Reflecting on the Government Shutdown

I like to keep up with current events; it’s one of my favorite things to do when I’m not working on homework or studying or projects for one of my classes. Politics in particular, is an area that I follow with great interest. So far this semester, I’ve tried to avoid writing about politics simply because there are so many events in the realm of technology that have also aroused my interest, some of which I have in fact opted to blog about. However, the insanity that we have seen out of Washington for the past few weeks has prompted me to spend more time reflecting on my views and on how shameful this situation has become. Late last night (or should I say very early this morning), when the President signed a bill to fund the federal government and raise the debt ceiling, we finally saw the end of a completely unnecessary crisis that did a number of things:

·         Closed off hundreds of national park sites all over the country, including Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, and the Statue of Liberty (although some of these locations were able to reopen with state funds after said states reached deals with the federal government).

·         Closed off all of Washington’s national memorials (much credit must be given to the veterans who broke past the barriers keeping people away from the World War II memorial).

·         Closed off all of the Smithsonian museums, including the National Zoo.

·         Placed in limbo numerous college sports games involving the service academies, before it was ultimately decided by the Defense Department that such games could proceed.

·         Prevented thousands upon thousands of hard-working Americans who work for the federal government from making money to support their families.

·         Prevented the families of brave Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country from receiving their death gratuities (until a special law was passed to restore them).

·         Severely impeded the abilities of numerous federal agencies to perform critical functions that support the well-being of Americans (such as federal efforts to help Colorado recover from its recent flooding).

·         Shut down the websites and social media accounts of numerous federal agencies.

·         Perhaps most seriously – brought us extremely close to the first default in our nation’s history; an occurrence that Warren Buffett likened to a “nuclear bomb.”

This list does not even come close to fully illustrating the impact of the government shutdown and the debt-ceiling standoff; however it is an interesting representative sample of what this country has had to go through these past few weeks. We should also recognize how this mess has impacted our standing in the world; it seriously erodes America’s image as a superpower. Our allies our wondering how much they can trust us – they’re probably thinking, “How can America be a useful partner in solving the world’s problems when it cannot even maintain a functioning government?” The shutdown forced the President to pull out of several Asia summits and remain home, allowing China and Russia to exert greater influence at these summits.

None of the major players in this fight – the Republicans, the Democrats, the President - can legitimately claim to have emerged from this standoff as winners; not when so much irreversible damage has already been done. Earlier today, Standard and Poor’s estimated the shutdown to have cost the US about $24 billion; that’s more than 100 times the payroll of the New York Yankees, more than the price of 83 Boeing 787s, or more than NASA’s entire budget.

It is important that we take time to understand what has been going on, because the impacts of a broken government will become very real to us (if they have not already) as we prepare to enter the workforce. The people whom we elect to represent us in Washington must take time to truly appreciate how millions of Americans’ lives are affected when the government cannot operate; I feel that some politicians understand this more than others, and for me to have that feeling is unfortunate.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/17/21009104-nine-things-that-cost-less-than-the-government-shutdown?lite