U.S. federal government agencies have shut down for first time in 17 years after Congress fails to reach any final deal on funding and while finger-pointing becomes a favorite Washington pastime.
Republicans and Democrats in Congress keep on trading blame following the government shut-down. Unfortunately, the congressional grandstanding is going to hurt all US taxpayers and the government shutdown is here. Republicans and Democrats didn't reach a spending deal by midnight tonight, so a partial government shutdown is now in effect.
That is because the 2013 fiscal year ends at midnight Monday. Many federal programs and activities have stopped and won't restart unless a new deal is in place.
The US government then runs out of money in the middle October. In addition to using tax revenues, the Obama administration has to borrow more money to pay bills the nation has already racked up. But Congress has to raise the debt limit to allow increased borrowing and this definitely will not come without another nasty fight.
If the debt ceiling isn't raised, the U.S. economy will suffer even more that under a shutdown. For instance, interest rates on credit cards, student loans and mortgages loans could rise. And our nation's creditworthiness would take a beating.
Is this what we elected our representatives to do? Our founding fathers must be rolling in their graves. All the American taxpayers can now do it yo pray for US.