Hundreds of miles away from here, it stopped working. Most people were unaware of this, until they stopped earning money. The government shutdown has affected thousands of people, including you.

According to CNN, our country is in a lot of debt that we cannot pay back. The last time something like this happened was in December of 1995, when President Bill Clinton and Congress couldn’t agree on funding Medicare. Everything has been shutdown in order to prevent more holes in our pockets. The government still funds the most necessary services, such as social security and medicare, but there are still many other departments that are essential yet not funded, like FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). October 17 is the due date for the United States to pay back its debt: 60 billion dollars.  By this date we will have 30 billion dollars from what the country has on hand, which is minuscule compared to the amount we owe.

Many government resources have been shut down as well. Research projects that need information on things like our country’s history are no longer available to everyone. Lots of .gov domains are also closed and don’t have updated information for people to use. Shutting down these websites are suppose to save us money, even though the cost of shutting them down is higher than keeping them up.

One thing that has angered many people is the National Parks shutting down. Hundreds have planned trips to visit places like Yosemite National Park and are left with disappointment and regret. Some have prepared expeditions months ahead just to realize they can’t go. This may have an impact on tourism in the United States and the debt we are in. The websites that include treasured information about the parks are also closed. Infuriated visitors are trying to tear down the barricades into the parks, but it doesn’t seem to be working.

Some government workers were forced to take time off without pay. The federal agencies that were shut down do not have any money, so they couldn’t pay their workers.

It stopped working hundreds of miles away, but it’s affecting people all over the country. There has been a break in the powers that govern our country, and the impact of it is huge.