G
Guns Guns Guns
Guest
"...a 2011 shutdown could be markedly different from its infamous predecessors in 1995 and 1996.
Those two shutdowns — a result of a standoff between then-Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Democratic President Clinton — came during a time of relative peace and general prosperity.
Today's battle comes as the economy is still climbing out of the doldrums and as financially strapped states have less ability to fill in for shortfalls in federal funding.
The senior administration official pointed to the potential effects on the shaky recovery. New small-business loans would be held up, along with new mortgage guarantees from the Federal Housing Administration.
FHA backs a third of all home mortgages in the U.S. With a fragile market, a freeze during the springtime home-buying season "will have a significant impact," the official said.
The question of how disruptive a federal shutdown would be depends largely on how long it lasts. White House officials said Medicare could handle payouts for a matter of months. Federal courts can operate on money from other sources — court fees, largely — for 10 working days. After that, each district would have to decide how to keep the cases moving.
As a separate branch of government, Congress has its own shutdown plan, which defines an essential employee as someone who helps lawmakers "perform their constitutional duties." That definition includes the elevator operators in the Senate, but not employees at the House staff gym.
85% of the nearly 2 million federal workers live outside the Washington area, and often in communities where federal prisons, military bases, hospitals and parks anchor the local economy.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-shutdown-20110407,0,740664,full.story
Those two shutdowns — a result of a standoff between then-Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Democratic President Clinton — came during a time of relative peace and general prosperity.
Today's battle comes as the economy is still climbing out of the doldrums and as financially strapped states have less ability to fill in for shortfalls in federal funding.
The senior administration official pointed to the potential effects on the shaky recovery. New small-business loans would be held up, along with new mortgage guarantees from the Federal Housing Administration.
FHA backs a third of all home mortgages in the U.S. With a fragile market, a freeze during the springtime home-buying season "will have a significant impact," the official said.
The question of how disruptive a federal shutdown would be depends largely on how long it lasts. White House officials said Medicare could handle payouts for a matter of months. Federal courts can operate on money from other sources — court fees, largely — for 10 working days. After that, each district would have to decide how to keep the cases moving.
As a separate branch of government, Congress has its own shutdown plan, which defines an essential employee as someone who helps lawmakers "perform their constitutional duties." That definition includes the elevator operators in the Senate, but not employees at the House staff gym.
85% of the nearly 2 million federal workers live outside the Washington area, and often in communities where federal prisons, military bases, hospitals and parks anchor the local economy.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-shutdown-20110407,0,740664,full.story
