Partial government shutdown

A "government shutdown" is a suspension of non-essential United States federal government services, including all NASA Centers and National Parks, the Smithsonian Museum and several Washington, D.C. services, among others.. The military, government-owned hospitals, Congress, Social Security checks and all other essential services continue without interruption, although employees (including some military troops) may end up not receiving pay until funding is restored.

History of Government Shutdowns

Since 1981, the U.S. government has been shutdown five times:

• In 1981, President Ronald Reagan vetoed a continuing resolution which shutdown the government for the remainder of the day. Several hours after the veto, Reagan signed a new resolution and workers returned the next day.
• In 1984, workers were sent home for the remainder of the day until an emergency spending bill brought them back the next day.
• In 1990, the government was shut down over the Columbus Day weekend. Most workers had the days off, and were not adversely affected. President George H.W. Bush signed an emergency spending bill over the weekend and federal workers were back to work on Tuesday.
• In 1995-1996, the federal government was shut down twice; once on November 14 and again in late December.

2011 U.S. Government Budget Debate

In 2011, the U.S. Government was once again on the verge of a shutdown, as big-government liberals refuse to enact common sense, deficit-reducing legislation previously passed by the Republican House. Despite claims of a shutdown adversely affecting the American public, as propagated by the liberal media, liberals, and some RINOs, the only real effect a shutdown would have had is that there would have been less government spending occurring; no significant harm would have been incurred. Liberal hyperbole aside, there's no reason that the government needs to be working all year round; the Constitution only mandates that Congress meet once a year. The budget debate was resolved at the eleventh hour on April 8, 2011, when one last stopgap resolution was agreed upon and a plan to enact $38.5 billion in budget cuts. Though this was largely seen as a political victory for the GOP Speaker of the House, John Boehner, it should be noted that riders for defunding abortion provider Planned Parenthood were defeated.