Federal Government Shuts Down

This is just a quick update. It's currently 12:10AM on Oct 1st, 2013, and the Senate has rejected the House of Representative's amendment.

BusinessInsider first reported that this is the first time in 17 years that the Federal Government of the United States of America has shut down. 

So far, I haven't heard any bombs exploding, or seen any rioting in the streets, and I still have Internet and power, which leads me to conclude that the effects of the federal government shut down are not felt immediately, not too big of a deal. 

The Brief: I12:01 AM on Oct 1, 2013 (today) marks the beginning of the Federal Government's 2013-2014 Fiscal Year. Congress has not approved any Fiscal Plan for 2013-2014, so the Federal government does not have any money or right to pay for any nonessential items. Food stamps, unemployment, and military spending continues because those are considered essential. Unfortunately, public schools continue too, because the majority of public school funding comes from the state and local governments. 

Congress did not pass a Fiscal Plan because of the fierce Republican and Democratic opposition. The Republicans  control the House of Representatives, and want a Fiscal Plan that delays the enactment of, or defunds ObamaCare. The GOP believes that ObamaCare is too expensive; ObamaCare wants to make health care available for all Americans, regardless of wealth, prior illnesses, and health. America is already in debt ($16.8 trillion USD), and the economy is still recovering, so the GOP feels that this is a bad move. However, the Senate, controlled by the Democrats feel that ObamaCare is the right bill, and necessary, so the Senate vetoed any House bill/amendment that proposes to delay funding for ObamaCare. As a result, the new Fiscal Year began, and no bill or resolution was passed.