The U.S. government has begun a partial shutdown
after failing to agree a new budget for the next
financial year.
The crisis means that up to 1million workers will have to
go on unpaid leave, with no guarantee of backpay once
a deal is struck.
A midnight deadline to approve the shutdown passed as
President Obama failed to avert the political stalemate.
Republicans in the House of Congress have refused to
back the budget without enforcing a delay in
implementing Obama's healthcare reforms.
Democrats are accusing the Republicans of being
beholden the Tea Party conservatives and that the
shutdown could threaten the U.S. economic recovery.
It is the first government shutdown in 17 years.
After the midnight deadline passed, federal agencies
were directed to cut back services.
National parks and Washington's Smithsonian museums will
close, pension and veterans' benefit cheques will be
delayed, and visa and passport applications will go
unprocessed.
Services deemed essential, such as air traffic control
and food inspections, will continue.
After House Republicans floated a late offer to break
the deadlock, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
rejected the idea, saying Democrats would not enter
into formal negotiations on spending "with a gun to our
head" in the form of government shutdowns.
Republicans and Democrats have launched into a bitter
blame game, each side shifting responsibility to the
other in efforts to redirect a possible public backlash.
If Congress can agree to a new funding bill soon, the
shutdown could last days rather than weeks. But no signs
emerged of a strategy to bring the parties together.
President Barack Obama accused Republicans of being
too beholden to Tea Party conservatives in the House of
Representatives and said the shutdown could threaten
the economic recovery.
The shutdown, the culmination of three years of divided
government and growing political polarization, was
spearheaded by Tea Party conservatives united in their
opposition to Obama, their distaste for Obama’s
healthcare law and their campaign pledges to rein in
government spending.
Obama refused to negotiate over the demands and
warned a shutdown could "throw a wrench into the
gears of our economy."
Some government offices and national parks will be
shuttered, but spending for essential functions related to
national security and public safety will continue, including
pay for U.S. military troops.
"It’s not shocking there is a shutdown, the shock is that it
hasn’t happened before this," said Republican strategist
John Feehery, a former Capitol Hill aide. "We have a
divided government with such diametrically opposed
views, we need a crisis to get any kind of result"
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon