Government shutdown 2011

I thought i'd take a break from my recruiting process and inform you on a topic that I never took an interest in before until now, politics. To be honest I am not one to be as involved as I should be in our government, not as involved really meaning not at all. I guess the closest time I even come close to paying attention with the government is when taxes come around. A couple weeks ago a few of my friends posted a few things that were happening in our government system. My friend in the Army posted a picture a few weeks ago of him and his friend at work with a sign around his neck that said "F*ck you, pay me!" and immediately after seeing his post my other friend, who is very active when it comes to being informed about the government, posted a sarcastic joke saying "the government is dead, what do we do now." I found out a potential Government Shutdown would occur if the democratic and republican party could not agree on the 2011 budget by midnight on Friday April 8th, 2011.

I guess being involved in the Navy now I was concerned---- with a government shutdown comes no pay for servicemen and women in the military but are still required to work and perform their usual duties--- and so sparked my interest to find out what was actually going on and how it will affect me? Did I join at the wrong time? A time when our government is going down hill and so will I? OK it wasn't that serious but at the time before reading about it, those were my concerns.

First of all what is a government shutdown? I didn't even know that the last government shutdown was in 1996 and lasted 21 days. I was 8 years old at the time and nothing seemed to be going wrong around me, so I guess the shutdown of the government isn't the end of the world and life as we know it in the United States would not be over. 

What to do when you dont know how to do something, or what something is? you GOOGLE it! I simply googled "government shutdown 2011" and a whole list of articles came up, but the first link basically answered all my questions. From The Washington Post it answered questions from those who will be affected by the shutdown, mainly government employees. The biggest problem that comes with the government shutdown is the 2 million or so federal workers that will face layoffs and and given no pay. The portion of the shutdown that will mainly affect me as being in the military would be military workers being unpaid during the shutdown but are still required to work That gave reason to my friend in the Army to be outraged for his posting on not getting paid. A majority of the articles posted on the shutdown talked about who were the federal workers that would get laid off and who would get to keep their job based on their essential factor to the government. Another question that was frequently asked was whether or not taxes should still be paid. YES! We still need to pay our taxes, mail will still be delivered, the sun will still rise and set each day.

I learned that the shutdown is mainly if the congressional party could not reach a decision for the ramaining budget for the fiscal year of 2011, then a government shutdown will occur. THANKFULLY it was reached by the 11th hour, meaning before the April 8th midnight deadline reached. Life could continue and Americans deemed worthy or unworthy as essential to the government could keep their jobs. The military will be paid for their services, taxes will still need to be paid, and life in the United States will continue, not necessarily in the best shape financially, but non-the less it has avoided shutdown.