Government Shutdown:Lexi

Challenge #4

Activity 2:

On October 1st, 2013, the government shut down for who knows how long. It shut down because there was disagreement between the House of Representatives and the other two branches. The other two branches are the President and the Senate. Their disagreement was over the new healthcare plan also known as Obamacare.

Many parts of our government have shut down. A lot of services that were available to be used by the people of the USA are not available anymore until the shutdown is over. Any people who had jobs connected with the government were temporarily laid off without pay. One of the saddest things in my opinion is that the families of people who have died in the military are not getting the $100,000 check they usually get for losing a family member. The government are doing things to get this to stop, but they are mostly just fighting.

The House of Representatives are passing bills to try to stop the issue but the senate and the President are not in agreement. Personally I think that the House, the President and the Senate are acting like immature babies. Obama, The Leader of The House and of the Senate all need to sit down at a table and agree on something to stop this. They don’t need to cuddle and become “besties” but they need to something so that the government will open back up.

Obama

 Public Domain – Official White House Photo by Pete Souza from Wikipedia.com

U.S.A. Government Shutdown By: Corinna

Challenge 4- Activity #1

Hello, it’s Corinna here talking about the government shutdown in the U.S.A. I’m here with president Barack Obama asking him about the problem.

The U.S Congress
This is the congress from 2003

Public Domain White House photo by Susan Sterner – from Wikipedia.com

If I could interview the president, this is what I would ask him…

Corinna: Hello there Mr. President. I would like to know about the government shutdown. First, when and where did all this crazy madness start.

President: Well, the shutdown began on October 1st 2013, and began in Washington where most of congress makes its decisions.

Corinna: Who is behind all the drama that is being caused?

President:  The entire congress makes the decision which includes many, many people.

Corinna: What is the government shutdown?

President: The government shutdown is when congress cannot agree on a budget for America. There are many budgets for many different crucial things that America buys for the people.

Corinna: What is happening due to the shutdown?

President: Unfortunately, lots of different  things have been stopped because of the government. More than 800,000 people are suspended from their job, military families who lost a loved one at war now aren’t receiving the $100,000 that they usually get, and the Washington memorials and museums are closed until we all agree on a budget. Luckily, the people who are not working will get payed back the amount of money they’re not getting now. This may seem a little unfair but, even with the people currently out of work and the businesses that are closed, the congress continues to get paid.

Corinna: That seems extremely unfair to me! I think that congress should not get paid. Although congress makes the decision, they also put America in this position!

President: I know it might seem unfair, but most of congress who still receives their paycheck, gives the money to charity. There are 2 people who keep their paycheck and 2 are undecided.

Corinna: Thank you Mr. Obama for giving me the chance to interview you on the very important and interesting topic. I learned a lot about congress and the government shutdown that I never knew!

President: No problem, Corinna! I loved sitting down and talking about the government shutdown!

The current U.S president Barack Obama
The current U.S president
Barack Obama

Public Domain – Official White House Photo by Pete Souza from Wikipedia.com

That was my interview with the president of the United States, Barack Obama. I think the government shutdown is silly and grown men and women should be able to agree on a budget. I want to know how you feel about the government shutdown! Comment below if you learned something new! 🙂

 

Government shutdown – Nachman

Edublogs Challenge Number 4, Activity #2

 My friend’s mother, a National Park Service officer, has not gone to work since October 1st, because she has been forced to go on “furlough” without pay. She will not be able to go to work again until the Congress passes a spending bill (a “Continuing Resolution”) to fund the government, and re-open all of its offices that have been forced to close. The U.S. government is now shutdown, and only offices deemed ‘essential’ such as active military and air traffic control continue to work. The President and Congress continue to work, and unlike many other government employees, including my friend’s mother, also continue to receive their paychecks.

  It’s bad enough that the government is shut down, but even worse is the possibility that Congress won’t raise the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is the government’s borrowing limit ($16.699 trillion). In order to raise the limit, the President must ask the Congress to vote to raise the debt ceiling, therefore allowing the government to borrow more money. If the debt ceiling is not raised, the government will have to stop paying its bills. If the government were to fail to raise the debt ceiling, economists predict an economic catastrophe.

 In order to better understand why this is happening, I applied for an interview with The President, and was lucky enough to be accepted. Below is a transcript of our conversation:

NKS: So, Mr. President, could you tell us why the government shut-down is really happening?

PO: The Government shutdown is happening because the Republicans in the House of Representatives refuse to pass a spending bill, called a continuing resolution, to end the Government shutdown.

NKS: Why do the Republicans refuse to fund the government, and end the shutdown?

PO: The Republicans are acting in their own interest, for their party, not their country. They are holding this nation hostage to stall the Affordable Care Act, supposedly for the ‘good of the American people’.

NKS: Mr. President, Speaker Boehner says that you are to blame, for you too refuse to compromise. Do you have any reply to this?

PO: I will not negotiate on Obamacare or anything else until a spending bill is passed. I believe that it is vital that this line is not crossed, for if it is,  a minority would rule the government through blackmail. This I will not allow.

NKS: Thank you for your time, Mr. President. It was truly an honor to meet you.

References

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/09/us/politics/obama-calls-boehner-as-gop-meeting-yields-no-offers.html?hp&_r=0

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/30/politics/government-shutdown-up-to-speed/index.html