Quizzes & Puzzles1 min ago
The Us Government Shutdown
Can somebody explain what this means - why it has happened, what will happen and the consequences?
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From a link in your own post:
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Did you read the link-from-the-link (about the effects of a similar shutdown in 2013)?
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Good synopsis on this site. Second time in 5 years. The last time the Government was shut down for 16 days and thousands of workers told to stay home. Essential services are kept running. I think we are probably panicking more than the Americans.
Good synopsis on this site. Second time in 5 years. The last time the Government was shut down for 16 days and thousands of workers told to stay home. Essential services are kept running. I think we are probably panicking more than the Americans.
This cannot happen in the UK, as it arises from a quirk of the US Constitution relating to how the budget works. In this case I think it arises from the last budget lasting only up until yesterday, whereas here we tend to set budgets lasting years in advance (and then, each year, revise it). There are other reasons why it can pretty much only happen in the US, but that's certainly one of them.
In this case you'd be correct to say "only in America", although whether it should be a criticism or not is another matter.
The fact is that shutdowns are almost implicitly designed to be a part of the US system, and in theory the threat of such a funding crisis should prompt everyone to cooperate to avoid it whilst simultaneously ensuring that no one branch of government holds all the cards. (This is also the reason that the Senate couldn't pass the budget even with a 50-49 majority in the final vote; the threshold of 60 is deliberate to ensure compromise and agreement, even with opponents, so that a party can't force through major changes on just a slim majority.)
But then, systems designed to encourage compromise don't work if both sides are moving further apart on key policy points, rather than closer together.
The fact is that shutdowns are almost implicitly designed to be a part of the US system, and in theory the threat of such a funding crisis should prompt everyone to cooperate to avoid it whilst simultaneously ensuring that no one branch of government holds all the cards. (This is also the reason that the Senate couldn't pass the budget even with a 50-49 majority in the final vote; the threshold of 60 is deliberate to ensure compromise and agreement, even with opponents, so that a party can't force through major changes on just a slim majority.)
But then, systems designed to encourage compromise don't work if both sides are moving further apart on key policy points, rather than closer together.
US Goverment Shutdown. Yes. I agree with a lot of you. I had to google it after the person in US sending me something in the UK said post might be affected. So any of you expecting mail from the US, rest assured. Postal services from US wont be affected because the US Postal System is not funded by taxes. Effectively, only services funded by US taxes will be affected by the shutdown. Hope this helps.
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