How The Government Shutdown Affects You

The Federal Government closed last night after our brilliant elected officials were unable to come up with a compromise over Obamacare. Now just under 2 million non-critical government employees are on forced furlough, while the geniuses who caused this mess are still getting paid.

I generally don't discuss politics, but this is absurd.  I'm upset not as a Democrat or a Republican, but as an American citizen who if fed up with the idiotic [bologna] coming from Washington.

What does the shutdown mean for you?  According to CNN, here are ten ways the government shutdown will affect you.

1. All national parks, zoos, and museums are closed.  You can't visit Yosemite, Yellowstone, or the Statue of Liberty on vacation if you wanted to. Each of the 368 sites run by the National Park Service are closed.

2. If you're what's considered a non-critical federal employee, you're on furlough. However, in the two shutdowns we had in the '90s, the government ended up paying all the employees retroactively when the shutdown ended.

3. Military employees, on the other hand, will get paid. Congress has put in special exemptions for them during all this nonsense.

4. Although 1.8 million government workers are not getting a paycheck, you and them are still required to pay taxes.  Did you expect otherwise?

5. The post office is still up and running. Neither snow, nor rain, nor government shutdowns can stop the United States Postal Service.

6. The controversial Obamacare is still getting funded.  Those funds don't depend on the congressional budget process.  The Republican effort to stop Obamacare is actually keeping it going.

7. You can't get a gun permit. Not that this would stop some people from obtaining firearms, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms would be closed.

8. No federal loans. That means no small business loans or home loans. And veterans' benefits wouldn't be paid either. Yet Social Security payments are expected to continue.

9. If you live in Washington, D.C., you will find absolutely no city services, including garbage pick-up. The city budget has to be approved by Congress.

10. American pride would take a hit, or maybe not... actually, who knows. Most of us have plenty to spare, but it never looks good for the most powerful country on Earth to be floundering around with no leadership and no cash flow.

So what do you think about what is happening in Washington?  Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.