Little-Acorn
Gold Member
As usual, the media is forecasting doom and gloom if the Democrats decide to shut down the government. But in fact, not much gets shut down: All "essential services" keep running.
It brings up the question: If certain services aren't "essential", why is the government doing them in the first place?
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Yakima Herald Republic | The truth: Government won?t really shut down
The truth: Government wont really shut down
Posted on September 20, 2013
Andrew Taylor
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON Heres the truth about a government shutdown. The government doesnt shut down.
So the world wont end if a dysfunctional Washington cant find a way to pass a funding bill before the new budget year begins Oct. 1.
Social Security checks will still go out. Troops will remain at their posts. Doctors and hospitals will get their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. In fact, virtually every essential government agency, like the FBI, the Border Patrol and the Coast Guard, will remain open. Furloughed federal workers probably would get paid, eventually. Transportation Security Administration officers would continue to man airport checkpoints.
But lurking around the corner is a far bigger danger: Sometime in late October or early November, the government could run out of cash. The U.S. would be unable to pay all of its bills in full and on time for the first time in history if it couldnt borrow more money.
While the Treasury Department probably would make interest payments to bondholders to prevent a catastrophic default on the debt, it wouldnt be able to make other payments on time, which would mean delays in Social Security benefits and in paychecks for federal workers and troops in the field.
Americans would feel the pain.
To prevent a shutdown, Congress must pass a temporary spending bill before Oct. 1. (The House just passed this today, Sept. 20 -LA) To prevent a default, it must raise the $16.7 trillion cap on government borrowing.
Raising the debt limit is typically more difficult, but it has always been done because the possible consequences of default are so dire: upheaval in financial markets, a spike in U.S. borrowing costs and a host of delayed payments to both individual Americans and businesses. Under current estimates, the X date by which the government cant meet all of its payments would come in the latter half of October or early November. So Congress needs to act by mid-October to be safe.
In the separate case of a shutdown, fewer than half of the 2.1 million federal workers subject to it would be forced off the job if the Obama administration follows the rules followed by previous Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton. Thats not counting about 500,000 Postal Service employees or 1.4 million uniformed military personnel who would be exempt.
The rules for who works and who doesnt date back to the early 1980s and havent been significantly modified since. The Obama administration re-issued the guidance on Wednesday.
The air traffic control system, food inspection, Medicare, veterans health care and many other essential government programs would run as usual. The Social Security Administration would not only send out benefits but would continue to take applications. The Postal Service, which is self-funded, would keep delivering the mail. The Federal Emergency Management Agency could continue to respond to disasters at the height of hurricane season.
The Washington Monument would be closed. But its been closed anyway since an earthquake in 2011.
Museums along the National Mall would close, too. National parks would be closed to visitors, a loss often emphasized in shutdown discussions.
The Capitol would remain open, however. Congress is deemed essential, despite its abysmal poll ratings.
From a practical perspective, shutdowns usually arent that big a deal. They happened every year when Jimmy Carter was president, averaging 11 days each. During President Reagans two terms, there were six shutdowns, typically just one or two days apiece. Deals got cut. Everybody moved on.
In 1995-96, however, shutdowns morphed into political warfare, to the dismay of Republicans who thought they could use them to drag Clinton to the negotiating table on a balanced budget plan.
Republicans took a big political hit, but most Americans suffered relatively minor inconveniences like closed parks and delays in processing passport applications. Some 2,400 workers cleaning up toxic waste sites were sent home, and there were short delays in processing veterans claims.
Under a precedent-setting memorandum by Reagan budget chief David Stockman, federal workers are exempted from furloughs if their jobs are national security-related or if they perform essential activities that protect life and property.
In 1995, that meant 571,000 Defense Department civilian employees, some 69 percent, remained at post, while 258,000 other Pentagon workers were furloughed. Eighty-five percent of Veterans Administration employees went to work as did 70 percent of Transportation Department workers. The Transportation Security Administration didnt exist back then, but agency officials have given assurances that TSA officers will screen airline passengers, though administrative workers will stay home.
Then theres Social Security. Current beneficiaries need not worry; their payments wouldnt be affected. And given the most recent precedent from the Clinton administration, those eligible to apply for benefits would be able to do so. During the first shutdown in 1995, the Social Security Administration initially furloughed 93 percent of its workers and stopped enrolling new beneficiaries. But it reversed course in the second shutdown and kept 50,000 additional workers on the job.
(Full text of the article can be read at the above URL)
It brings up the question: If certain services aren't "essential", why is the government doing them in the first place?
-------------------------------------
Yakima Herald Republic | The truth: Government won?t really shut down
The truth: Government wont really shut down
Posted on September 20, 2013
Andrew Taylor
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON Heres the truth about a government shutdown. The government doesnt shut down.
So the world wont end if a dysfunctional Washington cant find a way to pass a funding bill before the new budget year begins Oct. 1.
Social Security checks will still go out. Troops will remain at their posts. Doctors and hospitals will get their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. In fact, virtually every essential government agency, like the FBI, the Border Patrol and the Coast Guard, will remain open. Furloughed federal workers probably would get paid, eventually. Transportation Security Administration officers would continue to man airport checkpoints.
But lurking around the corner is a far bigger danger: Sometime in late October or early November, the government could run out of cash. The U.S. would be unable to pay all of its bills in full and on time for the first time in history if it couldnt borrow more money.
While the Treasury Department probably would make interest payments to bondholders to prevent a catastrophic default on the debt, it wouldnt be able to make other payments on time, which would mean delays in Social Security benefits and in paychecks for federal workers and troops in the field.
Americans would feel the pain.
To prevent a shutdown, Congress must pass a temporary spending bill before Oct. 1. (The House just passed this today, Sept. 20 -LA) To prevent a default, it must raise the $16.7 trillion cap on government borrowing.
Raising the debt limit is typically more difficult, but it has always been done because the possible consequences of default are so dire: upheaval in financial markets, a spike in U.S. borrowing costs and a host of delayed payments to both individual Americans and businesses. Under current estimates, the X date by which the government cant meet all of its payments would come in the latter half of October or early November. So Congress needs to act by mid-October to be safe.
In the separate case of a shutdown, fewer than half of the 2.1 million federal workers subject to it would be forced off the job if the Obama administration follows the rules followed by previous Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton. Thats not counting about 500,000 Postal Service employees or 1.4 million uniformed military personnel who would be exempt.
The rules for who works and who doesnt date back to the early 1980s and havent been significantly modified since. The Obama administration re-issued the guidance on Wednesday.
The air traffic control system, food inspection, Medicare, veterans health care and many other essential government programs would run as usual. The Social Security Administration would not only send out benefits but would continue to take applications. The Postal Service, which is self-funded, would keep delivering the mail. The Federal Emergency Management Agency could continue to respond to disasters at the height of hurricane season.
The Washington Monument would be closed. But its been closed anyway since an earthquake in 2011.
Museums along the National Mall would close, too. National parks would be closed to visitors, a loss often emphasized in shutdown discussions.
The Capitol would remain open, however. Congress is deemed essential, despite its abysmal poll ratings.
From a practical perspective, shutdowns usually arent that big a deal. They happened every year when Jimmy Carter was president, averaging 11 days each. During President Reagans two terms, there were six shutdowns, typically just one or two days apiece. Deals got cut. Everybody moved on.
In 1995-96, however, shutdowns morphed into political warfare, to the dismay of Republicans who thought they could use them to drag Clinton to the negotiating table on a balanced budget plan.
Republicans took a big political hit, but most Americans suffered relatively minor inconveniences like closed parks and delays in processing passport applications. Some 2,400 workers cleaning up toxic waste sites were sent home, and there were short delays in processing veterans claims.
Under a precedent-setting memorandum by Reagan budget chief David Stockman, federal workers are exempted from furloughs if their jobs are national security-related or if they perform essential activities that protect life and property.
In 1995, that meant 571,000 Defense Department civilian employees, some 69 percent, remained at post, while 258,000 other Pentagon workers were furloughed. Eighty-five percent of Veterans Administration employees went to work as did 70 percent of Transportation Department workers. The Transportation Security Administration didnt exist back then, but agency officials have given assurances that TSA officers will screen airline passengers, though administrative workers will stay home.
Then theres Social Security. Current beneficiaries need not worry; their payments wouldnt be affected. And given the most recent precedent from the Clinton administration, those eligible to apply for benefits would be able to do so. During the first shutdown in 1995, the Social Security Administration initially furloughed 93 percent of its workers and stopped enrolling new beneficiaries. But it reversed course in the second shutdown and kept 50,000 additional workers on the job.
(Full text of the article can be read at the above URL)
