Government Shutdown In Five, Four, Three....

     Yes, it's that time again: government shutdown time.  The U. S. House passed a kicking-the-can bill that just keeps everything running at current levels for a couple of months, but the Senate--

     In the Senate, you need sixty votes to pass this kind of thing.  And neither party has sixty Senators.  It's a 53/45/2 split; the Independent two, Sanders of Vermont and King of Maine, eat lunch with the Democrats, so call it 53/47.  It's an impasse.

     Senate Democrats, smarting over health care funding cuts in the massive bill passed earlier, want to claw some of it back; it's a strong issue for them.  Their Republican colleagues don't want to play along.

     We've had shutdowns before. The military keeps on working and so does TSA and air traffic controllers (unpaid, and the latter two without even three meals and a cot.  You thought they were in a bad mood before?); Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid checks keep going out, though if you want to call them up with a question, better do so now.

     Senators and Representatives will continue to get paid, as will the Present and Vice-President: their paychecks are in the Constitution.  Staff, appointees, not so much.  They don't get paychecks and, if deemed essential, still have to show up for work.  They'll get their back pay when (if?) the government starts up again, and until then, I guess they can try convincing their landlords, mortgage-holders, utility companies and credit-card companies that Uncle Sam -- and they -- are good for it.  Good luck!