Government Shutdown 2011

It looks like one of the favorite conspiracy "beginning of the end" scenarios of all time may be edging a bit closer to the truth.
Yes "government shutdown 2011" is a trending topic all over the place and why?
Well originally the possible government shutdown was scheduled for March 4th, 2011.
But lawmakers passed a funding extension and now the target date is April 8th.

So what will happen if the government does shutdown?
Well that is a big point of contention right now.
President Obama said that there would be dire consequences for the American people, which actually sounds like one of the old, vague Taliban threats when you think about it.
The White House is telling agencies not to tell people what those consequences are.
Hey....where is that Transparency award?

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) spokeswoman Moira Mack said in an e-mail to USA Today that...
"Given that agencies are continually reviewing plans to ensure they are up-to-date, it would not be prudent and it would be premature to discuss plans that have not been finalized"

But we can look at the past and see if we need to get into those bomb shelters now.
In 1995 during the Clinton administration when the government shutdown, non-essential government workers were placed on furlough and they suspended non-essential services.
And the government stopped enrolling people in Social Security.
Veterans benefits support was badly affected.
OSHA got it's workforce seriously slashed.
The CDC stopped disease surveillance.
I wonder if the EPA will stop monitoring Japanese nuclear fallout here in the US?
Hmmmm....
National parks, cemeteries and the Smithsonian museum was closed to the public.
And with tax season coming up, what will happen to people's refund checks?

And by the way, IF the government shuts down, guess who still gets paid?
Yep, Congress.

Of course I must point out here that the the President does not believe that there will be a government shutdown.

So everything is fine.

Kool-aid?