The government shutdown is still causing a buzz as it continues to stretch on into the middle of October with little progress. When asked to comment about the shutdown’s effect on the economy, President Barack Obama said that “The longer this goes on, the worse it will be.”
The shutdown affects national parks, government office workers, and those who rely on government aid such as the “Special Supplemental Nutrition Program WIC” As it continues, more programs are being shut down everyday.
In an Oct. 5 article entitled, “How the ripple effects of the government shutdown might spread, day by day,” NBC reported the possibility of the federal court’s doors closing as a result of the shutdown.
“Administrators say the courts will stay open for roughly the first 10 business days of the shutdown, but they say they would have to reassess matters on October 15,” stated the article.
Although approximately 800,000 government employees throughout the United States were furloughed, Congress is still receiving pay. The 27th amendment prevents Congress from being able to change their pay. Most of Congress makes roughly $174,000 per year. Boehner, speaker of the house makes $223,500 a year.
The shutdown does not have as great a financial effect on Wittenberg’s campus. The Financial Aid office said that this government shutdown does not affect their department, and students’ paychecks are not compromised by the shutdown. No positions are in jeopardy here on campus due to this government event.
However, some students still feel its influence more subtlety. According to a Forbes article entitled, “Shutdown Threatens Thousands Of Seasonal Retail Jobs, $602B Holiday Season,” Americans were expected to spend 62 million dollars this holiday season. However, that number is expected to decrease resulting in a lack of available seasonal retail positions open for those students looking to work at retail stores this holiday break.
Many American companies are also required to use the E-verify system before hiring new employees, and are unable to do so due to the shutdown. This also hinders students or other potential employees to fill job openings, both seasonal and permanent.
Those interested in various government organizations can no longer receive tweets or Instagram pictures from them. For example, in a tweet the NASAVoyager2 said that, “Due to government shutdown, we will not be posting or responding from this account,” the crew responsible for the Voyager 2 space probe wrote late Monday on Twitter, “Farewell, humans. Sort it out yourselves.”
The science department at Wittenberg was further effected. Geology students were unable to collect necessary information from websites such as USDA for assigned fact sheets for homework.
Some have also hypothesized that a slower server than usual on Netflix may be a result of more subscribers watching than usual. With more people home watching Netflix, there is more of a delay in buffering of favorite shows.
All the public can do now is simply watch and wait for their government, and their Netflix to start working at a faster rate.
