Thread on Government Shutdown: THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS OFFICIALLY REOPENED!

[Julius Skrrvin]

You really in here biting my posts http://www.thecoli.com/threads/thre...fficially-shutdown.151612/page-6#post-5643599

I did a search...

 

[88m3]

2 October 2013 Last updated at 12:45 ET
US spy chief: Shutdown 'damaging'
Senior US intelligence officials have warned the shutdown of the US government "seriously damages" spy agencies' ability to protect the US.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a Senate panel that an estimated 70% of intelligence workers had been placed on unpaid leave.

Also, the head of the US electronic spy agency said morale had been devastated.

The US government closed non-essential operations on Tuesday after Congress failed to reach a new budget deal.

Foreign spies' 'dreamland'
Mr Clapper appeared before a Senate judiciary committee hearing on Wednesday, warning lawmakers the damage to US intelligence capabilities caused by a shutdown would be "insidious".

"This is not just a Beltway issue," he said, referring to the Washington DC area. "This affects our global capability to support the military, to support diplomacy, and to support our policymakers."

Mr Clapper also warned that foregoing paying employees during the shutdown could cause them financial hardship, making them inviting targets for foreign spies.

"This is a dreamland for foreign intelligence services," he said.

Gen Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, said the electronic spying agency had placed thousands of mathematicians and computer scientists on unpaid leave.

"Our nation needs people like this," he said. "And the way we treat them is to tell them, 'you need to go home because we can't afford to pay you, we can't make a deal here.'"

The government shutdown has left more than 700,000 employees on unpaid leave, and closed national parks, tourist sites, government websites, office buildings and more.

It came after weeks of wrangling between Democrats in the White House and Senate and the Republicans who control the US House of Representatives.

House Republicans have demanded repeal, defunding or delay of a healthcare law passed in 2010 by the Democrats as a condition for continuing to fund the government. Mr Obama and the Democrats have refused, leading to the current morass.

The spy chiefs' remarks came after the White House announced Mr Obama would cut short a planned four-nation tour of Asia next week.

Mr Obama will attend regional summits in Indonesia and Brunei, but skip Malaysia and the Philippines due to the government shutdown.

'Consequence of shutdown'
He had been scheduled to begin his Asian trip on Saturday, heading to Bali for an Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit and to Brunei for the East Asia summit before travelling on to Malaysia and the Philippines.

On Wednesday the White House said Mr Obama looked forward to visiting those two nations "later in his term".

National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden called the trip cancellation "another consequence of the House Republicans forcing a shutdown of the government".

"This completely avoidable shutdown is setting back our ability to promote US exports and advance US leadership in the largest emerging region in the world," she said.

Earlier, the office of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Mr Obama had called him to inform him that Secretary of State John Kerry would address an entrepreneurship conference in Kuala Lumpur on 11 October in his place.

"I empathise and understand," Mr Najib told the media. "If I were in his shoes, I would do the same."

'A lot of anxiety'
The US government ceased operations deemed non-essential at midnight on Tuesday, when the previous budget expired.

National parks and Washington's Smithsonian museums are closed, pension and veterans' benefit cheques will be delayed, and visa and passport applications will go unprocessed.

However, members of the military will be paid.

Treasury department employee Peter Gamba told the BBC he was worried by the turn of events.

"For whatever reason I cannot fathom, you're asking me to again give up my pay and give up service to the American public," he said.

"It's a nightmare for me financially, it causes me a lot of anxiety and stress and I don't sleep well at night."

President Obama has blamed conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives for the government shutdown, saying "one faction of one party" was responsible because "they didn't like one law".

"They've shut down the government over an ideological crusade to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans," Mr Obama said.

The White House has also rejected a Republican offer to fund only a few portions of the government - national parks, veterans' programmes and the budget of the District of Columbia - until a broader deal can be struck.

'Indefensible'
The Republicans have called for more negotiations.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner has accepted an invitation to a meeting at the White House, currently scheduled for 17:30 local time (21:30 GMT).

"We're pleased the president finally recognises that his refusal to negotiate is indefensible," said his spokesman Brendan Buck.

"It's unclear why we'd be having this meeting if it's not meant to be a start to serious talks between the two parties."

Analysts say Mr Boehner could end the showdown by allowing the House to vote on a "clean" budget bill that does not alter the health law, because that could pass with a coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans.

But doing so would risk his standing with the most conservative elements of his caucus, analysts say.

An opinion poll released on Tuesday suggested the American public disagreed with the Republican strategy.

An estimated 72% of voters opposed Congress shutting down the federal government in order to block the health law, according a poll by Quinnipiac University.

The healthcare law passed in 2010, was subsequently validated by the US Supreme Court, and was a major issue in the 2012 presidential election.

The next key fiscal deadline in the US is 17 October, when the government reaches the limit at which it can borrow money to pay its bills, the so-called debt ceiling.

House Republicans have demanded a series of policy concessions - including on the health law and on financial and environmental regulations - in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.

President Obama is due to meet the heads of some of Wall Street's biggest banks - including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America - to discuss the debt ceiling and other economic issues.

The bankers are members of the Financial Services Forum, a lobbying group which has, along with 250 other businesses, sent a letter to Congress urging it to raise the debt ceiling.

Are you in the US? Are you visiting as a tourist? Are you affected by the government shutdown? Please send us your comments and details of your experiences using the form below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24373300?print=true

 

[HarlemUSA]

Obamacare Health Exchange Websites Had More Than 10 Million Unique Visitors On Day One
(Reuters) - The online health insurance exchanges at the heart of President Barack Obama's healthcare law opened for business on October 1, although technical glitches stalled the launch in many states.
Here are some first day statistics reported by the exchanges, states and the federal government:

* About 2.8 million people visited healthcare.gov - the main website for the 36 state exchanges being run by the federal government - between midnight and mid-afternoon, theU.S. Department of Health and Human Services said.

* NY State of Health, New York state's exchange, reported 7.5 million website visits by mid-afternoon.

* Kentucky's exchange, kynect, saw 57,625 unique visitors from its midnight launch until 2:30 p.m., according to the Kentucky governor's office. Nearly 2,000 applications had been started, with 1,235 completed. The kynect contact center fielded 3,243 calls and 110 e-mails. The average visitor stayed on the site for 11 minutes.

* Access Health CT, Connecticut's exchange, reported 28,280 unique visitors as of 4 p.m. It processed 167 applications, 83 of which were for subsidized purchases of commercial insurance products, while 84 were for Medicaid coverage. The call center received 1,930 calls during the day, with the average call time trending at about 9 minutes.

* Nevada Health Link reported 2,179 accounts created through its exchange as of 1 p.m. local time, and 1,111 phone calls received.

* Arkansas's Health Insurance Marketplace website, arhealthconnector.org, had registered 15,934 hits from midnight to 3 p.m., according to the Arkansas governor's office.

* The Connect for Health Colorado Marketplace said it had over 34,500 unique visitors and more than 1,300 accounts created in the first three hours.

* Illinois' exchange, Get Covered Illinois, reported 65,043 unique visitors as of 3:30 p.m. CST after opening at midnight. The state received more than 1,100 online applications, while the help desk received more than 350 calls.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf and Sharon Begley)

This post originally appeared at Reuters. Copyright 2013.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/obamacare-exchange-website-2013-10#ixzz2gaoC62gC

I can't log in.

 

[88m3]

Ted Cruz Warns That Shutdown Could Lead To A Terrorist Attack Against U.S.
By Hayes Brown on October 2, 2013 at 12:41 pm

CREDIT: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Wednesday raised fears that the shutdown of the federal government that he helped launch could potentially lead to an attack on the United States of America, calling on his fellow senators to to pass a separate resolution funding the Defense Department.

Cruz was speaking at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee related to reforms of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act. Earlier in the hearing, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper informed members of the committee that the federal shutdown had caused the suspension of 70 percent of the intelligence community’s civilian work force. In response, Cruz suggested that a miniature continuing resolution funding only the Department of Defense and the intelligence community could be passed through the Senate today. “I don’t believe President Obama should be playing politics with this,” he said. “He shouldn’t be refusing to negotiate or compromise.”

CRUZ: If the Senate cooperates, we could get this passed by the end of the day. We could respond to the national security threat these two gentlemens [sic] have laid out. The only impediment to doing so is the prospects that Majority Leader Harry Reid would object to doing so. If, God forbid, we see an attack on the United States because the intelligence community was not adequately funded, every member of the committee would be horrified. So I hope issues of partisan politics can be set aside and we can all come together and pass, right now by the end of the day, a continuing resolution to fully fund the Department of Defense and intelligence community.

Watch:

What Cruz did not mention during his speech was that the he is the reason a separate bill would be needed at all. For weeks, he and his allies in the House and Senate have insisted that any continuing resolution that fund the government past Sept. 30 would have to remove funding for the Affordable Care Act. Just last week, he launched a 21 hour speech, dubbed a “faux-libuster” to convince his Republican colleagues to hold the line on stripping Obamacare from the continuing resolution. He’s also paid for numerous ads on cable television denouncing Obamacare and imploring that watchers call their senators to oppose funding it.

A clean continuing resolution — including funding for not only Obamacare but also the Departments of Defense, State, Veterans Affairs, and the entirety of federal operations — has always been the goal of the White House and Senate Democrats. When their demands were not met, the government shut down on Tuesday, leading to the furloughs that Cruz denounced as threatening America’s safety.

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2...hutdown-he-caused-could-lead-to-attack-on-us/

American Taliban

 

[88m3]

I did a search...

you didn't search!

 

[88m3]

The Government Shutdown Will Probably Increase The Deficit
By Aviva Shen on October 2, 2013 at 9:24 am

CREDIT: AP

The economic cost of Congress’ failure to avert a shutdown is quickly mounting, to the tune of $300 million a day. Now, financial analysts say the shutdown could also worsen the nation’s deficit.

This year, the deficit was expected to shrink to its smallest shortfall since before the recession. However, as a new Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research Report explains, the loss of tax revenue from the masses of furloughed workers, coupled with the cost for agencies to implement the shutdown, will likely “put upside risk” on the budget deficit. The analysts warn:

Inside the Beltway this may look like a ‘zero-sum game’ where one party’s win is the other party’s loss. However, outside the Beltway, we believe this is very much a negative-sum game: the odds of a major shock to the economy and a full-blown correction to the stock market have risen.

Ironically, we think this also puts upside risk to the budget deficit – due to shutdown costs and reduced revenues – and it does not slow implementation of the Affordable Care Act – it is funded outside of the appropriations process.

On top of this likely damage, the shutdown could reduce GDP growth by 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter and cost the economy $55 billion if it lasts three to four weeks.

To re-open the government, self-professed Republican budget hawks are pushing for the repeal of Obamacare’s medical device tax, which would add about $35 billion to the national debt. The last Congressional crisis, over sequestration, resulted in an estimated $4.5 billion in lost revenue, not to mention stagnating consumer spending due to mass furloughs.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/10/02/2715591/shutdown-deficit/

 

[Rawtid]

Except car insurance isnt regulated by the federal government... again I have yet hear logical argument as to why the FEDERAL government can fine those who do not purchase a private product

Logical? I don't know but the only way universal healthcare will work is if everyone pays either through premiums or fines.

However I don't think the money will go to the appropriate place and the pool of money that is supposed to be used for healthcare will get blown on something else. I'm all for universal healthcare but I just don't see this particular plan working.

 

[HarlemUSA]

they told blacks to do the same thing if they dont like slavery

Are you comparing inhumane actions and telling people to leave if they don't like it to paying money to get health insurance and if you don't like it to leave?


Slavery argument is used too freely
Healthcare and Taxes get use to it

 

[CACtain Planet]

Logical? I don't know but the only way universal healthcare will work is if everyone pays either through premiums or fines.

However I don't think the money will go to the appropriate place and the pool of money that is supposed to be used for healthcare will get blown on something else. I'm all for universal healthcare but I just don't see this particular plan working.

Should have rammed a public option through and called it a day...but Obama bussed it wide open for the insurance companies smh

 

[Wild self]

The Republicans will never win another national election again. They doing something so extreme, so anti-American, so selfish, that they willing to sell everyone down the river for it. The Tea Party should be labeled as a terrorist group.

 

[DEAD7]

The Republicans will never win another national election again. They doing something so extreme, so anti-American, so selfish, that they willing to sell everyone down the river for it. The Tea Party should be labeled as a terrorist group.

 

[Chris.B]

The Republicans will never win another national election again. They doing something so extreme, so anti-American, so selfish, that they willing to sell everyone down the river for it. The Tea Party should be labeled as a terrorist group.

I'm not sure you really understand what's happening.

The republicans and their existence are at stake. This has nothing to do with the country.

If all the uninsured get healthcare (30 million of them) the party they will be voting for is not in question.

Obamacare unevens the political playing field. This shutdown will happen till the democrats fallback

 

[DEAD7]

How do you feel about car insurance? It's the same concept.

So you can't go to a different country?

You can opt of driving...

How is it even a remotely close comparison?

 

[nomoreneveragain]

 

[Lucky_Lefty]

So the RNC thinks giving money to 5 security guards to keep the WWII Memorial open is a consolation to this historic f*ck up they've created As a vet myself, I say this with all my being, SO WHAT IF IT'S CLOSED? I understand those men made tremendous sacrifices that a majority of this board, including myself, hopes to never have to make but there are PLENTY of WWII memorials around this country. Also finding it hilarious how news orgs are spinning that Reid presser about keeping the NIH funded. So there are millions being effected so we should only worry about SIX kids who are there for clinical studies. Not being cured but STUDIES....i swear I'm not trying to come across cold hearted but those 2 things are so minor in the total sum of this shutdown