By Emily Sullivan
Opinion and Associate Editor
On Sept. 30, my roommates and I sat gathered around our living room, our eyes glued to the television. On a normal Monday night, we would have been watching a movie together or maybe a late-night rerun of “Friends.”
But on this particular Monday night, our eyes were trained on the small gray countdown box CNN had playing on the bottom-right corner of the screen.
We watched the minutes tick away until the United States government partially shut down.
In one of my classes on Oct. 1, my professor asked how we felt about the shutdown, and I was surprised by the number of people who had no idea what was going on.
So what’s the basis for the shutdown? Every year, Congress has to com e to an agreement on how to best use federal funds. Since the fiscal year ended on Sept. 30, Congress had to come to an agreement by midnight or the government would have to shut down.
As my roommates and I watched the minutes turn to seconds, we realized they would not come to an agreement in time.
Anyone who knows me can tell you that I’m neither Democratic nor Republican. I’m a registered Independent, and I tend to vote for the candidate I think would do a better job instead of what political party they run for. I don’t have a problem with either party.
My problem is that because Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate can’t come to an agreement, a bunch of federal employees just lost their income. According to an Oct. 1 CNN story, all federal employees that are considered non-essential will be out of work until Congress can come to an agreement. That means some 800,000 federal workers will be sent home during the shutdown. 800,000 people will have lost what could be their main source of income because they are not considered to be “essential” workers by the government.
“The shutdown could cost the U.S. economy about $1 billion a week in pay lost by furloughed federal workers,” the CNN article said. “And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
A three to four week shutdown could cost up to $55 billion.
But you know what’s really messed up? While 800,000 people will be going without pay, the 533 members of Congress will still be receiving their paychecks, according to the CNN story. And, to top it all off, President Obama will still be receiving his paycheck because it is considered “mandatory spending.”
So while the Department of Agriculture is being forced to cut off support for the Women, Infants and Children program, which allows pregnant women and new mothers to purchase healthy food, the president and Congress can rest comfortably knowing their paychecks are safe.
Congress obviously needs more incentive. Why not cut their pay? They should have to experience the fear that 800,000 federal employees face as they wait for some sort of compromise to arise.
In George Washington’s farewell address, he warned that political parties would only cause problems in the United States government. And now because the two parties cannot come to some sort of an agreement, hundreds of thousands of people are suffering.
217 years later, I think it’s time we admit he was right.
sullivec10@bonaventure.edu
