Government shutdown/impending debt default - is it affecting you?

Hey guys,

How is the us government shutdown and possible debt default affecting you?

For instance, I was going to purchase a devices this week like the P2 Jr. Pico Projector or iPad but decided to hold off on it due to uncertainty with my financial standing in the next few months.

 

At first I was excited. I thought, "Woo Hoo, no more government!" But then I read in the news that it's just temporary.

 

@profanitytalker: Did you really put off purchase plans of some trivial household electronics over concerns related to the government shutdown? Really? Really? You know, there is a significant chance an asteroid could hit this planet, annihilating everything outside of bacteria. Perhaps you shouldn't buy that iPhone.

My only regret over the government shutdown(16% of the government in reality) is that the 800k employees who have been furloughed will be returning to work one day. We clearly get along nicely without them, why not just make their furlough's permanent.

Oh, and the punitive actions taken by our federal government against it's own people to make the shutdown hurt are outrageous:

• Using police staff to barricade off an unstaffed war memorial in DC
• Using police staff to cone off unstaffed highway turnouts that overview Mt.Rushmore
• Evicting people who lease homes on federal land
• Shutting down businesses operating on open highways within federal land

“It’s a cheap way to deal with the situation,” an angry Park Service ranger in Washington says of the harassment. “We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting.”

 

The government shutdown cost people work and income. It cost businesses money. It's affect was felt across the nation. For the tea party mouth pieces to make fun shows exactly how little concern they have for the business of business in the US.

Meanwhile here is a brief piece how the furlough affected the hotel industry:

While government workers and contractors have been stuck at home during the government shutdown, hotels around the area are hurting due to a large decrease in visitors.

Hotel occupancy rates have dropped steeply because the shutdown has meant a trifecta of key travelers have cancelled trips, B.F. Saul President Mark Carrier said. B.F. Saul owns the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn in Crystal City and 13 other hotels in Northern Virginia.

Government workers and contractors that would have traveled here for business are canceling reservations, as are visitors with their families and large tour groups concerned they won’t be able to see key monuments and museums in D.C.

“The decline has been quite severe and very impactful,” Carrier told ARLnow.com. “The reality in the hotel business is when you lose business today, it’s gone. October is the strongest month in the second half of the calendar year, so to have this occur right in October is particularly harmful.”

Carrier said the typical occupancy rate in B.F. Saul hotels at this time of year is between 75-80 percent, and estimates that since the shutdown started, it has dropped to around 50 percent. As of Wednesday afternoon it appears Congress is close to a deal to end the shutdown, but Carrier said that doesn’t mean relief is necessarily on its way.

“I expect we’ll see significant effects from this,” he said. If contractors have lost revenue because of the shutdown, “one of the things they cut back on is travel. It seems to be an expense you can say ‘no’ to.”

Carrier said some hourly staff and supervisors have had their hours cut into to try to offset the hotel’s declined revenue, which he called “very painful” as a hotel operator. If the shutdown deal falls through and the Marine Corps Marathon is cancelled, the effects could be even worse. Carrier said his hotels, and many others in Arlington, are usually close to 100 percent occupancy rate during race weekend.

The steep drop in revenue could have impacts for Arlington County’s planned transportation projects as well. The Transient Occupancy Tax — commonly known as the hotel tax — helps pay for the funding in last year’s transportation package, and will take a hit from the drop in hotel visitors.

The furlough cost people money, cost jobs, slowed the economy, may well lead to a downgrade of federal debt and thereby increase fed interest payments. Its outrageous for the tea partiers to turn this into some kind of sick grade B Kardashian type of Public Relations when there irresponsible efforts hurt individuals and businesses.

The tea party actions hurt the economy and cost jobs. Meanwhile people who were hit by the furloughs and saw their friends and neighbors hit by the furloughs were absolutely incensed by the stupid TV tricks the tea party pulled off with park rangers, whereby a "big shot" tea party member of Congress bullied a female government worker. People were incensed by that rank PR prank.

Estimates are that the shutdown cost the US economy $24 billion. You can blame the tea party for that. Here are some of the consequences per this article: http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/16/news/economy/shutdown-economic-impact/

Federal contractors were furloughed. They are not getting repaid.
Small businesses with federal contracts were knocked on their butts. NO WORK for small businesses. Small businesses applying for loans were delayed.
The tourism industry across the nation was hurt.
The tea party shutdown deprived military families of child care. The tea party smacked down military families...and they couldn't give a r@ts ass.
People depending on the VA, and that means Vets received less help and service. meanwhile the tea party PR brigade staged a grade B TV shot of a tea party member of congress bullying a female govt worker who wasn't getting paid.

the shutdown hurt real people. Meanwhile tea party members of congress were drinking and plotting at a DC region tequila bar!! http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/ted-cruz-house-republicans-meet-in-secret-at-tortilla-coast/

 

Don't get your panties in a twist Earl. Its not personal. I don't hate the people I fire. When your business group is not profitable, or you are doing a bad job at your job, or when times are lean, or when you are just an incompetent free loading carpet bagger Democrat, I simply need to cut you loose for the good of the enterprise. Its nothing personal. If you are worth what you say you are, I have no doubt you will find gainful employment elsewhere.

In the mean time, cutting your dead weight from my overburdened ship has created a new sense of buoyancy and mobility for the rest of us. We will make port, put in for repairs and be back to pick your lazy behind in no time at all, assuming you don't row the short distance to shore yourself before then.