[WW] The US Government Shutdown

Image courtesy of TopGearHobbies.com

I am not an expert of American relations or United States politics, but this is big news so I feel a little obligated to write about it.

News outlets are reporting that the parties in the White House are butting heads because of "ideological" differences. Obama is unwilling to compromise anything (including "will-be-passed-in-the-future-anyway" Obamacare)  for a decision to be made about government funding/spending. Therefore, hoping to jolt the Republicans into coming to a compromise, Obama decided to Start -> Shutdown and off the mainframe computer went.

 I really like this article explaining the government shutdown to non-Americans, so go take a read by clicking here.

This is probably how Obama feels right now...

So everyday people, Canadians and Americans alike, how is this going to affect us? Here are just a few things that I've seen floating around the interwebs.

• An estimated 800,000 federal workers will not receive shutdown pay because they are considered "nonessential" (including national park workers and possibly, trash collectors)
• Anyone trying to apply for permits of any kind (business permits or passports alike) probably won't get anything until the shutdown is over
• The border will still be tough to cross since security checks and the Department of Homeland Security are not going to be affected
• Small businesses with ties to America (in goods and/or other transactions) will most likely suffer. There's no telling how it will affect the big businesses all around the world. I can imagine people in Canada are eyeing their stocks very closely.
• The Center for Disease Control and Prevention will have a decrease in operations so fingers crossed nothing happens during the government shutdown. This could potentially affect all of us!

...these are only a FEW things that I've read about regarding how this US government shutdown is going to affect the people of North America, I urge you to do your own research as well if you want to learn more.

What do you think about the government shutdown? As Canadians, do you think it's going to make a big impact on us? For people in the rest of the world, how will it affect you?