Federal employees considered essential for protecting human life will remain on the job, while federal employees considered non essential will be laid off due to the government shutdown according to CBS News, September 30, 2013. After a tireless effort by House Republicans to toss the budget bill back and forth without any provisions to protect Obamacare, Senator Harry Reid steadfastly refused to comply with a Republican effort to bring all relevant parties to a conference or summit on the issue of Obamacare.
Reid based his refusal on the fact that Senate and House Democrats had been suggesting a conference for months and Congressional Republicans had resisted their efforts every time. Reid stated that Senate Democrats were only interested in a "clean spending bill" and that they would not be forced to the negotiating table "with a gun" to their heads.
President Obama also had emphasized the need for a "clean spending bill" when he called House and Senate leaders earlier in the day on Monday. Obama also re-emphasized his promise not to sign any budget bill that did not include provisions for the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
As the shutdown takes effect today, the military, federal law enforcement agencies, mail service and other federal services that protect property and human life, will prevail. However, federal services not considered essential to the continuity of government or the protection of property and human life will be discontinued until the budget crisis is resolved. All national parks, including Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks, will be closed. The shutdown will affect over 800,000 federal employees.
President Obama wasted not one breath as he laid the blame for the shutdown directly on Congress:
unfortunately, Congress has not fulfilled its responsibility. It has failed to pass a budget and, as a result, much of our government must now shut down until Congress funds it again."
The next few weeks promise to be eventful and wrought with controversy. How and when an equitable solution is reached remains to be seen.
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