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The Government Shutdown Isn’t Actually About Spending?

Nope, it’s not. It’s about Republicans not budging on these ideological demands, which include cutting programs for low-income and middle-class people:

Abortion: Republicans will  not allow federal financing for Planned Parenthood, local financing for abortion services in the District of Columbia, or any foreign aid to countries that might use the money for abortion.

Family Planning: Republicans want to strip foreign aid to countries that might use money for family planning, and refuse aid to the United Nations Population Fund, which supports family-planning services.

Greenhouse Gases: No regulation of greenhouse gases by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Health Care Reform: No funds for health care reform.

Consumer Protection Bureau: No funds for the new consumer protection bureau, which was established post-financial collapse.

And according to The New York Times, the damage caused by Republicans has an even greater potential to wreak national havoc by:

… furloughing 800,000 federal workers, suspending paychecks for soldiers and punishing millions of Americans who will have to wait for tax refunds, Social Security applications, small-business loans, and even most city services in Washington.

Democrats have already pandered to Republican requests by cutting $33 billion. But apparently, that’s not enough. The Republicans want to knock down an already-broken economy with another more devastating blow.

Found on NYTimes. Originally submitted by Daniel. Feature photo (cc) by Flickr user tracy_olson.