How the ripple effects of the government shutdown might spread, day by day

y Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News
President Barack Obama says of the government shutdown: “The longer this goes on, the worse it will be.”

How much worse is still an open question. Nobody has been through this in 17 years, and federal agencies are scrambling to make adjustments. But more examples are emerging each day of the damage that a prolonged shutdown would wreak.


From paychecks to childcare, money and services have been brought to a grinding halt. And fewer FDA inspectors means higher prices -- which could make an impact in the grocery store. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

Here are some examples of what would happen if the shutdown stretched days, weeks or even months.

Monday, Oct. 7: Sikorsky Aircraft of Connecticut, which sells helicopters to the Defense Department, says it will be forced to furlough 2,000 workers in Connecticut, Florida and Alabama.

Friday, Oct. 11: United Technologies, a major defense contractor, says it will beforced to furlough 4,000 workers at two of its companies, Pratt & Whitney and UTC Aerospace Systems. Sikorsky says it will furlough 1,000 more.

Saturday, Oct. 12: Football Saturday for the service academies: Army hosts Eastern Michigan, and Navy is at Duke. Those games are up in the air — but college football is such a moneymaker that private donors would probably step in. Private donations are covering the Oct. 5 games, and military officials say the NCAA, CBS Sports and United Airlines all offered to help.

Tuesday, Oct. 15: The final deadline to file your 2012 tax return, provided you got an exemption for the regular April 15 deadline. If you owe the government money, it’s still due — but if you’re having math trouble, you probably won’t get anyone at the IRS on the phone to help.

Wednesday, Oct. 16: Federal courts could shut down. Administrators say the courts will stay openfor roughly the first 10 business days of the shutdown, but they say they would have to reassess matters on Oct. 15.

Thursday, Oct. 17: The Big One. The date at which the federal government exhausts its ability to borrow money, unless Congress raises the limit it can borrow — negotiations increasingly likely to be tied up with talks on the shutdown. After Oct. 17, the Treasury would have about $30 billion on hand, enough to cover only a few days. Predictions for the fallout in the financial markets are catastrophic.

Late October: Claims processing for the Veterans Administration’s pension, education and job-training programs can continue through late October. After that, claims processing and payments will be suspended at an unspecified date when the money runs out, spokesman Randal Noller says.

Friday, Nov. 1: Already, as many as 19,000 children in 11 states have been left out of Head Start programs because grant money ran out Sept. 30. Sally Aman, a spokeswoman for the National Head Start Association, says she is unsure how many more children would be left out if the shutdown reaches Nov. 1, but local Head Start programs renew annual grants throughout the year, so thousands more would almost certainly be affected.


The impact of the first government shutdown in 17 years was felt across America as offices were shuttered and workers were sent home after lawmakers failed to come to a deal.

Sunday, Nov. 17: The National Retail Federation said Thursday that the next 45 days will make or break the holiday shopping season, which is critical for stores and the overall economy. For now, the federation forecasts Americans will spend $602 billion this year, about 4 percent more than last year, but it warns that consumer confidence could wither if the shutdown wears on.

Monday, Nov. 18: A 20-day launch window opens for Maven, an unmanned NASA spacecraft intended to explore the atmosphere of Mars. Jared Espley, a NASA space scientist, said on Twitter this week that the spacecraft was being put into “hurricane-proof storage” instead of loaded onto a rocket. The Maven launch was later declared exempt from the shutdown.

‘Each day that goes by’: That’s often how the danger increases for intelligence services, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper told Congress this week. About 70 percent of the intelligence services’ civilian workforce has been furloughed. “The danger here,” Clapper said, “will accumulate over time.” He cited information lost because he has fewer people to track targets.

 

"WE MUST CONSTANTLY REMIND THEM HOW MUCH THEY NEED US" --Government

Now that we are to the point of being held hostage by "government", with an enormous percentage of our actual labor force relying on "government" jobs, we should reconsider this path we have taken before it's too late. Every time a situation presents itself which proves to force TPTB to show their hand, they are going to pull the lifeline and watch people suffer. This recent stunt doesn't surprise me one bit. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they try something similar with gun control at some point in the future.

If the people truly wanted liberty, they would let the .Gov stay closed, and take this opportunity to do some much needed renovation, too. The economic effects would be less drastic now to lose our feeding tube than to permit this fallacy to continue any longer. Perpetually enslaved to a private corporate cartel doesn't exactly sound like the type of freedom our founders had in mind for the people of their republic. We were supposed to be watchful. We have failed.

 

Well said Brokor!!
Let it stay closed, force them to decrease their "head-count" and operate within a budget that does not incur any more debt. Don't lift the debt ceiling and let the cards fall where they may. They bring in enough revenue in taxes to maintain payment on all current debt, there will be no default. Just don't give them the opportunity to start new programs that are not within the budget. Enough of this kicking the can down the road thing, time to fix it is upon us. Or we will continue to make the issues in our country even worse, with a much harder fall to come later.

 

And remember, NO PRIVATE BANKING CORPORATIONS.

Clearing houses only. The money should come directly from Congress, debt free and without interest.

 

Obamacare is just another TAX --period. It's a socialist program designed to siphon money from the people, that's all. This entire theatrical performance about the U.S. "paying its bills" on time is just a scare tactic. People generally panic and make rash decisions when they are afraid. We've been indebted to a PRIVATE corporation since the 1930's.

Senate leaders announce bipartisan deal - Yahoo News

And in the name of "bipartisan compromise", the people are yet again taxed and enslaved further.

 

and NOTICE, that they only pushed back the Issue, till after the Holidays.... Bunch of Toadies.... ALL of them....

 

Check out the latest:

House worker yells during vote, escorted away - Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (AP) — A woman described by lawmakers and aides as a long-time House stenographer has been removed from the chamber during a vote after she began shouting.

The woman was yelling from the rostrum Wednesday just below where the House presiding officer sits. The microphone she was yelling into was off.

Lawmakers said she was yelling about the House being divided and the devil. Texas Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro said she had a crazed look on her face.

As she was led into an elevator by security, she was heard to shout, "This is not one nation under God. It never was."

She also screamed, "Praise be to God, Lord Jesus Christ."

The outburst occurred while the House was voting on legislation ending the government shutdown and extending the federal debt limit.

Makes me wonder how she lasted so long. A lot of folks are just up to their limit with the government these days. Lots of turmoil, lots of deceit and haggling. Shady deals all around, we are being "led" by crooks and robbers.

 

I guess she could not just stay quite and type all the conversations for so long.... the B.S. made here snap. I think the job would make most any of us snap watching & hearing that deceit every single day. Good for her- guess she wanted a career change and wanted to go out in style.

 

I think she may have done that on her own.... but she was right in the fact that you can either serve God or Wealth, but not both. And our government serves Wealth.
YMMV
YD

 

There is a great example of how far the entitlement society will take things if you let them. Total reliance on others to support there way of life. One little hiccup in the payment puts a whole group of people on the path to starvation. It is tragic to see this taken place to a once great people that survived off the land, and now can barely make it day to day. Which is no different to the majority of people living off the government across this country.