Debt-Ceiling Shutdown Will Close Some Gov’t Websites

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CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

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If Congress doesn’t act before the Tuesday deadline, some of the government’s websites will go dark due to a lack of funding. The websites will remain dark until Congress passes legislation to allocate refunding of government operations.

“Many of the services offered through our websites, such as reference services and cataloging queries, require staffing,” Osterberg told Ars by e-mail. “Those activities and corresponding expenditures are not allowed in the event of a shutdown.”
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shut-down-everything.jpg
 
So the massive stimulus spending for 30+ years straight has been expensive?

Whodathunk?
 
Shut down the website that handles their pay and keep it off.
 
Twisted Kidney said:
So the massive stimulus spending for 30+ years straight has been expensive?

Whodathunk?
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This is just the bullshit play by people in office to try to get their way. They don't like a new bill that was approved, then they either shutdown the government by not approving spending or they just refuse to go into work for a few months so that nothing gets done.
 
Meanwhile the cost of running the website for 10 years is spent in a few hours in Iraq, not to mention some of the ridiculously high exec salaries of some government people.

They could auction off the domains though. :D
 
pfff make it easy no house or senate members get paided either and that starts first and mandatory 50% pay cut cause the results say they ain't worth it and are on the take anyways.
 
Exavior said:
This is just the bullshit play by people in office to try to get their way. They don't like a new bill that was approved, then they either shutdown the government by not approving spending or they just refuse to go into work for a few months so that nothing gets done.
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we would probably be better off if none of them ever showed up again
 
Really seems like the tea party is shutting down the entire government just so no one can see how cheap obamacare insurance will be on october 1st @ https://www.healthcare.gov/

The tea party is going to extremes to hide what happens when obamacare dictates that insurance companies have caps on their profits and have to spend their revenue on patient care instead of up to 50% profit by denying care to people that already paid for insurance.

I look forward to being able to chose cost vs benefit between different products (insurance plans) in the marketplace. Yay free market capitalism!

My insurance should stay roughly the same cost, but i get a lot more guarantees that im getting the coverage i have paid for.
 
Ticker305 said:
so if the government shuts down does that mean I can stop paying taxes?
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Not that the government will shutdown or anything close to that extent but I am totally with you! IRS e-file should be shutdown immediately for the next several years and no more paper filing should be excepted because that wastes money too ;)
 
May as well shutdown the government. It's probably the worse suggestion.

However, neither side is willing to compromise, and neither side is willing to sacrifice certain things. And, at the same time, both sides-- mostly Republicans-- would rather have the budget benefit themselves and their constituents and sponsors, than the American people. The Republican-led Congress already voted to cut funding to food stamps. I would not be surprised if they're willing to de-fund any social and veterans programs just for the poor excuse of "keeping the government open" rather than cut spending on unnecessary things like their own paychecks.
 
Being at the start of a long immigration process for my spouse I am not pleased with a shutdown ... they are three months into the background check and review phase ... we do not need delays ... I would respect these men of principle a lot more if they refused their own pay during these shutdowns ... even the ones who are trying to play the principle card are giving their money to charity (so instead of keeping open some other government function they get paid and then they give it away and take a tax deduction for charitable giving) ... only in Washington DC does this make sense :mad:
 
Ocean said:
Really seems like the tea party is shutting down the entire government just so no one can see how cheap obamacare insurance will be on october 1st @ https://www.healthcare.gov/

The tea party is going to extremes to hide what happens when obamacare dictates that insurance companies have caps on their profits and have to spend their revenue on patient care instead of up to 50% profit by denying care to people that already paid for insurance.

I look forward to being able to chose cost vs benefit between different products (insurance plans) in the marketplace. Yay free market capitalism!

My insurance should stay roughly the same cost, but i get a lot more guarantees that im getting the coverage i have paid for.
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You have the Tea Party pegged exactly. They don't want anyone to have health care. Their motivations are entirely evil. They can't possibly have any legitimate or respectable aims or political beliefs if they disagree with the Left, who have a monopoly on all that is Good and True.

But let's not cut those Tea Baggers any slack. Why go easy on them? It's abundantly clear that they want to dump poisons in our air and water, brutalize the elderly, and force teenagers to get pregnant. And, of course, they want to do all of this because. . . racism.

How do I know all of this? Because. . . shut up.

--H
 
There ya go... shut down the webpages that out to help out the funding issues!

"Here Johnny, I made seventy dollars, now we have three hundred million and seventy dollars"
 
There hasn't been a budget in, what, three years? So how did these sites stay up during that time?
 
Ocean said:
Really seems like the tea party is shutting down the entire government just so no one can see how cheap obamacare insurance will be on october 1st @ https://www.healthcare.gov/

The tea party is going to extremes to hide what happens when obamacare dictates that insurance companies have caps on their profits and have to spend their revenue on patient care instead of up to 50% profit by denying care to people that already paid for insurance.

I look forward to being able to chose cost vs benefit between different products (insurance plans) in the marketplace. Yay free market capitalism!

My insurance should stay roughly the same cost, but i get a lot more guarantees that im getting the coverage i have paid for.
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I hope they don't cutoff or repeal the Affordable Healthcare Act.

I can't get medical insurance from any major insurance company like Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Aetna, or others except for a state run insurance from the state of California. Why? I have cancer, the major insurance companies consider it a pre-existing condition. The best excuse Blue Cross gave me in a one page letter summarizes it down to this: It'd be too expensive to cover me for the duration of any necessary cancer treatment.

If I paid out of pocket, my chemotherapy treatments, hospital stays, doctor visits, and any possible surgery for one to one and a half years would cost approximately half a million dollars. I don't have that money. I'd rather die than try to pay off the medical bills if that happened. There is absolutely be no way I'd be able to come up with nearly $500,000 to pay for medical bills. I got lucky that I got approved by the state-run insurance.

And, they just voted to delay the AHCA for another year. I was hoping to see it take effect January 1st. The AHCA would have prevented insurance companies from denying someone like me from getting insurance.

I don't know how long I will be able to stay on the state run insurance especially if and when I return to work. And, when I return to work, I'm sure I'll need periodic medical checkups to ensure that the cancer hasn't returned.

I'm hoping that with the AHCA I'd also be able to find affordable health insurance as well after I start working again.

But, no. These fucking idiots in Congress would rather delay funding it for another year than cut their own paychecks by a certain amount or cut spending to the defense budget or other other unnecessary programs.

They'd rather see the majority of the American people in poverty as well as any war veterans, and have people without any means for medical insurance.

They're unempathetic idiots.
 
I would pay extra just to keep the government shut down, and i don't have money to spare
 
octoberasian said:
However, neither side is willing to compromise, and neither side is willing to sacrifice certain things.
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This is false. Both sides are jerks but the D's have compromised with the R's over and over again.

This shutdown is not about a failure for both sides to compromise. It is about the R's performing some Political Kabuki Theater to make it look like they tried their hardest to their constituancy come voting time. Voting to get rid of Obamacare has been done so many times its lost its shock value and no one is impressed...instead they're getting laughed at it.

Time to up the ante.

Where things get interesting is if they try to keep the shutdown going longer than 2 weeks...
 
Romale23 said:
I would pay extra just to keep the government shut down, and i don't have money to spare
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They don't do a full shutdown ... Air Traffic controllers, TSA, and Military have to work (they just don't get paid, I think) ... they just shutdown most of the functions of government that the citizens can access (applications for government services like Passports, Visas, SS benefits, etc; access to national monuments, things like that :( ) ... if they did have to do a full shutdown these things would get fixed right quick ;)
 
mesyn191 said:
This is false. Both sides are jerks but the D's have compromised with the R's over and over again.

This shutdown is not about a failure for both sides to compromise. It is about the R's performing some Political Kabuki Theater to make it look like they tried their hardest to their constituancy come voting time. Voting to get rid of Obamacare has been done so many times its lost its shock value and no one is impressed...instead they're getting laughed at it.

Time to up the ante.

Where things get interesting is if they try to keep the shutdown going longer than 2 weeks...
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You're right, the Democrats have been more than willing to compromise, but the Republicans, no. The Republican-controlled Congress would rather shutdown necessary and important programs for a good majority American people than work out a compromise to get a budget passed for once.

kbrickley said:
They don't do a full shutdown ... Air Traffic controllers, TSA, and Military have to work (they just don't get paid, I think) ... they just shutdown most of the functions of government that the citizens can access (applications for government services like Passports, Visas, SS benefits, etc; access to national monuments, things like that :( ) ... if they did have to do a full shutdown these things would get fixed right quick ;)
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And, when was the last time the government shut down? Was it five to ten years ago or more?

A lot of the necessary things to keep the government running even if in a limped state, will still run. It'd be crazy if they keep it shutdown longer than two weeks.

I'm surprised there hasn't been a riot in D.C. during a possible shutdown of government services.

In Sim City 4 (yes, bad example), my citizens will riot in the streets if I do anything to certain programs like cut funding to schools, fire departments, police, hospitals, and utilities. They'll leave town if I raised taxes or don't listen to them.

Maybe we should Congress copies of Sim City 4... they might learn a thing or two from it.
 
Some good things about the AHCA, some not good things. Can I just vote for it to NOT affect me in a negative way?

8% increase of premiums last year, 28% this year. Yeah...AHCA my ass.
 
TSA, ha. I'm sure cutting 90% of functions would leave 90% of people happy. Not bad if that's the case :D

As for the 'evil tea baggers'... there are ways tell insurance companies that they need to spend more % of their profits without bloating national spending AND taxing medical devices. A couple things people hate about this bill will be the extra money being wasted in government spending. And at least in my state, rates will be 2-3x higher now.
 
Hurin said:
<snip terrible attempt at sarcasm>
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The Tea Baggers aren't evil or stupid but they are delusional and/or willfully ignorant while wallowing in misplaced rage that has been manufactured and fed to them by monied interests in the media and government.

And yes media includes talk radio and blogs, while not part of traditional big media they're a part of it these days and have been for some time now.

The Tea Party movement is remarkable in two respects. It is one of the biggest exercises in false consciousness the world has seen – and the biggest Astroturf operation in history. These accomplishments are closely related.
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It is mostly composed of passionate, well-meaning people who think they are fighting elite power, unaware that they have been organised by the very interests they believe they are confronting. We now have powerful evidence that the movement was established and has been guided with the help of money from billionaires and big business. Much of this money, as well as much of the strategy and staffing, were provided by two brothers who run what they call "the biggest company you've never heard of".
,,,,,,
"The Koch brothers gave the money that founded [the Tea Party]," one of them explained. "It's like they put the seeds in the ground. Then the rainstorm comes, and the frogs come out of the mud – and they're our candidates!" Another observed that the Kochs are smart. "This rightwing, redneck stuff works for them. They see this as a way to get things done without getting dirty themselves."

AFP is one of several groups established by the Koch brothers. They set up the Cato Institute, the first free-market thinktank in the United States. They also founded the Mercatus Centre at George Mason University, which now fills the role once played by the economics department at Chicago University as the originator of extreme neoliberal ideas. Fourteen of the 23 regulations that George W Bush put on his hitlist were, according to the Wall Street Journal, first suggested by academics working at the Mercatus Centre.

The Kochs have lavished money on more than 30 other advocacy groups, including the Heritage Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, the George C Marshall Institute, the Reason Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute. These bodies have been instrumental in turning politicians away from environmental laws, social spending, taxing the rich and distributing wealth. They have shaped the widespread demand for small government. The Kochs ensure that their money works for them. "If we're going to give a lot of money," David Koch explained to a libertarian journalist, "we'll make darn sure they spend it in a way that goes along with our intent. And if they make a wrong turn and start doing things we don't agree with, we withdraw funding."

Most of these bodies call themselves "free-market thinktanks", but their trick – as (Astro)Turf Wars points out – is to conflate crony capitalism with free enterprise, and free enterprise with personal liberty. Between them they have constructed the philosophy that informs the Tea Party movement: its members mobilise for freedom, unaware that the freedom they demand is freedom for corporations to trample them into the dirt. The thinktanks that the Kochs have funded devise the game and the rules by which it is played; Americans for Prosperity coaches and motivates the team.
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octoberasian said:
You're right, the Democrats have been more than willing to compromise, but the Republicans, no. ...

Maybe we should Congress copies of Sim City 4... they might learn a thing or two from it.
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The better compromiser must be in the eye of the beholder.

Anyways, Sim City 4. Are there ways to fool your population, and use media outlets to your advantage? Can't be a good simulator if it doesn't have that.
 
"You're right, the Democrats have been more than willing to compromise, but the Republicans, no. The Republican-controlled Congress would rather shutdown necessary and important programs for a good majority American people than work out a compromise to get a budget passed for once."

Maybie i'm in the minority here but I don't care who compromised with who. I don't care how awesomely sounding anything they do sounds. Republican and Democrat politicians are the same people. There not a single difference between them other than who's vote their trying to buy.

I don't trust government. I inherently believe that just about anything done at the national level is so corrupt, such a mismanagement of resources and almost always amounts to vote buying that I don't want programs even if they work. It doesn't matter of its healthcare or bank bailouts or student loans. I don't believe ANY OF IT is truly beneficial in the long run for anyone concerned period. I don't have a problem with congress setting minimal standards of rules of law and even regulation to protect the powerless. But I would argue that they have utterly failed to do both of those things for an extremely long time now.
 
Romale23 said:
"You're right, the Democrats have been more than willing to compromise, but the Republicans, no. The Republican-controlled Congress would rather shutdown necessary and important programs for a good majority American people than work out a compromise to get a budget passed for once."

Maybie i'm in the minority here but I don't care who compromised with who. I don't care how awesomely sounding anything they do sounds. Republican and Democrat politicians are the same people. There not a single difference between them other than who's vote their trying to buy.

I don't trust government. I inherently believe that just about anything done at the national level is so corrupt, such a mismanagement of resources and almost always amounts to vote buying that I don't want programs even if they work. It doesn't matter of its healthcare or bank bailouts or student loans. I don't believe ANY OF IT is truly beneficial in the long run for anyone concerned period. I don't have a problem with congress setting minimal standards of rules of law and even regulation to protect the powerless. But I would argue that they have utterly failed to do both of those things for an extremely long time now.
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You're right. You are not alone in saying that, a lot of American people see the Democrats and Republicans as being no different from each other, and I too believe that. It's also hard to trust our current government from Congress to the President with all the mishaps and mistakes they continue to make.
 
Parmenides said:
TSA, ha. I'm sure cutting 90% of functions would leave 90% of people happy. Not bad if that's the case :D
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The TSA does allow us to fly ;) ... without it you would either need to militarize the airports (which I would support) or to privatize the security function (since private industry isn't bound by all that due process nonsense) ... either way we would get better security (although at a much larger price ... which would reduce some of the crowded airplanes so that would be good too) :cool:

If they had to ground flights during a shutdown and close the borders that would go over real well ... as painful as these shutdowns are for the public they are mostly symbolic since we still get mail and can travel ... shutting everything down would be dangerous and expensive but the government would get their act together overnight :D
 
just like all the tv providers out there, they will strike a deal at the last minute blah blah blah. how dramatic. :puke
 
First that should go is their paychecks, their heath insurance coverage, their personal drivers and staff, all admin assistants, their vacations.

See how fast the nobility gets something done then, when they have to actually work.
 
Burn it down and salt the earth. I have lived in other countries and I always have to stifle a laugh when people in the US get so caught up on a few third-rail issues that do nothing but distract you from how much both sides are stealing from your pocket.

In other news, the US is still the only non-developing world country that doesn't at least have a bare minimum of healthcare for its citizens. Is Obamacare any good? Personally, I don't think it is but I guess it will have to do until the next generation of politicians figure out something better.
 
auspexd said:
In other news, the US is still the only non-developing world country that doesn't at least have a bare minimum of healthcare for its citizens. Is Obamacare any good? Personally, I don't think it is but I guess it will have to do until the next generation of politicians figure out something better.
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I frequent a lot of political forums and there are (ALWAYS) two issues there:

  1. Many Americans, regardless what extreme or side they ally themselves with, are unwilling to pay any of their [hard earned] money to help someone less themselves, or allow any government program helping those that need help using their tax dollars. (Examples: Social Security, Veterans affairs, food stamps, welfare, and similar.)
  2. Many Americans (and some Europeans who have national healthcare coverage) have complained that a national healthcare system would lead to an overcrowding of hospitals, denied medical care due to overcrowding, and lesser quality medical care. And, again, it will always go back to argument #1.

Until people are willing to help each other than selfishly care about themselves-- the government and many of the tax payers, the US will never have a national healthcare system.
 
I would like to see them return to the Sword of Damacles approach ... if they don't agree on a budget then a budget gets automatically passed with a fixed percentage of across the board cuts (say 8%) ... if you want to really raise the Russian Roulette factor you could increase the percentage for every year they fail to pass a budget (8%, 10%, 12%, etc) ... you could apply the same overall cut percentage to their salaries (which wouldn't hurt them since most of them are millionaires) and their staff (which would hurt them immensely) ... if they don't want to do their jobs at least we could lower the deficit in a less painful way than a shutdown (and it would be the perfect compromise since everyone would hate the solution) :)
 
Ocean said:
Really seems like the tea party is shutting down the entire government just so no one can see how cheap obamacare insurance will be on october 1st @ https://www.healthcare.gov/

The tea party is going to extremes to hide what happens when obamacare dictates that insurance companies have caps on their profits and have to spend their revenue on patient care instead of up to 50% profit by denying care to people that already paid for insurance.

I look forward to being able to chose cost vs benefit between different products (insurance plans) in the marketplace. Yay free market capitalism!

My insurance should stay roughly the same cost, but i get a lot more guarantees that im getting the coverage i have paid for.
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Its easy to spin it as the fact the President and Senate are going to shutdown the government because the funding bill doesn't include funding for their pet project.

Insurance companies weren't making 50% profit. That's laughable.

Enjoy your government regulated because they've demonstrated how well they run things time and again.
 
mesyn191 said:
The Tea Baggers aren't evil or stupid but they are delusional and/or willfully ignorant while wallowing in misplaced rage that has been manufactured and fed to them by monied interests in the media and government.

And yes media includes talk radio and blogs, while not part of traditional big media they're a part of it these days and have been for some time now.
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Oh my! We're quoting The Guardian now. Because partisan journalism is effective in convincing partisans on the other side that they're wrong.

And, of course, for every Koch brother setting up a Cato institute, there's a George Soros dumping billions into his socialist/statist causes.

It's funny how we only seem to get hysterical about one and not the other.
 
octoberasian said:
I frequent a lot of political forums and there are (ALWAYS) two issues there:

  1. Many Americans, regardless what extreme or side they ally themselves with, are unwilling to pay any of their [hard earned] money to help someone less themselves, or allow any government program helping those that need help using their tax dollars. (Examples: Social Security, Veterans affairs, food stamps, welfare, and similar.)
  2. Many Americans (and some Europeans who have national healthcare coverage) have complained that a national healthcare system would lead to an overcrowding of hospitals, denied medical care due to overcrowding, and lesser quality medical care. And, again, it will always go back to argument #1.

Until people are willing to help each other than selfishly care about themselves-- the government and many of the tax payers, the US will never have a national healthcare system.
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I grew up with a craptastic socialized system. The healthcare was so inferior it would be wrong not to fight it here. The moral high ground is with those opposing it. Unfortunately there's no way for harm this is going to do to be limited to the fools who wanted it.
 
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