US Gov't 101 (What the Pending Government Shut Down Means for You)

So, back in my gov class, the topic du jour was this impending impasse of our central government.  What pervaded amongst the majority of the ill- or non-informed members of the class, was this fear that if congress couldn't come to a deal with the federal budget, everything would come crumbling down around us as if we were Japan.

Well, let me be the one to assure you all, that, government will still be operational even after the 12:01am deadline on Saturday.  What's going to be "shut down" will be non-essential services.

I'll give you the rhetoric that was spewed in class and dispute it with facts:

1.  Government will be non-existent, and society will crumble into a regionalized hierarchy similar to any post-apocalyptic-style film made in the last 30 years.

False!  Government will still be operational, just not at 100% (See also: the Deathstar).  As I mentioned, essential services, such as federal law enforcement agencies (the FBI, DEA, US Marshals, etc) the military and other government agencies (such as the IRS) will still be open on Monday.  These services and agencies are vital to the every day operation of our country, and therefore cannot be shut off.


2.  The Post Office will be closed indefinitely!

False!  The United States Post Office is a self-sustainable, essential service to US citizens.  That being said, any agency that is self-sustaining (meaning, it costs people money to use it, ie, buying stamps, paying for postage...) is not subject to the government's shut down, if it should occur.


3.  We don't have to file our taxes!

False!  You do, in fact, have to file if you haven't done so already.  Using the excuse "the government was out of order when I tried to file" will be looked upon as "bullshit" by the IRS.  And remember too, the federal government's impending shut down does not directly effect state-run agencies, meaning, you'll still have to file your state (and city, where applicable... Looking at you, NYC) taxes.

However, if you're filing a paper return, you can expect a possible delay in getting your check.  It's being advised that those who normally file paper returns should look into filing electronically, because the electronic dispersal of funds is not going to be affected by the looming shut down, since no humans are involved in that end of things.  People who file electronically can expect to get their tax returns on time and in good order.


4.  Does this mean I won't get my social security check?

No, as with all electronically debited funds, no human is involved in the dispersal of that money.  If you get a government check every month, from say, social security or the VA, you should be in good hands, as those checks are set up to roll on the first (or whatever day) of each month, regardless of what congress does or doesn't do.

What WILL be affected by the (probable) federal government shut down will be what are considered "non-essential" positions.  These positions include staff at federal museums (think, the guy who checks coats at the National Archive or the Library of Congress), congressional support staff (cafeteria cooks on Capital Hill), and government researchers, tho it should be noted that any medical research trials that are currently underway will continue, but no new research projects will be allowed to start.

How this will affect the military: If you, or someone you know, is in the armed services, they'll still have a job.  Although, that they're getting paid to conduct that job is up in the air at this point.  If the shut down last at least a week, service members will see a 50% reduced pay check come April 29th (usually they get paid on the 1st of each month, but May 1st is on a Sunday this year, so it reverts to the Friday previous).  If the shut out lasts longer than a week, they won't receive a check again until the impasse is corrected or their next pay period, whichever comes first.

Why that sucks, aside from the obvious reasons, is because the bulk of our armed services are young people, usually with families, who are living literally paycheck to paycheck.  What compounds things is that a lot of service members are overseas and it's the families that are forced to deal with the short comings with the pay.  Granted, pay will be retroactive to the when the shut down started, but tell that to a 22 year old mom of 3 who hasn't seen her equally young husband in 6 months because he's in the middle of a war zone.

So, in the end, there's no real reason to panic, unless you're a non-essential government employee or a military service member.  On a personal note, I find it completely ridiculous that congress is so adversarial that they would sooner face a complete shut down of federal government than "show weakness" by conceding to the other party.

It's time to grow the fuck up, boys and girls.