Government Shutdown Looms As Politicians Put Their Agendas Above Economy’s Well-Being

For those that haven’t heard, the federal government is three days away from a shutdown. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have yet to agree on a budget deal that will continue to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year; if they cannot come to an agreement by Friday night, the federal budget will run out, affecting about 800,000 federal workers.

The two parties have been battling over the amount of spending that should be cut from the budget- Democrats are willing to make $33 billion in cuts, while Republicans are insisting on over $60 billion in cuts. On Monday, the House introduced a bill that funds the government for the rest of the week and funds the Department of Defense for the rest of the fiscal year. The bill also makes $12 billion in cuts and prohibits taxpayer funds for abortions in the District of Columbia, provisions at which both the Democratic Senate and Obama have balked.

Obama has invited House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to the White House tonight in an attempt to work out a deal. He has chided lawmakers for “trying to inject politics into what should be simple debate about how to pay our bills,” referencing Republicans’ attempts to defund Planned Parenthood, EPA, and Public Broadcasting, and said that a government shutdown would just further hurt the economy.

Should the government shut down, approximately 800,000 federal workers would be furloughed. The IRS would not process paper tax returns or send out tax refunds. National parks would close. The Small Business Administration would stop approving applications for loans from small businesses. Members of the military would continue to work, but would not get paid, hurting military personnel who are already living paycheck-to-paycheck.

Interestingly, members of Congress continue to get paid during a government shutdown, along with members of their staff that they deem necessary. Perhaps that’s why Republicans don’t seem to be in a rush to compromise- it isn’t their livelihood that’s at stake.

As Obama himself said, Republicans need to put compromise ahead of politics. If they want to continue to push for anti-abortion, anti-environmental policies, fine- but they shouldn’t be putting the jobs and livelihoods of 800,000 hardworking people at risk in the process.