US GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

The Republican-led House of Representatives insisted on delaying President Barack Obama's healthcare reform - dubbed Obamacare - as a condition for passing a bill. This has lead to the US federal government shutdown. In U.S. politics, a government shutdown is a situation in which Congress fails to pass authorization for sufficient funds for government operations. Typically, the government stops providing all but "essential" services at first, but since Congress must authorize all expenditures, there is no law protecting any government service from stoppage. Federal services that may continue for a time after a shutdown include the National Weather Service and its parent agencies, medical services at federal facilities, armed forces, air traffic management, and corrections (the penal system). The US government is facing a shutdown after congress failed to pass its latest budget.More than 700,000 federal employees face unpaid leave with no guarantee of back pay once the deadlock is over.It is the first shutdown in 17 years and the dollar fell early on Tuesday.Goldman Sachs estimates a three-week shutdown could shave as much as 0.9% from US GDP this quarter.On Tuesday, Mr Obama blamed the House of Representatives for the stalemate and said he would "keep working to get Congress to reopen the government [and] restart vital services".

"This shutdown was completely preventable. It should not have happened," he wrote in a letter to federal government employees."And the House of Representatives can end it as soon as it follows the Senate's lead, and funds your work in the United States Government without trying to attach highly controversial and partisan measures in the process."

On Monday, House Speaker John Boehner told reporters he hoped the Senate would agree to a committee between the two chambers known as a conference "so we can resolve this for the American people".

"The House has voted to keep the government open but we also want basic fairness for all Americans under Obamacare," he said.

But on Tuesday morning, the Senate voted 54-46 to reject the request for formal negotiations to end the impasse.

Effects of a government shutdown
As directed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the federal agencies now maintain contingency plans for dealing with government shutdowns. The emphasis of those plans is to determine which functions should continue. Most notably, the Department of Homeland Security and its Transportation Security Administration (TSA) did not exist in 1995 when the last long-term government shutdown took place. Due to the critical nature of their function, it is highly likely that the TSA would continue to function normally during a government shutdown.

Based on history, here is how a long-term government shutdown might impact some government-provided public services.

• Social Security: Benefit checks would probably keep coming, but no new applications would be accepted or processed.

• Income Tax: The IRS will probably stop processing paper tax returns and refunds.

• Border Patrol: Customs and Border Patrol functions will probably continue.

• Welfare: Again, the checks would probably continue, but new applications for Food Stamps might not be processed.

• Mail: The U.S. Postal Service supports itself, so mail deliveries would continue as usual.

• National Defense: All active duty members of all branches of all armed services would continue duty as usual, but might not get paid on time. More than half of the Defense Department's 860,000+ civilian employees would also work, the others sent home.

• Justice System: Federal courts should remain open. Criminals will still be chased, caught, prosecuted and thrown in federal prisons, which would still be operating.

• Farms/USDA: Food safety inspections will probably continue, but rural development, and farm credit and loan programs will probably close down.

• Transportation: Air traffic control, TSA security personnel, and the Coast Guard will remain on the job. Applications for passports and visas may not be processed.

• National Parks/Tourism: Parks and forests will probably close and visitors told to leave. Visitor and interpretive centers will be closed. Non-volunteer rescue and fire control services might be shut down. National monuments and most historic sites will probably be closed. Parks police will probably continue their patrols.