Government Shutdown
* During a Government Shutdown millions of Americans, of all ages, will suffer tremendous financial and emotional stress; while members of Congress continue to get paid!
* Political Parties use the issue of Government Funding as a “Political Football” to manipulate the legislative process to achieve party goals!
* What happened to government of, by, and for the people?
Federal employees could be furloughed or asked to work without pay.
* 2.1 million civilian federal workers could see delayed paychecks…roughly 4 million federal contract workers could receive no paycheck…thousands of federal firefighters face a looming pay cut…1.3 million active-duty servicemembers who would continue to work but would not get a paycheck…of the estimated 800,000 Pentagan civilians, some 200,000 would be required to work without pay, because their roles are considered “necessary to protect life and property”…there are no resources for federal agencies to contine participating in federal-state-local task forces; which includes working on human trafficking, investigations to disrupt terrorist operations, and crackdown on drug violations…the Department of Health and Human Services says 42% of agency staff would be furloughed…the National Institute of Health would furlough 80% of its staff.
Nutrition and food assistance programs could be paused.
* 100,000 federal workers could need food assistance…the Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program are preparing for nearly 7 million pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children who rely on WIC to lose access during a shutdown.
Social services for food and education come to a halt.
* Head Start, which supports education for 3 and 4 year olds across the country, and Meals on Wheels, which brings food to elderly people, could also get interrupted…millions of Americans will lose food assistance.
Other federal programs and systems will be effected.
* National Parks are expected to close…Visitor centers, campgrounds, research facilities, and museums could be closed for the duration…hazardous drinking water…processing times at the IRS will slow down…longer airport lines…federal support for indigenous tribes will come to a halt…military families have less access to critical health care…federally supported child care services will be stopped…poor families lose support for housing and food.
NO COMMON SENSE
ANALYZE THE EXAMPLE
* Which supports and barriers were in play?
* What were the dynamics?
* Who, or what, won the Tug-of-War?
* Discuss the outcome with your friends and family.
* Use Post #4 as a reference for the dynamics, and the relationships, between the supports and barriers.
