WASHINGTON – A political stalemate has led to a government shutdown for the first time in nearly 20 years.
With Republicans and Democrats in congress at odds over the Affordable Care Act, the two sides were unable to come to an agreement over emergency spending for government services, effectively forcing a shut-down for many offices and agencies across the country, including state those dealing with health, housing, regulatory agencies and national parks. In all, an estimated 800,000 federal employees are being told they can’t work. However, basic “essential” services such as Mail and social security services will continue, along with funding for service men and women. Also, the new health care exchanges will also kick into gear.
Among the services expected to run out of funding as a result of the shutdown are the both the SNAP and WIC programs, which are crucial to providing food for low-income individuals and families. Also, the IRS will likely have to suspend audits and examinations of returns. And new applications for Social Security and other benefits are likely to back up.
At issue is ObamaCare – also known as the Affordable Care Act. The Republican-led House says that it will only keep government running if Washington either defunds or delay key elements of ObamaCare. Both the White House and the Democratic-led Senate are insisting that Republicans back off that demand.
Meanwhile, NPR is reporting today that even if the two sides do come to an agreement in the coming days, there’s another ominous battle looming: The federal government’s “debt ceiling” must be lifted by Oct. 17 or it risks defaulting on its debts. Republicans have already signaled that they will try to block that from happening unless they get their way on Obamacare.
Leave a Reply