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US Government Shutdowns and Preparedness

Summary & Causes (in italics) from here.
When federal agencies and programs lack appropriated funding, they must cease operations, except in emergency situations. The failure of the President and Congress to reach agreement on funding measures has caused government shutdowns, the longest of which was from December 16, 1995, to January 6, 1996. Government shutdowns have necessitated the furloughing of several hundred thousand federal employees and affect all sectors of the economy.  It is necessary either to enact temporary funding legislation at the close of the fiscal year or to shut down the activities that are not funded at that time. This report provides a brief overview of the causes and effects of federal government shutdowns. Table 1 shows the dates for the 17 federal government funding gaps beginning in FY1977. Most of these were not government-wide.

An appropriation bill is a proposal placed before the legislative branch of the government by one or a group of its members to earmark a particular portion of general revenue or treasury funds for use for a governmental objective. Federal appropriation bills can originate only in the House of Representatives as mandated by Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution. Once an appropriation law is enacted, a definite amount of money is set aside so that public officials can pay incurred or anticipated expenditures. When a law authorizes funds to be used for a particular purpose, it is known as a specific appropriation.  from thefreedictionary.com

Causes of Federal Shutdowns
Shutdowns of the federal government have occurred in the past due to failures to pass regular appropriations bills by the October 1 deadline; lack of an agreement on stopgap funding for federal government operations through a continuing resolution;6 and other impasses, for example, in 1995, the lack of an agreement on lifting the federal debt ceiling.

In short this is a spending problem.  I have lived through a few of these threatened US National government shutdowns. The conservatives want to curb the out-of-control government  spending and the liberals start screaming that the old will die and essential services will shut down.  These scare tactics are the very same old, tired ones they used the last times.

What both sides fail to remember is their spending is all on our backs!

It isn’t that the conservatives currently in elected national positions want to “end” excessive spending but that they want to “slow” the excessive spending.


And the cuts proposed by the conservatives?  They are barely a blip or drop in the monstrously huge national deficit.

And what do we have to show for it?  Though the pit is ever deepening…

Have there been other threatened shutdowns?  Oh yes. Many were only threats, but there have been actual ‘shutdowns’ in the past.  During the 1978 government shutdown the congress allowed the military to go without a paycheck.  How do I know?  I was there.  Without the money to pay rent!  Pay so paltry that there was no way to save for lean times.

I have heard many say disparaging things about those of us who buy extra food, and supplies and store them.  I think living through these shuts downs in the past, and being used as nothing more than a pawn in a play for power is one reason we have chosen to be “Preppers”.  Not the only reason to be sure.

A friend of mine wrote a great post: Preparedness Apologetics.  She also has other posts about preparing.  There is no time like the present!

With a national debt of 14 trillion and growing, a government that thinks it can “spend its way to prosperity”, and two factions arguing about how much to curb that spending there  is a bigger fiscal crisis coming our way.  There is no way to ‘spend yourself to prosperity’.  That shows a lack of basic economics.  I know that method does not work in our family budget!

Preppers, who are they?  We aren’t nut cases.  We aren’t freaks.  We aren’t ‘playing Rambo’.  We are ordinary men and women who try to prudently prepare for the trouble we see heading our way.  At least to the best of our abilities, means and circumstances.

No one or no one family can ever be fully prepared for any and every eventuality.  Many of us were taken by surprise with the Japanese nuclear disaster and were unprepared for that in our preparedness supplies.

No matter when you start preparing you have to prioritize your list of things to buy.  I know I can not buy all I would like to.  And certainly not all at once!

I am where the Lord has put me.  I have the resources the Lord has provided for me.  I have learned, honed or am learning skills I believe will be useful to me in the future.  May this be your wake up call to start preparing.  Today!

I am working on future posts on preparing from a more healthy aspect than what I have seen in the preparing books I have read & the sites I have been on.  And I know many of you who read this blog are also celiac.  One of the first things a prepper is ‘supposed to buy’ is… wheat.  I have bags of the stuff (bought before my self-diagnosis) and can not now eat it!  You need to buy extras with a plan in mind, not ‘whatever’ out of fear.

Blessings,

~Mrs. R

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{ 2 comments… add one }

  • Konrad Lau April 9, 2011, 2:47 PM

    Well done Mrs.R!
    Great cartoons and better commentary…

    I am still trying to figure out if what you have written is hate speech, extremist or racist. At the very least, it is inflammatory to suggest that our esteemed elected officials would stoop to use the citizenry as pawns (schnooks?). My tender sensibilities are incensed that you could come to such a conclusion.

    Be careful, or you will most assuredly find yourself sitting next to Mr. R. on that train to the camp.

    Can anyone say “Bitter Clinger”?

    • ~Mrs. R April 11, 2011, 4:48 PM

      Hello Mr. Lau!
      Thank you. You, my friend, are too funny!! Your sarcasm made me laugh. Thanks for the chuckle!!

      And as for the seat on the train. There will be no seat for me on that train. I will never make it to the train. I am old and I wear glasses. The two categories that are some of the first eliminated in a communist regime.

      I will place my trust in the Lord of Creation and continue to speak the truth.
      Blessings,
      ~Mrs. R

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