Shut our glorious government down and let's see if the sky is falling. Only for the politicians, of course!
Can't have that now can we? LOL.
Costs of federal shutdown would be felt far and wide - Washington Times
tax audits would be halted in their tracks, this weekend’s National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington canceled, and national parks and the Smithsonian shuttered if Congress can’t reach agreement on annual spending and the government shuts down at midnight Friday.
The military, federal law enforcement and other key officials would still be at work, earning pay - except their paychecks would be halted until the government funding stream is turned back on.
Negotiations on Capitol Hill continued Wednesday, and House Republicans readied a bill to extend the shutdown deadline by another week. Democrats, however, gave no signal they would accept the stopgap measure, arguing a final spending-cuts deal is there for the taking if the GOP would relent.
Late Wednesday night President Obama called House Speaker John A. Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to the White House for more than an hour of talks, and afterwards said a deal should be in reach if both sides are willing.
“What they did was narrow the issues and clarify the issues that are still outstanding,” Mr. Obama told reporters afterward. “I remain confident that if we’re serious about getting something done, we should be able to complete a deal and get it passed and avert a shutdown.”
Mr. Boehner, speaking just after the president, said neither side wants a shutdown, but agreed there had been some slow movement.
“We do have some honest differences, but I do think we made some progress. But i want to reiterate, there’s no agreement on a number and there’s no agreement on policy riders,” he said.
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