FreedomWorks Foundation Content

Ceilings and Shutdowns: Understanding Government at an Impasse. A FreedomWorks Issue Analysis

The size of the U.S. government has grown exponentially and it has become superfluous in the supposedly free-market American economy. Yet it is the nature of the government’s enormity that presents scenarios where the government ceases, if only temporarily, to operate on the broad scale Americans have become accustomed to. These are situations in which conflicts either within Congress or between Congress and the White House run afoul with legal timetables and/or rates of spending, resulting in what is called a government shutdown.

Those looking to preserve the big government status quo resort to scare tactics to avert shutdowns. Indeed, the idea of a government “shutdown” can be unnerving. However, when properly handled, the entire situation, regardless of the root cause, is entirely manageable, and perhaps a necessary reminder that major fiscal issues need adequate addressing.

Read the Issue Analysis for a better understanding of what the debt ceiling and government shutdowns mean.

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Debt Ceiling: Resources for Activists and Journalists