I guess based on the replies... If it even affects only ONE person, ONE family, then that's one family too much... I don't think numbers should influence how people see the impact so much. Personally.. Like I say, I work for local government, I'd be devastated to see my colleagues in uncertainty. It's bad enough with the amount of redundancies there has been already. I'm lucky my job is secure for now.
I don't think anybody "enjoys" seeing people live with uncertainty, but it is kind of just life. It happens, to everybody all the time.
personally I'm sick of our gov't acting like this. Every 3-4 months they start this cycle, then the doom and gloom warnings and the political bickering and grandstanding (well that never really ends anymore it seems) and they drop sound bites and people get all excited and then it all goes back to normal. About the only thing that ever seems to change is the gov't always gets bigger, the rich always get richer and some little guys always get screwed, and if you're a big guy and don't fall in line with your big guy friends, you might get screwed too. Then the cycle starts over.
We've been thru this funding the gov't and debt ceiling crap every few months for 2 years now? or more? it's stupid and both sides are as guilty as the other. Nothing ever really changes. I think this last spending bill was only for 6 weeks???? 6 weeks and we go thru it again, had it passed.
If I had seen anything and I do mean anything, remotely close to viable from for a replacement for ACA then maybe I'd think the repubs have a point in holding up the gov't because they really have something to fight for. But I haven't, and they don't. They're spoiled children stomping their feet because they can.
and the dems aren't any different. They aren't missing this opportunity to take political shots themselves and this business of closing down parks and things that everyday people use and enjoy is just as dumb. It's only to hurt the general public, albeit in a rather minor way overall, and say "see what the big bad republicans are doing" " look some WWII vets almost didn't get to see their monument because of the them. Who put the barricade up in the first place? and why? People are all of a sudden going to go buy spray paint by the case to deface it?
I get that parts of the gov't aren't funded and they can't be required to work. But to not be able to enter an open air park? Do they think because a ranger isn't on duty we'll all turn into a bunch of rapid pillagers and rapists in national parks??? and if we did, there are still plenty of gov't agents on the local level still on the job.
and they scare us with the terrorist threat again, saying threats are not being monitored because so many are out of work. well I guess I'm not that upset they don't have the staff to spy on its citizens.
I've already said it, and I'll say it again. I hope this goes on and I hope it hurts. I hope what comes of it is our federal gov't gets much smaller and more power goes to states. The pendulum needs to swing back a bit. Right now even our semi local state elections are being controlled by national lobbyists and politicians. The agendas and ad campaigns in every state and county are the same in a state across the country. Why? Because it's controlled at the national level thru lobbyists.
If that power is taken away, things go back to being controlled more locally, which will come with it's own set of problems, but problems I'd much rather have than where we are headed. People feel like they can make a difference locally more so than nationally and might not be so apathetic when stuff starts heading in a direction they don't like.