Does everybody understand just what a "government shutdown" really means?
I didn't realize that only about a quarter of the government functions will shut down - passport office, air traffic controllers, parks, etc. - things Congress votes on paying for. Social Security payments, medicare, medicaid, military pay, veterans benefits, food stamps, etc. - these things will not be affected.
No, I'm not in favor of a goverment shutdown. Duh. But the media always hypes this every time it comes up, and gets everybody panicked including me. I'm on Social Security, so I was worried. I was relieved to learn what this really means, just thought I'd pass it along in case there's anybody else out there as confused as I was. And I do agree that Congress shouldn't get paid if they can't keep the train on the tracks, that's their job. I don't agree this is the Republicans' fault, though, since they're trying to get the Democrats to agree to spending cuts. We're losing our borrowing power, people, it's time to say no more.