Before I begin just know all the facts that I state are from a USA Today story (“66 Questions and Answers About The Government Shutdown”) which I will link to at the end. Some of the highlights:
1. You will still get your mail (more bills).
2. If you are currently enjoying nature in one of our national parks you now have 2 days to clear out.
3. The Smithsonian, the Holocaust Museum and most Presidential Libraries will be closed. (I have a group of 8th grade students leaving to see the Holocaust Museum next week as they just read ‘The Diary of Anne Frank”.)
4. ‘eVerify’, the government’s system for owners to check the legal work status of employees is shut down. (I did not see that one coming).
5. Seniors: Good News! You will continue to get Social Security. Just don’t lose your card as they are not issuing any right now.
6. The IRS has suspended all audits! More time to hide stuff!
7. Number of furloughed government employees? Estimates are 800,000 to 1 million.
8. Congress ( and the President) will continue to get paid. (Saw that one coming).
9. If the shutdown continues into October the money helping wounded Veterans will run out. This could have an effect on more than 3.6 million veterans. My Dad was a vet and this is unacceptable. Oh, but they will still have the money for their tombstones.
10. The odds are that this will not last long. Most of theses shutdowns (there have been 17) only last a matter of days. The longest recorded was 21 days. Here’s to hoping Congress can get it together. I hear one of the holdups is they do not want to fund ‘Obamacare.”
If you are wondering why I all of a sudden went into politics (which I normally hate) I just couldn’t resist this story. Also no good trials right now.
