By Selwyn Duke

If the government shut down and no one reported it, would most of us notice? The current government “shutdown” is the 19th in American history, yet the Earth still turns on its axis, the seas still rise and fall, the seasons still come and go — and Uncle Sam still owns possibly the largest government in world history.

Shutdowns, of course, result when Congress doesn’t approve a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, or when the president and Congress cannot agree on a budget and the latter doesn’t have enough votes to override a presidential veto. The consequences are that “nonessential services” are suspended and nonessential employees furloughed. “Nonessential,” mind you, is the category into which most federal employees fall.

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