National parks to be closed if GOP succeeds in shutting down the government :(

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xj0hnx

Diamond Member
Dec 18, 2007
9,262
3
76
GOP is still free to pass Obama's budget and avoid this mess.

They could, and should take what was given to them, they are dumbass's for not doing it, but that in no way, shape or form excuses the democrats from their failure, nor does it hide your partisan hackery.
 

mchammer187

Diamond Member
Nov 26, 2000
9,114
0
76
They could, and should take what was given to them, they are dumbass's for not doing it, but that in no way, shape or form excuses the democrats from their failure, nor does it hide your partisan hackery.

True but that Congress failed to pass it and that Congress was voted out. It is the current Congress's responsibility now and anything that happens now is squarely on their shoulders.

Your argument is the same argument as the "But Bush" rhetoric. Someone needs to own up to something besides blaming the previous administration that applies to Congress, the President and the Senate.
 

guyver01

Lifer
Sep 25, 2000
22,135
5
61
Interesting Article
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/0...your-day-if-the-government-shuts-down/?hpt=T2

The list of collateral effects of a potential government shutdown keeps growing and people are none too pleased about it. Here are just a few of the negative impacts that could arise if Congress and the White House fail to reach an agreement on the budget:
• The lawmakers who hold the cards will still get paid. Their staffers might be furloughed, though. That has prompted a few lawmakers to announce they'll refuse shutdown pay,but even that has elicited critiques of political posturing.

• Roughly 800,000 federal workers won't get paid because they're considered nonessential and therefore, the first to be furloughed. That includes people who work in national parks because they'll be closed, ruining countless long family road trips. And it's not just the loss of income that hurts – for many, it's being labeled dispensable when they know their jobs are anything but nonessential.

• What happened to all that talk of helping small businesses? Many government contractors are just that. We're talking about IT firms and software companies, to name a few, who may be sent home as well.

• If the government shuts down for an extended period of time, the Department of Defense says troops, including those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, may not be paid on time. Troops are guaranteed back-pay but the pinch will be more immediate for military families at home, who may be forced to choose between food and rent if they don't know when to expect a check in the mail.

• In the District, trash pickup will be suspended in the event of a government shutdown. In response, some enterprising Facebookers have proposed a solution: "If Boehner shuts down the government I am taking my trash to his house." In addition to trash pickup, the nation's capitol stands to miss out on another cherished tradition: this weekend's Cherry Blossom Festival.

• As the shutdown looms, some political leaders are taking the opportunity to fundraise and rally their supporters. The executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sent out an appeal asking for a minimum $5 donation saying the organization wants to raise $100,000 in the next 36 hours.

• Numerous services administered by the federal government will come to a halt. That means no new approvals of loans by the Federal Housing Administration or the Small Business Administration; no IRS processing of paper tax returns or refunds; no issuing of regular passports or visas (emergency visas and passports will be processed). In fact, anything that requires permits probably will not be processed.

• You'll still get your Social Security checks but don't expect anyone to be around to answer your questions about benefits. The people who take questions on Social Security and Medicare questions will not be at work and most government websites will shut down or have limited functionality.

• Various agencies with the Department of Health and Human Services will operate in a patchwork fashion. The National Institutes of Health will not accept new patients or start new clinical trials. The Food and Drug Administration won't operate at full capacity but will have some inspectors on staff. As a result, all FDA inspections of food processing facilities and drug manufacturing plants will be prioritized by risk.

• Word is getting around that a government shutdown doesn't actually save taxpayers money. For one, it will cost the government money to ensure a smooth transition to a shutdown. Then there's the lost revenue from a variety of sources, from government services to gift shops in government-run attractions such as Yosemite National Park and DC's National Gallery of Art.
 

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
61
Interesting Article
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/0...your-day-if-the-government-shuts-down/?hpt=T2

The list of collateral effects of a potential government shutdown keeps growing and people are none too pleased about it. Here are just a few of the negative impacts that could arise if Congress and the White House fail to reach an agreement on the budget:

lol


Oh no! Not the Cherry Blossom Festival!

Please note that is the only thing that was for sure to be affected.
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
70,170
28,816
136
...The ones that failed to do their job for more than a year are the democrats, their failure us why this mess exist, it is 100% on the democrats shoulders.
I for one agree with this almost but not quite 100%.

My order of blame:
Harry Reid - failing to show leadership and putting the interests of his donors ahead of anything else. More than any other single person Harry Reid stymied the Democratic agenda and set the stage for the Republican victory in November.
President Obama - Displayed a total lack of leadership on getting a budget through Congress on schedule.
Congressional Republicans - Endless tantrums
The rest of the Congressional Democrats - "Moo moo" said the sheep as they couldn't bring themselves to remove Reid from leadership long after he demonstrated he couldn't or wouldn't get the job done.
 

matt0611

Golden Member
Oct 22, 2010
1,879
0
0
I for one agree with this almost but not quite 100%.

My order of blame:
Harry Reid - failing to show leadership and putting the interests of his donors ahead of anything else. More than any other single person Harry Reid stymied the Democratic agenda and set the stage for the Republican victory in November.
President Obama - Displayed a total lack of leadership on getting a budget through Congress on schedule.
Congressional Republicans - Endless tantrums
The rest of the Congressional Democrats - "Moo moo" said the sheep as they couldn't bring themselves to remove Reid from leadership long after he demonstrated he couldn't or wouldn't get the job done.

Yup, theres plenty of blame to spread around.
 

senseamp

Lifer
Feb 5, 2006
35,787
6,197
126
They could, and should take what was given to them, they are dumbass's for not doing it, but that in no way, shape or form excuses the democrats from their failure, nor does it hide your partisan hackery.

Democrats are not running the House anymore. So they paid the price. Now GOP needs to pass it or pay the same price.
 

Fear No Evil

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2008
5,922
0
0
Solution: Parks don't need many people to run, especially short term. Open the gates, let people in. Sure, the visitor centers will be closed, but oh well. We can probably find some volunteers to clean the bathrooms or private companies who would do it for 50 cents a piss. Its insane that we need this huge bureaucracy to run a park. Stick some state troopers at the gates in case something bad happens, and let people enjoy the park.
 

Steeplerot

Lifer
Mar 29, 2004
13,051
6
81
The EPA service RADNET where you can log into the radiation detectors all over California is going to be down it seems.

Lame. There goes my online hobby nowadays. Thanks repubs.
 

dainthomas

Lifer
Dec 7, 2004
14,635
3,507
136
Solution: Parks don't need many people to run, especially short term. Open the gates, let people in. Sure, the visitor centers will be closed, but oh well. We can probably find some volunteers to clean the bathrooms or private companies who would do it for 50 cents a piss. Its insane that we need this huge bureaucracy to run a park. Stick some state troopers at the gates in case something bad happens, and let people enjoy the park.

I don't even know how to respond to this. National Parks are one of the few things the federal government does right.

And you obviously have zero clue how the parks are administered, patrolled and maintained.
 

Lemon law

Lifer
Nov 6, 2005
20,984
3
0
Where does this totally inadequacy thread question come from?????????

That somehow if the Federal government is shut down due to a failure of Republirats and dimocrats to agree, the only American problem will be confined to only our national parks????????

Earth to this forum and earth to the American people, if our partisan politicians on all sides can't come to an agreement in a Matter of minutes, the bulk of our American government will shut down.

The last time the Republirats tried it under Newt G. 1998.

So riddle us all pin heads, who caught the blame in 1998?
 

sactoking

Diamond Member
Sep 24, 2007
7,582
2,817
136
Interesting Article

The list of collateral effects of a potential government shutdown keeps growing and people are none too pleased about it. Here are just a few of the negative impacts that could arise if Congress and the White House fail to reach an agreement on the budget:

Thought I'd point out too that there are several hundred thousand STATE workers who will be furloughed as a result of the Federal shutdown. Many state employees receive some or all of their funding through Federal programs and grants; if the gov't shuts down they will not be paid either.
 

Fear No Evil

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2008
5,922
0
0
I don't even know how to respond to this. National Parks are one of the few things the federal government does right.

And you obviously have zero clue how the parks are administered, patrolled and maintained.

Oh, please do educate me. I'm sure there's absolutely NO waste. The Fed Parks are lean mean government machines! I suppose you have a point though, if someone wasn't there to maintain the pump equipment for Old Faithful, and feed the Buffalo.. everything would fall apart. :whiste:

Of course you would need SOME people to maintain things, but shutdown the 50 million dollar visitor center, and close down the gate workers, and the tour guides, and I bet you could get by with very few people. Especially short term.
 

matt0611

Golden Member
Oct 22, 2010
1,879
0
0
Where does this totally inadequacy thread question come from?????????

That somehow if the Federal government is shut down due to a failure of Republirats and dimocrats to agree, the only American problem will be confined to only our national parks????????

Earth to this forum and earth to the American people, if our partisan politicians on all sides can't come to an agreement in a Matter of minutes, the bulk of our American government will shut down.

The last time the Republirats tried it under Newt G. 1998.

So riddle us all pin heads, who caught the blame in 1998?

And our debt situation and economy is exactly like 1998 right?
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
70,170
28,816
136
Oh, please do educate me. I'm sure there's absolutely NO waste. The Fed Parks are lean mean government machines! I suppose you have a point though, if someone wasn't there to maintain the pump equipment for Old Faithful, and feed the Buffalo.. everything would fall apart. :whiste:

Of course you would need SOME people to maintain things, but shutdown the 50 million dollar visitor center, and close down the gate workers, and the tour guides, and I bet you could get by with very few people. Especially short term.
If you strip the parks of workers, the visitors would strip the parks.

Also, if you happen to visit a national park, note how many actual park employees you see and how many volunteers you see. In most park visitor centers the majority of workers are volunteers. In the back country the uniformed folks you are likely to meet are mostly volunteers or student interns. For the scale of the operation there are very few real federal employees in our national parks. According to the NPS website there are about 22,000 employees and 221,000 volunteers.
 

Ronstang

Lifer
Jul 8, 2000
12,493
18
81
If you strip the parks of workers, the visitors would strip the parks.

Also, if you happen to visit a national park, note how many actual park employees you see and how many volunteers you see. In most park visitor centers the majority of workers are volunteers. In the back country the uniformed folks you are likely to meet are mostly volunteers or student interns. For the scale of the operation there are very few real federal employees in our national parks. According to the NPS website there are about 22,000 employees and 221,000 volunteers.

I spent my entire childhood summer vacations traveling this great country with my family visiting one National Park after another. The one thing I noticed over all those years was just how few Park Rangers/Employees you encounter in real life. Most of the camp sites were unmanned and you simply paid on the honor system....but I bet that has changed considering how demographics have changed over the last 30 years.
 

Fear No Evil

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2008
5,922
0
0
If you strip the parks of workers, the visitors would strip the parks.

Also, if you happen to visit a national park, note how many actual park employees you see and how many volunteers you see. In most park visitor centers the majority of workers are volunteers. In the back country the uniformed folks you are likely to meet are mostly volunteers or student interns. For the scale of the operation there are very few real federal employees in our national parks. According to the NPS website there are about 22,000 employees and 221,000 volunteers.

So have the volunteers continue to do their jobs? You are kind of making my point. If we have 221,000 volunteers why would losing 10% of them who happened to be paid close the parks down? Hell I am sure there are even more people who would volunteer to keep them open.

This isn't rocket science here people. We don't need the government to hold our d**ks while we piss every day. If all your local restaurants closed would you need the government to step in to stop you from starving to death because you didn't know how to make food yourself?