# Run For the Hills! (Government Shutdown in Effect) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 1, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068 "2013-10-01T04:12:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/41 "2013-10-01T10:41:27Z")
“America is at that awkward stage. It’s too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.”–Claire Wolfe ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/42 "2013-10-01T11:58:25Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I didn’t see any sign. Did you see a sign? Yeah, we had to sell the sign, thanks to the sequester. From now on, we’re just training the bears to roar, “GET. OUT.” ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/43 "2013-10-01T12:00:06Z")
> [@Cyros](#): > > Well, unless there is a sign. Can they afford a sign? Who’s going to be there to put the sign out? A lot of the bigger parks, Yellowstone and such, have plazas but don’t have a gate so one could just drive right on in. You wouldn’t be able to get in to the visitor centers and gift shops. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/44 "2013-10-01T12:04:44Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > The only way I see it being a negative electorally is if this results in other candidates who lose general elections. When this is all said and done, there will be knives out for some of the Republicans who help end it. The super-lunatics are perfectly fine with the shutdown continuing forever and they turn out and vote in midterm primaries. Yes, there is a possibility both of the GOP losing seats in the few remaining marginal districts, but also the possibility of losing seats in not-so-marginal districts by primarying the current occupants who have the advantages of both incumbency and sanity. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/45 "2013-10-01T12:40:26Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > Who’s going to be there to put the sign out? A lot of the bigger parks, Yellowstone and such, have plazas but don’t have a gate so one could just drive right on in. You wouldn’t be able to get in to the visitor centers and gift shops. From the AP via [MSN](http://news.msn.com/pop-culture/fed-shutdown-blocks-access-to-grand-canyon): > [@](#): > > At the Grand Canyon park, authorities will be posted at entrance gates and turn back visitors, while others will cordon off overlooks along a state highway that will remain open to through traffic. Signs will be placed at trailheads telling people they have to leave. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/46 "2013-10-01T13:17:40Z")
> [@](#): > > PRISONS > > All 116 federal prisons would remain open… Ok, is it just me or did anyone else go 😕 when reading this? Isn’t the point of a prison that it remain **closed**? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/47 "2013-10-01T13:23:35Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > Ok, is it just me or did anyone else go 😕 when reading this? Isn’t the point of a prison that it remain **closed**? 😉 Heh. “OK, you’re all free to go. Be sure to leave a contact number at the gate on your way out, so we can let you know when it’s time to come back.” ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/48 "2013-10-01T13:24:58Z")
Traffic was even worse than usual this morning. You’d think with at least a third of government employees staying home, you’d catch a break on the commute. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/49 "2013-10-01T13:25:44Z")
Close down the TSA and 90% of Homeland Security and that will free up a shitload of funding. Chop the retirement pay of politicians to ONE package [as I remember Congressmen and Senators get one retirement package per term, though that may have changed] Open up the whole Pentagon, remodel the empty offices into combination apartments and offices for the Congressmen and Senators, chop their pay to E6 over 20, put them on Tri-Care and make them live in the Pentagon instead of those town houses, houses and condos they currently have. Remove most of the tax loopholes that the rich and corporations use to dodge most of the taxes. You want to do business in the US and be a citizen? Pay taxes like us poor folks. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/50 "2013-10-01T13:29:36Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Close down the TSA and 90% of Homeland Security and that will free up a shitload of funding. Chop the retirement pay of politicians to ONE package [as I remember Congressmen and Senators get one retirement package per term, though that may have changed] > > Open up the whole Pentagon, remodel the empty offices into combination apartments and offices for the Congressmen and Senators, chop their pay to E6 over 20, put them on Tri-Care and make them live in the Pentagon instead of those town houses, houses and condos they currently have. > > Remove most of the tax loopholes that the rich and corporations use to dodge most of the taxes. You want to do business in the US and be a citizen? Pay taxes like us poor folks. I’m sorry, but the Federal Bureau of Idea Submissions is closed until further notice. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/51 "2013-10-01T13:40:16Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > An overview of program shutdowns: > > **[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/29/government-shutdown-impact\_n\_4013687.html](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/29/government-shutdown-impact_n_4013687.html)** > > Let’s all have a big round of applause for The Greatest Nation On Earth! Way to keep America proud! Sorry, but there’s nothing scary in that list. I’m wondering if anyone will even notice that the government is shut down if that’s the only impacts. ---
**Author:** ![elninost0rm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@elninost0rm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elninost0rm)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/52 "2013-10-01T14:01:01Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Sorry, but there’s nothing scary in that list. I’m wondering if anyone will even notice that the government is shut down if that’s the only impacts. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/53 "2013-10-01T14:39:42Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Sorry, but there’s nothing scary in that list. I’m wondering if anyone will even notice that the government is shut down if that’s the only impacts. The 800,000 folk who simply want to do their jobs will notice. I’d be fine with any reasonable group taking a careful eye to paring pretty much any aspect of government services. But continuing to demand the broadest range of services while chopping budgets/staff with a blunt across-the-board cleaver is insanity. Also insane is expecting quality service while treating those who provide the service like shit. Our office has a pretty full workload, and is continually pressured to work down the “backlog”, while not being allowed to replace attrition. Our particular office is consistently in the top 10% of similar office nationwide - so the folk I see daily aren’t the (mythical?) shiftless, do-nothing government employees. Now for the foreseeable future we are expected to do the same with 12 excepted persons doing the work of 65? Ain’t gonna happen. Even if we wanted to. And the 50 folk who simply wanted to do their jobs are going to be gleeful about digging into the mountain of work that piled up when they were forced to miss paychecks? I’m not an expert in human nature, but I don’t see that happening. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/54 "2013-10-01T14:43:54Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Sorry, but there’s nothing scary in that list. I’m wondering if anyone will even notice that the government is shut down if that’s the only impacts. Just months ago, conservatives were complaining at every opportunity that the unemployment rate was bogus, and that people should be paying attention to the number of under-employed individuals. With the stroke of midnight, we suddenly have hundreds of thousands of Americans who are civil servants in a non-emergency capacity who are not going to work and not earning a paycheck. Now, I see conservatives basically cheering on furloughs. Talk about duplicity: jobs are important to the economy except when there’s a political axe to grind. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/55 "2013-10-01T14:47:32Z")
Those are government jobs, **Ravenman**. They don’t count. ---
**Author:** ![NotfooledbyW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f475e1/32.png) [@NotfooledbyW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotfooledbyW)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/56 "2013-10-01T14:49:26Z")
> [@razncain](#): > > “America is at that awkward stage. It’s too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.”–Claire Wolfe This morning: “Poll Indicates GOP Has Been Deeply Damaged By Shutdown Fight”. > **[Poll Indicates GOP Has Been Deeply Damaged By Shutdown Fight](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/poll-indicates-gop-has-been-deeply-damaged-by-shutdown-fight)** > > Republicans in Washington insist they have simply been upholding the wishes of... > [@](#): > > In fact, the latest survey from Quinnipiac University contains a ton of bad news for the GOP. For starters, 72 percent of Americans said they are opposed to shutting down the government in order to block implemntation of the health care law. A poll last week also showed a wide majority opposed to shutting down the government over Obamacare. It appears a huge number of Americans know who the bastards are. It’s the blockheaded Republicans who shut down the givernment to block Obamacare. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/57 "2013-10-01T15:12:33Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Sorry, but there’s nothing scary in that list. I’m wondering if anyone will even notice that the government is shut down if that’s the only impacts. Several friends and family members who are now wondering when their next paycheck will arrive have noticed. Amazingly, there are a lot of people in this country who actually rely on money from their job in order to pay for their living expenses. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/58 "2013-10-01T15:18:05Z")
Will the civil servants receive back pay to October 1 after everything returns to normal? Or are they literally in an unemployed state right now and will never receive pay covering the duration of the shutdown? ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/59 "2013-10-01T15:20:23Z")
> [@Palo\_Verde](#): > > I have a visit to the Grand Canyon planned for next week. Fees paid and reservations made. What will happen? As your friendly, currently unemployed National Park Service Ranger here is the current ruling Are national parks open? No. If there is a lapse in appropriations, all 401 national parks will be closed. Examples include: Statue of Liberty, Independence National Historical Park (including Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell), Yellowstone National Park, and Golden Gate National Recreation Area. As part of the shutdown, the following closures would apply: • all park entrances closed and secured • visitor centers and other facilities closed • interpretive and education programs and special events canceled • permits issued for special events by outside organizations rescinded • guests staying in hotels and campgrounds will be given 48 hours to leave I have a reservation to stay at a park hotel; would I get my deposit back? This is a question each individual park concessioner will have to address. If I’m already staying in a park hotel/campground; can I stay during the shutdown? No. Visitors in overnight accommodations and campgrounds will be given 48 hours to leave the park. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068/60 "2013-10-01T15:21:28Z")
> [@WreckingCrew](#): > > If I’m already staying in a park hotel/campground; can I stay during the shutdown? > No. Visitors in overnight accommodations and campgrounds will be given 48 hours to leave the park. Will there be anyone around to enforce that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-for-the-hills-government-shutdown-in-effect/670068.md?page=4)