PHOTO: A disturbing image from 2018… which might turn out to be a useful illustration for next week, as well.
At first, I was going to title this article, “What To Do If The Government Shuts Down”.
But to judge by the stories in the mainstream media these past few days, there doesn’t seem to be any “If” about it. So I decided to use the word “When” instead of “If”.
“When” meaning, like, next week.
According to Fox News:
Without a short-term spending bill, the government is set to shut down next week. At the same time, the federal government will run out of cash to pay its bills sometime in October unless the debt ceiling is raised or suspended, according to multiple warnings from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
I once ran out of cash to pay my bills, so I know exactly how Janet Yellen feels.
The Office of Management and Budget plans to send out a reminder to federal workers, which will especially valuable for federal workers who are not paying any attention to the news.
The OMB reminder is “part of standard protocol seven days out from a potential government shutdown, regardless of the circumstances in funding negotiations.”
Threats of government shutdowns seem as common as hurricanes lately.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy couldn’t even get the Department of Defense funded, when he tried to get a temporary bill passed last Thursday. When Congress fails to fund the military, you know something is really, really wrong.
There are a few things we can do to get through this turmoil.
The simplest action to take is, of course, to stop reading the news. Not an action I would necessarily recommend, but it could probably save on trips to the liquor store.
Luckily, the federal shutdown will not directly affect liquor manufacturing. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t hurt to make stock up. Once a shutdown begins, there’s no telling when it will end.
If it lasts long enough, it will ultimately affect the IRS. Just saying.
We don’t have too many federal employees in Pagosa Springs. Basically, just the Forest Service. So you might think the effect of a federal shutdown would be minimal, locally. But our economy here is affected by the rest of Colorado, and the surrounding states. Best to expect the worst, I always say.
So, my recommendations. (I already mentioned stocking the liquor cabinet.)
- Make sure your gas tank is full. You probably won’t be going anywhere, but having a full gas tank will be essential if you need to make a quick getaway.
- Sign up for a Free Trial at Amazon Prime. You will get 30 days free. Hopefully, the government shutdown will be over by then, although the shutdown that occurred while Donald Trump was president lasted 34 days. Just in case, watch as many shows as you can during those 30 days.
- Go ahead and accept any credit card offers you receive in the next week. Who knows, the economy might fail completely and you’ll never have to repay your balance.
- Start checking the real estate listings in Canada.
I am mentioning real estate in Canada, and not Mexico, for a couple for reasons. Even though the weather is better in Mexico — and so are the beaches — not everyone speaks English there. Plus, there’s a wall being built along the Mexican border, that might make it difficult to get back into the U.S. during those brief periods of time when our federal government is operational.