After the longest government shutdown in US history, the government has reopened Monday. During the shutdown, all federal employees deemed "essential personnel" such as the TSA and FBI were forced to work without pay for weeks. The shutdown has affected these people as they have gotten behind on bills and some have been forced to apply for food stamps. Some employees have also called in sick and cited financial reasons for their absence, which caused workplaces to be understaffed, like airports, which ended up having wait times of over an hour. Federal employees were not the only people affected by the shutdown. The US economy has lost $11 billion, $3 billion of which has been lost forever. The shutdown may be over but it will have lasting effects on the economy.
Discussion Questions:
1. What do you think of the shutdown? Was anyone trying to solve the shutdown?
2. With the shutdown over, do you think there will be any lasting effects on people or the economy?
3. Are there any measures that can be taken in order to avoid another long shutdown?
I think that simply the idea that we can have government shutdowns is incredibly illogical and that government shutdowns should never happen; they do not happen in other parts of the world. The ability to have a government shutdown has made it so that government employees can be held hostage government officials to try to get what they want passed. I think that something like funding for a border wall should just be decided by a simple vote in Congress, period. The Congress is the way that we are supposed to make decisions because they represent the will of the people and trying to get measures passed through other ways is undemocratic.
ReplyDeleteThe shutdown was a result of political hardball. And yes, people were making efforts to solve the shutdown. A major Democrat goal was leaving a debate over wall funding until after government funding was restored, at least temporarily. The ramifications of this shutdown are legitimate. Imagine how many people have already been dissuaded from working for the federal government after seeing how their futures and livelihood can be endangered by a political competition in Washington. A lot fewer qualified people will be excited to provide their services to the government, and a lot of businesses have lost significant revenue waiting for the government to be able to perform the functions necessary to enable or facilitate their work. The only feasible measure for preventing further shutdowns is the dissolution of the debt ceiling. This is an arbitrary restriction that the government imposes over the amount of money it borrows, and it purely exists so that political blame can be shifted around, practically it has no function, because the ceiling will never be respected, and only serves to make the government unable to spend money until a deal is reached.
ReplyDeleteI think the shut down was extremely embarrassing and selfish. The politicians in this country, namely our Executive in Chief, allowed partisan arguments to harm the livelihoods of hard working Americans, the very people that these politicians are elected to represent. For the government employees that had to work during the shutdown with no pay, many felt extremely neglected and angry. Some even called the situation modern slavery. Trump's stubborn approach to discussions during the shutdown and public display of "his way or the highway" mentality on twitter was extremely discouraging and concerning. He consistently puts his own image before the wellbeing of the people of this country. We need a leader who thinks rationally and about the greater good, rather than one who thinks only of himself.
ReplyDeleteWhile the general public may not necessarily suffer from long lasting effects from the longest government shutdown, federal employees will. Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck, spending most of their money on paying bills and saving very little. This remains true for federal employees as well. During the government shutdown, federal employees nationwide went over a month without pay, and therefore would have struggled to pay bills, hospital fees, living expenses, etc. In order to make ends meet, many likely not only had to sacrifice personal comforts, but also take loans in order to be able to pay their bills. After the government shutdown, civil servants will find that their credit scores have suffered, and may even be in debt trying to pay back bank loans, and have lasting financial struggles.
ReplyDeleteI think the government shutdown was really unnecessary. Because of the shutdown, many lives of federal workers were affected because of partisan disagreements which is a ridiculous reason to have a government shutdown. We are like the only country to have government shutdowns and in my opinion, it is completely unfair to federal employees because in a way, it's like trying to force the government to pass legislative that is being desired which does not represent a fair democracy.In my opinion, shutting down the government to get funding to build a wall is very irrational and a very invalid reason to shut down the whole government and negatively affect the lives of many federal employees.
ReplyDeleteI think the shutdown went on for too long for the worst reason. The fact that both political parties in the white house were being extremely stubborn (effects of polarization) made it difficult for them to come to a compromise. Funding for the border wall is not necessary to this country’s survival which is why I think it was completely stupid and useless. Even though the shutdown is over, there are definitely long lasting consequences like Ege mentioned. The money we lost is going to be very difficult to get back, if we can earn it back at all, and the detrimental effect it’s had on federal employees cannot be reversed for some time. There were millions of people affected by this shutdown and it was all because our president wants to build a wall. I think the key to avoiding another devastating shutdown like this one is for white house members to be more open to compromise and put the needs of the people in our country before their own personal desires.
ReplyDeleteI personally think it is quite unfair that a game of politics is affecting people who live paycheck to paycheck. People who work so called blue collar jobs are now unable to pay for basic necessities while all they were seeking was a stable income. This shutdown is a clear example of how the polarization between groups has become stronger and stronger in the recent years, and this leads to many economic consequences.
ReplyDeleteGovernment shut down happen, but I think that the reason for this shut down is absurd. I am dismayed by the fact that a border wall was the reason for the suffering of so many federal employees. The TSA and coast guard are essential to the safety of our nation, so I find it extremely ironic that the government shut down because of a wall that will supposedly protect the nation while simultaneously compromising the safety. I just wished that the government can change the way they handle shut downs so that federal employees would still get paid. Additionally, though government shut downs are inevitable, I hope that it will not run this long in the future. The duration of this shut down was unprecedented and unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is not an uncommon occurrence, government shutdowns are very harmful to the livelihood of many government workers. They continue to work without pay. I think that this government shutdown should have ended long ago. The dispute over the border wall is not worth one month of inactive government.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the general concept of a government shutdown is illogical, as controversial decisions and disputes through Congress should be worked through in debate and parliamentary procedure, rather than impacting hundreds of thousands of Americans and jeopardizing their stability. Even if we have reached a standstill in a Congressional setting, I believe that we need to change the structure of a government shutdown in order to limit the number of Americans impacted. This unprecedented length of the shutdown was incredibly detrimental to citizens, and I believe that something must be altered in order to prevent this from happening again.
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