The White House estimates that 3.5 million federal workers will have to go without pay if the government shuts down. Roughly 2 million of them will be military.
The rough tally comes as House Republicans struggle to push through spending bills that would keep the government open in the new budget year.
Absent a last-minute bipartisan deal, which appears unlikely, federal agencies are expected to curb much of their work and require many employees to work without pay.
In addition to the 2 million military service members, the White House Office of Management and Budget estimates 1.5 million federal civilian employees will go without pay.
About 820,000 of those federal workers will be sent home, or “furloughed.”
I completely disagree with the shutdown. The role of these legislators is to find compromise. But I also have to say that the root of the problem is a massive oversized government we can’t continue to pay for.
The problem with this argument is that everyone has a portion of the government they feel is essential, and another they think isn’t. Deciding what to cut requires compromise, but polarization requires you protect everything you like and cut everything else. Nothing can happen in that scenario.
To summarize our legislative body is completely incapable of doing their job. To a huge extent, we should be bringing in fresh blood. The problem is we’ve allowed money to place such a huge role in politics that the vote is almost inconsequential nowadays.