US
govt shuts down for 1st time in 17 years as budget talks fail
RT,
The
US federal government is partially shutting down after the Congress
failed to fund its work amid a Republican drive to defund the
Obamacare healthcare program. President Obama addressed to US troops
to boost their confidence amid the crisis.
The
Congress left the government without funding as competing spending
measures bounced back and forth between the Republican-controlled
House of Representatives and Democratic-led Senate late into Monday
night.
They actually did it. A group of Republicans in the House just forced a government shutdown over Obamacare instead of passing a real budget.
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The
partial shutdown will leave some essential government functions,
including national security and public safety, intact. It’s not
clear how long the situation will continue, with lawmakers expected
to take a further vote in a matter of hours.
If
the shutdown persists, it will affect an estimated 800,000 of public
workers, who will be forced into unpaid leave as the government would
be unable to fund their employment. National parks and most federal
offices are closed, as is almost all of NASA, except for Mission
Control in Houston.
The
shutdown also affects the Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo,
going as far as shutting off the zoo’s popular ‘panda cam’. The
website
of the US Department of Agriculture went blank on Tuesday, leaving
only a warning that it’s not available due to the lapse in federal
government funding.
screenshot
from www.usda.gov
The
crisis would initially cost the US economy at least $300 million a
day in lost economic output, says Bloomberg citing IHS Inc., a
Massachusetts-based economic forecast company.
President
Barack Obama assumed his role as commander-in-chief to address US
troops around the world. He said the Congress had failed American
soldiers in causing the government shutdown. He pledged that the
White House will do everything possible to keep those troops
currently on active duty to receive all they need in order to perform
that duty.
image
by @GOPLeader
The
budgetary breakdown raised fresh concerns about whether lawmakers can
meet a crucial mid-October deadline to raise the government’s $16.7
trillion debt ceiling.
The
partial shutdown on Tuesday is the first for the US government in 17
years. It comes after Congress missed the Monday midnight deadline
for passing a federal budget.
As
a condition for keeping the government funded, Republicans were
demanding a one-year delay in making millions of people buy health
insurance under the Obama administration’s 2010 healthcare law. The
attack on White House’s key political measure was spearheaded by
the Republican conservatives from the Tea Party, culminating a
three-year growth of polarization in America.
The
Senate twice rejected the proposed provisions, while Obama said he
would veto the House-backed legislation.
"The Affordable Care Act is moving forward. You can't shut it down." —President Obama #Obamacare
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The
Congress deadlock has driven the legislature’s approval rating down
to a record low 10 percent, according to a new CNN/ORC International
Poll. President Obama’s approval is down to 44 percent.
According
to a Reuters/Ipsos poll on who is responsible for the crisis, most
Americans, 44 percent, believe it’s everyone involved. Another 25
percent blame Republicans, while 14 percent blame Obama and 5 percent
blame Democrats in Congress.
As
the shutdown loomed Monday, visitors to popular parks made their
frustration with elected officials clear.
"There
is no good thing going to come out of it,"
Chris Fahl, a tourist, told AP as he was touring the Abraham Lincoln
Birthplace National Historic Park in Kentucky. "Taxpayers
are just going to be more overburdened."
"They
should be willing to compromise, both sides, and it discourages me
that they don't seem to be able to do that,"
said Emily Enfinger, a visitor to the Statue of Liberty. "They're
not doing their job as far as I'm concerned."
The
crisis appears to be strangely captivating for some foreigners.
"We
can't imagine not having a national health system,"
said Marlena Knight, an Australian native visiting Independence
National Historical Park in Philadelphia. "I
just can't believe that this country can shut down over something
like a national health system. Totally bizarre, as an Australian, but
fascinating.
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