The U.S. government shutdown had an impact on world markets causing concerns the country’s fragile economic condition could be severely impacted by a prolonged closure.
Stock markets in Britain, Germany and France all fell in Wednesday’s trading. U.S. markets fell as well with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.6% and the S&P 500 falling 0.8%.
Investors are paying lip service to the U.S. shutdown but have expressed more serious concerns the shutdown will result in a delay of raising the U.S. debt ceiling that would have impact on the world markets.
The dollar also continued to fall across the world. The dollar took a hit from 98.62 yen to the dollar before the shutdown to a current level of 97.74. The dollar also fell further against all other Asian currencies.
After a meeting at the White House that failed to produce a resolution on the government shutdown, the House of Representatives passed a series of bills that would provide funding to parts of the government.
The debate proved heated as Rep. George Miller, D-California, repeatedly said that Republicans were waging “jihad” on Americans by not passing a “clean” continuing resolution to fund the government.
The House then passed bills funding the National Park Service, 252-173 and a second bill to fund the National Institutes of Health, 254-171. House members will consider a bill Thursday to fund the Department of Veterans Affairs and National Guard.
Democrats in the Senate have vowed to vote down any bill sent from the House that would partially fund parts of the government.
World War II veterans brought to Washington, D.C. to see the WWII memorial surged past barricades to lay flowers in memory of their fallen brothers-in-arms while the National Park Service revealed who ordered the monument to be barricaded.
Carol Johnson with the National Park Service stood outside the site of the WWII Memorial and told reporters that the closure of the site was ordered by the White House’s Office of Management & Budget. She made it clear the National Park Service itself did not do the decision.
Tuesday a Congressman from Mississippi’s 4th District brought colleagues to the memorial site to move the barricades for a group of 91 Mississippi WWII vets who had been flown to D.C.
The act of civil disobedience by the Congressman came after he was denied by the National Park Service, then the Department of Interior and then the White House to open the memorial for the veterans.
“They did not lift one finger to help these veterans,” Congressman Steven Palazzo told Fox News’ Todd Starnes. “It is sad that they would not even make an exception for our World War II veterans.”
Palazzo said that while Park police were on hand none of them made any moves to stop the veterans from honoring their fallen comrades.
“They did the honorable thing and stood down,” Palazzo said. “We don’t fault them or the staff there one bit.”
Palazzo added that because it is an open-air memorial, there is more cost to forcing the public to stay away.
“It actually requires more effort and expense to shut out these veterans from their Memorial than it would to simply let them through,” Palazzo said.
Every week, hundreds of patients, including children with cancer, are admitted to new clinical trials through the National Institutes of Health.
But because of the government shutdown, newly registered patients are being put on hold until the government resumes operation.
“Due to the lapse in government funding… transactions submitted via the web site may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted,” a message on the top of the NIH website states.
Source: CNN – CNN: Government shutdown forces clinical trial patients to wait
The House of Representatives rejected three emergency funding bills Tuesday that would have re-opened several federal agencies closed because of the budget impasse.
The bills would have opened national parks and monuments, funded veteran’s benefits and allowed D.C.’s municipal government to continue operating.
Senate Democrats and President Obama both said they would not support the bills had the House passed them.
“The president and the Senate have been clear that they won’t accept this kind of game-playing, and if these bills were to come to the president’s desk he would veto them,” said White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage. “These piecemeal efforts are not serious and they are no way to run a government.”
The House appointed conferees that would participate in a conference committee to craft a bill that would pass both the House and Senate. However, no Democrats have been willing to meet with the Republicans in a conference.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told Congressional leaders on Tuesday night that without an increase in the debt limit, the Treasury Department will be using their last set of accounting moves to allow the government to keep paying bills.
Lew said unless the debt ceiling is raised by October 17, payments could be delayed to U.S. debt holders, government contractors and Social Security recipients. He also said the government shutdown would have very little impact on the deadline date.
“If we have insufficient cash on hand, it would be impossible for the United States of America to meet all of its obligations for the first time in our history,” he wrote. “For this reason, I respectfully urge Congress to act immediately to meet its responsibility by extending the nation’s borrowing authority.”
The Obama administration has said they will not negotiate over the debt ceiling on top of not negotiating over the government shutdown.
The U.S. Dollar has fallen to an 8-month low due to the government shutdown that has caused concern in major trading markets.
Analysts say the dollar index, which fell to 79.864, did not fall as far as it could have fallen because investors and traders had expected the shutdown. The dollar index tracks the Dollar against six major world currencies.
The dollar fell to an 8-month low against the Euro and an 18-month low against the Swiss franc.
The economic impact is being debated among economists and analysts. Goldman Sachs says a three-week government shutdown could end up lowering the country’s GDP by 0.9% this quarter.
Other analysts say the government’s lack of agreement on raising the “debt ceiling” is a bigger concern to world economic markets. The current debt ceiling is scheduled to be reached on October 17th.
Economists also say the shutdown will delay key reports from the Labor Department that assist in predicting financial outcomes and forecasts.
While many government workers will not be showing up at their jobs Tuesday because of the government shutdown, some workers will be looking at a financial windfall thanks to regulations.
Employees who are considered essential and “excepted” will not only continue to work but will be able to pick up overtime, compensatory time and other benefits. Continue reading →
The National Parks Service has admitted that because of the government shutdown, it will be illegal for anyone to walk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
“The mall theoretically is legally closed,” NPS Spokeswoman Carol Johnson told TheBlaze. “Now, obviously people walking across it … there is nothing much we can do, but it is legally closed.” Continue reading →
The veterans piled off the chartered buses in front of the World War II Memorial, some in wheelchairs, some using canes, all determined to pay homage to each other and their fallen comrades from more than half a century ago. Continue reading →
