The price of a government shutdown

So if the federal government shuts down, taxpayers would save a lot of money, right?

Not quite.

It would actually cost taxpayers money. And for every day the shutdown continues, the bill would go up.

"There is absolutely no way this saves money. Zip," said Bo Cutter, former director of the National Economic Council and a senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute.

It's pretty hard to put an accurate price tag on a shutdown. Official estimates of the costs incurred during last major shutdowns in 1995 and 1996 vary widely.

And the White House hasn't produced an estimate of how much a shutdown might cost, but it does say it will cost something.

First, the government actually has to spend money in order to complete an orderly shutdown.

"When you have to shut something down, that costs money, and ramping something back up costs money," Jeffrey Zients, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget said Thursday.

Imagine a government construction project. Since it's impossible to know how long the shutdown will last, workers are forced to wind down all operations and secure the work site. That all costs money.

It's a process that will be repeated all across the country, and in every government agency. Plus, whenever funding is restored, it will cost money to get the project back up to speed.

In the meantime, costs will increase the longer a shutdown drags on.

"The longer a shutdown is in place, the more extensive the costs become," said John F. Cooney, a partner at law firm Venable who designed shutdown plans for the government while employed at the Office of Management and Budget.

There is also the issue of federal worker pay.

When the clock strikes midnight and a shutdown starts, paychecks for federal workers stop. But that won't be saving taxpayers any money.

When a shutdown ends after Congress passes a spending bill, the "essential" workers who were kept on the job will automatically be paid for the time they worked during the shutdown.

And the 800,000 or so workers who might be furloughed? In every previous government shutdown, Congress has authorized back pay for them as well, even for days they didn't work. One caveat: There is no guarantee that will happen again.

But if it does, it'll be a double whammy. Workers will get their paychecks, but the work they normally do will have piled up in the meantime. When workers return, agencies might have to pay overtime just to catch up on all the work that wasn't done during the shutdown.

And not only will the government end up with a bigger bill, there will be less revenue as well.

Some agencies -- like the National Park Service -- charge user fees. When they close, no fees are collected. On an average day, visitors spend $32 million at National Parks.

There are also intangible costs, especially when the productivity of federal workers is considered.

"You've been working your ass off ... and someone comes to tell you that you are non-essential?" Cutter said. "There is a huge management morale issue when everyone comes back to work."

Of course, when a shutdown is considered in the context of the larger budget negotiations, the whole process will almost certainly result in savings for taxpayers. That's because both Democrats and Republicans agree that a compromise spending bill will slash tens of billions from the federal budget.

simmsjs Said:
 If they shut down, and are for some of the camping season, will camping be free on corps parks and other Federal campsites? Also, will I have to get my taxes in by the 15th?

simmsjs Said:
 If they shut down, and are for some of the camping season, will camping be free on corps parks and other Federal campsites? Also, will I have to get my taxes in by the 15th?

simmsjs Said:
 If they shut down, and are for some of the camping season, will camping be free on corps parks and other Federal campsites? Also, will I have to get my taxes in by the 15th?

bradyg Said:
I have never been a strong proponent of this until now. I seriously think we need to look at putting 8 year term limits into effect for members of  the House and the Senate. I realize this may have a huge effect on long-term goals that members of congress hope to achieve by being in office for multiple terms, but this shutdown just proves how ineffective they are at handling their jobs. If these members of congress were employed in the private sector they would be fired.

kkollman Said:
This whole thing, comes down to Party Politics.The Tea Party has one agenda,that is to make,Obama look bad.I don't care if you are Dem.or Rep. this is totally out of line,and all  members of Congress involved in this shut do ,SHOULD BE WALKING DOWN THE ROAD @ the poles next election!!!!!

There is no reason that any of these elected idiots (both party's) should be getting paid if the goverment shuts down. Also I don't want to hear any more wimp politicians saying that they should be paid during the shut down because they are in debt from their campain runs.

walynut Said:
So it begins,

Just went in and looked at my pay statement for the 15th and it has already been cut in half as they said. Yippee!!!! As I told the wife as long as we got fuel, beer, chew, and bullets were good!!!

Let the games begin!!!!!

eyexer Said:

kkollman Said:
This whole thing, comes down to Party Politics.The Tea Party has one agenda,that is to make,Obama look bad.I don't care if you are Dem.or Rep. this is totally out of line,and all  members of Congress involved in this shut do ,SHOULD BE WALKING DOWN THE ROAD @ the poles next election!!!!!

the tea party members are representing what their constituents want.  I admire those people for standing their ground.

Harleyyukon Said:

simmsjs Said:
 If they shut down, and are for some of the camping season, will camping be free on corps parks and other Federal campsites? Also, will I have to get my taxes in by the 15th?

What if they lock down the campsites and boat ramps and nobody could use any of these, would this be possiable for them to do, I don't know

fish-head Said:
How many Blackberrys would have to be turned off? I don't remember the number, but it was huge.