutdown.  Because the government spending bill must have a budget for trash collection, no trash will be collected until the budget is agreed upon.  This could potentially be a big problem because the last government shut down lasted for 3 weeks, which would be an equivalent to about 1500 tons of garbage!  There is no saying exactly how long this shutdown will last though.  The issue could be solved as early as tomorrow but then again could still be an issue a month from now.  Hopefully for most tourists and people in Washington D.C. the issue is solved soon.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-02/u-s-government-shutdown-threatening-housing-recovery.html

Gittelsohn, John. "U.S. Government Shutdown Threatening Housing Recovery."Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 02 Oct. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.