Chart:
Keith Collins, Jennifer Daniel and Karen Yourish/The New York Times
So. The government of the United States of America, the world's largest superpower, has shut down due to political bickering between the Republicans and the Democrats largely over Obamacare.
You didn't need us to tell you that. That much you already know.
The topic, as you'd expect, is everywhere on the news and Internet. But we'd like to know how this government shutdown - the first in 17 years (the last one was back in 1995 and 1996 when Newt Gingrich-led Congress feuded with President Clinton) - affected you. Government shutdowns are quite rare, and the last time it happened it wasn't as doom-and-gloom as people thought it would be.
But that doesn't mean that the shutdown does not have terrible effects on some people. How about for you? Does the US government shutdown affect you badly? In what ways?
And although the project I am employed by is federally funded, I am a university employee and our project has a budget surplus. If I did get "sent home" I would probably still be in the lab working unless they forced me out, because stuff still needs to get done (as seems to be the policy on furlough days from the state government). Friends at national labs and other places vary from annoyed to now dealing with potentially large extra expenses associated with messed up schedules or pausing work.
Not like politics are all rosy here either:(
http://www.businessinsider.com/government-shutdown-80-of-federal-employees-keep-working-2013-10
As others have said: Worst apocalypse ever.
A government shutdown doesn't hit everyone immediately, but it if stretches out, you'll feel a hit at some point. Sort of a trickle down thing.