Petty Politicians' Shutdown Would Affect Regular People the Most

When the clock strikes midnight on Friday, almost 800,000 Americans could be going without a paycheck. Congress has failed to pass a budget for the 2011 fiscal year, which began in October 2010. The continual resolutions to keep the government running are coming to an end and then the money runs out. Hundreds of thousands of local residents will be affected by a government shutdown. A shutdown would be devastating to many families and small business in Northern Virginia.

Only essential personnel will be kept working, and everyone else will be furloughed or work and then maybe be back-paid later, but there is no guarantee of that. Many local military families and Department of Defense employees, like my family, are scared and confused because we have no idea what this means for us. If a budget is not passed by April 15th, military members would only get paid for April 1st-8th. Only essential federal employees will continue being paid, a small amount of Social Security employees, and any non-“essential” people. No one knows for sure who this includes and who it doesn’t include.

The local economy is sure to be bruised by a shutdown. Even the threat could have an adverse effect. My family is not spending any unnecessary money, knowing we might have to go a few weeks without a paycheck. That means no haircuts, no dry-cleaning and only the essentials as far as food. That ping in the car will have to wait to be checked out.

My biggest question is what, as a military family, happens to us? Unfortunately, there are not any clear answers. Commissary services may stop, and will be announced on individual base websites. Will the military hospitals be open for routine care or only emergency care? Will there be emergency relief available to families who simply cannot make it on less pay? How do I explain to my kids that our spring break plans can’t happen?

Although we are not sure what will happen in the next few days or weeks, we know what we have to do. We are picking up medications, because I have no idea what our health insurance situation could be. Will they pay for prescription coverage or hospital coverage if we have an emergency?  I will probably make a trip to the commissary in the next day or two in case it is closed. Although a few weeks wouldn’t be devastating to us, there are many military families who this could really hurt.

There are many military families living paycheck to paycheck, especially in this area, where the cost of living is so high. How they will pay their utilities, rent, and buy food? Unpaid bills could result in extra bank fees and higher interest rates down the road At least military families will be paid back, where many DOD civilians, contractors, and other federal employees will simply lose that money.

If so many hundreds of thousands of people can go without pay, maybe Congress should do the same. Even if they pass another stop-gap, we will all be going through the same fears and frustrations a few weeks from now all over again. We the people voted for Congress to represent us and work for us. No matter what political beliefs you have, I am sure we can all agree that we have a budget crisis that needs to be dealt with. A government shutdown will not just hurt the government employees, but thousands of businesses and families, with few places impacted as severely as Northern Virginia.