The White House began distributing information to federal employees regarding the impact of a potential government shutdown Friday, according to The Washington Post.
President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders have been working on a bill to reduce the budget, but have yet come to an agreement. The government is operating on a two-week short-term budget extension while Representatives attempt to hash out a long-term bill.
Obama has shown frustration towards both parties and their inability to come to an agreement. House Majority Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has proposed another short-term bill, but President Obama has shown distaste for it.
“We’ve already done that twice. That is not a way to run a government. I can’t have our agencies making plans based on two-week budgets,” President Obama said in an article at FoxNews.com. “What we are not going to do is once again put off something that should have been done months ago.”
If a budget bill is not signed by Friday, a government shutdown is possible. The longest and last shutdown occurred in November 1995, which affected state parks, new Medicare recipients, mortgage loans, passport processing and veteran’s benefits.
Our country’s leaders should stop being stubborn and work together to compromise. The economy has suffered enough and will not benefit from the consequences caused by a shutdown.
We elected our leaders to look out for the best interests of the people, and by bickering and failing to agree, they have not done so. Instead of sticking to their own sides, they should be figuring out the best solution without harming the economy even more.
Obama has rightly insisted for representatives to finally come to an agreement on a long-term bill, rather continue to waste time on short-term bills. He has done everything possible to speed up the process and has planned meetings between Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
It’s up to them to begin to solve our budget concerns — let’s see whether they can step and get the job done by Friday.
