Analysts Say A Government Shutdown Is No Joke
In nine days, the federal government could shut down unless Democrats and Republicans can reach an agreement on a spending bill for the rest of the year.
Time is running out in this high-stakes budget showdown.
In private, talks continue on a possible compromise, but in public, the two parties are squaring off, trying to make sure that if there is a shutdown, the other side gets the blame.
"People should be careful about, you know, being too loose in terms of talking about a government shutdown because this has — this is not an abstraction," President Obama said at his press conference last week. "You know, people don't get their Social Security checks. They don't get their veterans payments. Basic functions shut down. And that also would have an adverse effect on our economic recovery."
Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/02/24/134000945/analysts-say-a-government-shutdown-is-no-joke?ft=1&f=1003