Despite promise after promise from Republicans in Congress that there would be no more shutdowns and they would stop governing crisis by crisis, we are less than one week away from another irresponsible Republican government shutdown. In their willingness to shut down the government over a partisan ultimatum to defund Planned Parenthood, the GOP is not only playing politics with women’s health, but with the millions Americans who would face the real consequences of a shutdown.
With just six days left for Republicans to avoid a shutdown, check out the coverage of how another GOP shutdown would harm the economy, endanger jobs, and result in damaging consequences for small businesses, seniors, students, homeowners, and children:
Washington Post: Shuttering the government actually costs more than keeping it open — more than $2 billion last time
“Lost work, back pay and wiped-out jobs for federal contractors and other private-sector workers loom as just some of the costs of a closure that will happen in six days…The last time this happened, for 16 days in October 2013, the White House put a price on it: 6.6 million days of lost work, $2 billion in back pay for 850,000 federal employees who did no work and 120,000 private-sector jobs gone.”
Washington Post: If the government shuts, don’t plan on visiting Yellowstone, financing your home or getting your tax refund
“While the action — or lack of it — that will determine whether the government stops running is playing out in Washington, 85 percent of the federal workforce operates outside the capital city. So Americans in every state would be affected, whether they are late filers hoping to get a speedy tax refund from the Internal Revenue Service or businesses applying for small loans through the Small Business Administration.”
Huffington Post: Government Shutdown Would Shut Down Food Stamps
“One of the U.S. government’s largest safety net programs won’t be there to catch people if the federal government shuts down next month. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides monthly food benefits to 45 million Americans, will go dark if Congress fails to pass a law funding government operations after Oct. 1, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program.”
WTOP: NIH warns federal shutdown would hurt sickest Americans
“When there’s a government shutdown, families get shut out of continuous medical treatment that may be their last, best hope. That’s the message from Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, to Congress. Collins has been through government shutdowns before.”
CNN: Who gets hurt in a federal government shutdown
“A shutdown is generally a waste of valuable time and resources. Even the threat of a shutdown is a waste because of all the advanced planning required.”
Chronicle of Philanthropy: In Case of Federal Shutdown, Many Charities Hope Pain Will Be Short-Term
“For many social-service providers that operate on tight budgets, the federal lifeline is essential. For them, a shut down of just a few weeks could cause major problems.”
LA Times: Editorial: GOP, spare us another foolish government shutdown
“The two-week shutdown that Republicans forced in 2013 didn’t seem to hurt the party in the 2014 election, so it’s possible that lawmakers may not see a downside in forcing another one. But doing so would not only hurt the thousands of federal workers and contractors who’d receive no pay; it would deny constituents all “nonessential” services, such as housing subsidies, small-business loans and environmental reviews of construction projects. And worse, it would hit the brakes on the U.S. economy and rattle global markets.”
Forbes: GOP-On-GOP Violence Raises Chance Of Federal Shutdown To 75%
“Last week’s increasingly intense Republican-on-Republican political violence has convinced me to raise my estimate of the chance that there will be a government shutdown from 67% to 75%.”