Experts agree: A federal government
shutdown would be a dumb way to go.
Yet the risk of a shutdown on Oct. 1 is now a distinct
possibility. And federal agencies have been instructed to make plans for
one just in case.
The House on Friday will vote on a short-term government funding
bill that will include a provision todefund Obamacare. That provision is a no-go for Senate
Democrats and President Obama.
If they can't work out a compromise, many functions of the federal
government will be shut down indefinitely on Oct. 1.
Besides causing inconvenience and delays, a shutdown could have
larger consequences.
A long, broad shutdown could weaken an already modest economic recovery,
Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf said Wednesday.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, meanwhile, noted that
"a government shutdown and, perhaps even more so, a failure to raise the debt limit could have very serious consequences for the financial markets and
for the economy."
To say nothing of the fact that a shutdown wouldn't come cheap.
Federal agencies have to use up time, energy and resources to plan for one.
Shutting down, and then reopening the government, also costs money. Two
shutdowns in the mid-1990s cost an estimated $1.4 billion, according to the
Congressional Research Service.
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