Government Letdown … I mean Shutdown.

             

The Statue of Liberty, which symbolizes freedom for the United States of America, is officially closed due to the shutdown of the government. How could that be? The one historical monument which represents America and freedom for our country is closed, along with all other national parks and monuments in D.C. This makes you wonder, to what level of ‘bad’ has it gone to that we are living in a society and government like this today?

The United States of America no longer has a running government (technically). So let me list off what I am able to do now:  

1) If the government can’t agree on a budget, I don’t have to agree on my school tuition. Government doesn’t pay, I don’t pay. Simple as that!

2) Who needs to pay for taxes anyway! Who knows where they are going now! Woohoo! No taxes (for now).  

What I am NOT able to do now:

1) Go to Washington D.C. and learn about the history of the American government in the museums. Visit the Washington Monument, or the Lincoln Memorial, enjoy our country

2) Visit the Statue of Liberty to understand what freedom means to this country.

3) “Due to the lapse in appropriated funds, all public lands managed by National parks will be closed.” Great! I really don’t need to relax and let go in one of the beautiful parks my land has to offer me.

How is this government shutdown affecting me personally? It’s probably not. I’m just basically complaining for the sake of complaining. We all know that this country loves drama, and let’s just hope that they aren’t putting on this entire show for the people to talk about. If they did want it to be just drama, good for them, because I believe it is working.

This government shutdown is affecting my brother however, who works for the Navy. His boss told him and his coworkers to enjoy life and take a mini one week vacation, to not come into work until the government has be restored. And who knows when that will actually be. Let’s just hope it is sometime soon.

P.S. All of my points are just to poke fun. None of these should be taken seriously. Of course I am paying my tuition and my taxes.

Let me explain a bit of what is actually going on in the government. Basically, Congress and the President are not on good terms right now and are facing off in yet another spending conflict. On September 30, they did not agree on a funding bill, and since midnight on that day, much of the government shut down. Do you remember in 2011 when this happened too? Except, it was only a scare, and no government really shut down. Congress avoided shutdown by passing a spending measure a bit after the midnight deadline, but they did it, and nevertheless government was kept running. Throughout this time, Congress is getting paid, the President is getting his enormous salary, and they won’t be affected; only the people working for the government will be out of work for a while.  The people who actually care some for the government and work for it, they will be out of work. It doesn't make sense to me. It seems as if the very high people in the government (President, Congress) don’t care about the people working for them. We will see what happens, how long it will take to get back on track, and how long it will keep government employees out of work.