Government Shuts Down At Midnight

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Dan Rackley

Dan Rackley is a US Naval veteran living in Philadelphia and a contributor to "Will They Ever Trust Us Again?"

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April 8th, 2011 4:52 PM

Government Shuts Down At Midnight

Who Will Be Hurt, And Who's To Blame

By Dan Rackley

In a few hours from the time of this writing, unless both sides of Congress can come to an agreement, the United States government will shut down for the first time since 1995. The main sticking point as it seems from looking at all the major news sources is that the funding for Planned Parenthood is the main sticking point. The GOP is staunchly against anything that funds abortion in any way. This is the one thing that is keeping them from coming to terms on a budget with the Democrats. The potential shutdown would have extremely far reaching effects throughout most of our society. For example, if any federal employee so much as used a government issued device to conduct any sort of business, they can be charged with a crime. This is just plain ridiculous. So if there’s a federally employed social worker that oversees an individual that might need to speak with them to get that person through a difficult time, they can be thrown in jail. This is really silly and the GOP needs to wise up and realize that there are more important things at stake than what the Republicans are griping about here.

The only reason that Planned Parenthood is even up for discussion in this whole budget mess is because they are hard line against the group in every possible fashion. This is what is going to cause the shutdown. Because the GOP doesn’t agree with something. And you simply cannot properly do accounting with your heart. You need to do it with your head guys.

Another thing that simply sends my blood boiling is the fact that during the shutdown, Congress will still get paid. Or like some of them are saying they will not accept their paychecks. Big deal. Maybe some of the hundreds of thousands of people that are being left in the lurch don’t have that luxury. The majority of people that this is going to affect are average working class government employees. You are taking food out of people’s mouths here.

The one thing about all this that I have read in the news that sends me through the roof is that members of the military will get paid during a potential shutdown. Now listen, It’s hard enough as it is to get people to join the military. In many ways, it’s thankless work where you put your life on the line in more ways than imaginable. The hardships that a member of the United States Armed Forces volunteers, I repeat, VOLUNTEERS to endure in service to their country is staggering. Then the Republicans have the gall to say that our men and women in combat here and all over the world will not be getting paid. But they will be? What a load of garbage. If any member of the Republican Party takes one cent of pay that should be going to a man or woman in the military they should have the decency to resign there post as soon as the shutdown is over. Because any compensation they take when the ones doing the fighting aren’t getting paid is nothing more than blood money. Pure and simple.

There are men and woman over in Iraq and Afghanistan that die every day. This shutdown also means that death benefits paid to surviving members of a soldier’s family will also not be paid during a shutdown. So let me get this straight, your husband or wife goes overseas and gives their life for their country. Your government tells you that you are going to be taken care of. And now, all because of some pissing match about Planned Parenthood, those people too are going to be left without anything for awhile. I hope that Congress gets this all figured out. By my clock they have around seven hours and change left before the shutdown starts. Maybe they should cut their own pay just a little bit so they can act for the greater good. And isn’t that what they are supposed to be doing? Acting for the greater good and not furthering their own agendas?