Tourists from Germany, on vacation in Washington D.C. have to photograph the Lincoln Memorial from behind a gate, as the Federal Government Shut Down, on October 1, 2013. (Mario B. Cabrera / Vision Fotos)News Americas, WASHINGTON, D.C., Tues. Oct. 1, 2013: “Because of the federal government shutdown, all national parks are closed and National Park Service webpages are not operating.”
With the Statue of Liberty in the background, a woman stop to read a sign in Battery Park and points to her friend showing him why the Statue Of Liberty, is closed due to a Federal government shut-down, on Tuesday October 1, 2013 in New York City. (Photo: Hayden Roger Celestin)That’s the message that continues to greet visitors to the National Park Service website, which oversees New York’s Statue of Liberty among other national monuments nationwide.
A family from Brazil, on vacation in Washington D.C. ponder's their next move, as they sit in front of the National Air and Space Museum, on October 1, 2013. (Mario B. Cabrera / Vision Fotos)The notice comes as the shutdown of the government by the Republican controlled House of Representatives entered its 24 hour mark with no end in sight. The shutdown could cost the National Park Service to lose hundreds of thousands per day in tourist revenue.
President Barack Obama has placed blame for a government shutdown squarely with the GOP, labeling the cessation in government business a “Republican shutdown” that threatens to damage the economy. The GOP, led largely by the Tea Party’s Ted Cruz, wants a repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act inorder to pass a budget.
But President Obama said today: “As long as I am president, I will not give in to reckless demands by some in the Republican Party to deny affordable health insurance to millions of hard-working Americans.”
A man with his protest sign, stands alone in front of the United States Capitol in Washington D.C., as a tour group passes behind him, on October 1, 2013. (Mario B. Cabrera / Vision Fotos)As of end of day today, no negotiations seemed to be happening between the White House and Congress; the House and Senate; Republicans and Democrats or even between the Tea Party Republicans and more moderate Republicans.
The last shutdown of the U.S. government lasted 21 days, from December 1995 to January 1996, in a showdown between President Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich over economic forecasts and budget plans. In the end, House Republicans caved after bearing the brunt of public blame.
