Thursday, October 10, 2013

Who actually shuts down in a shutdown

So the government has been shut down for over a week now.  What does this mean?  NASA is shut down.  If you want to learn about the International Space Station, you'll need to learn Russian. The USGS is mostly shut down, except for hazards programs that are on skeleton staffs. On the other hand, the spy agencies are operating as normal. Taxes are still being collected. And you can still register as a congressional lobbyist. So all the unpleasant aspects of government are still business as usual. I guess that's what essential means. The main people suffering are those off work, and small business owners and employees and their suppliers.  See the Riprarian Rap to see how non-federal employees get screwed because contracts and grants get delayed or cancelled.



1 comment:

Chris Phoenix said...

Some NASA interns at NASA Ames lost not only their paycheck, but their _housing._

Shameful. This is not the way to run a government.