Healthcare.gov however is still running (sort of, signups are dead today due to the crush of traffic). It's ironic that the site at the center of the shutdown is running but many of the other gov sites are shutdown.
The Government Shutdown on the Web
11–20 of 52 posts
Re: The Government Shutdown on the Web
#12The FCC is down. As a radio operator, I find this extremely disappointing: http://www.fcc.gov
Re: The Government Shutdown on the Web
#13Healthcare.gov however is still running (sort of, signups are dead today due to the crush of traffic). It's ironic that the site at the center of the shutdown is running but many of the other gov sites are shutdown.
Because it's funded already. Ironic isn't it.
Re: The Government Shutdown on the Web
#14The FCC is down. As a radio operator, I find this extremely disappointing: http://www.fcc.gov
That just means that now is the time for all those Software Defined Radio experiments we've been putting off. Spread spectrum mesh networks encrypted so NSA can't spy on them... for the win.
Re: The Government Shutdown on the Web
#15This article and the many others like it are missing the point. The purpose of the shutdown is not just to save money, it's also to force a break in the stalemate. In fact, I'd argue that breaking the stalemate is the primary purpose. > That doesn’t seem to account for some of the weird patterns we see, however. The author is overthinking it. The most likely scenario is that an official email went out to all webmaste…
Right. Bosses in the government are not any more amused by these legislative shenanigans than we the people are. The more things that are broken, the louder people will complain and the quicker the bosses will get their funding back.
This is a rather simplistic view of "bosses in the government."
Sure agency heads and managing directors might have their own opinions on the shutdown, especially since they were nominated by President Obama (or appointed by someone who was). But they have their own responsibilities as stewards of an agency. One responsibility is ensuring the agency acts within the law and shields itself from liability. Shutting down a website is a very reasonable measure for minimizing liability when there is no one around to ensure accuracy of content.
Re: The Government Shutdown on the Web
#16We shouldn't treat the law as some sort of obscure documents that can only be understood by high priests.
Here's the relevant parts of the anti-deficiency statute:
31 USC § 1341 - Limitations on expending and obligating amounts
(a) (1) An officer or employee of the United States Government or of the District of Columbia government may not— (A) make or authorize an expenditure or obligation exceeding an amount available in an appropriation or fund for the expenditure or obligation; (B) involve either government in a contract or obligation for the payment of money before an appropriation is made unless authorized by law;
31 USC § 1342 - Limitation on voluntary services
An officer or employee of the United States Government or of the District of Columbia government may not accept voluntary services for either government or employ personal services exceeding that authorized by law except for emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property. This section does not apply to a corporation getting amounts to make loans (except paid in capital amounts) without legal liability of the United States Government. As used in this section, the term “emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property” does not include ongoing, regular functions of government the suspension of which would not imminently threaten the safety of human life or the protection of property
The government can spend money already appropriated -- either under permanent "mandatory" appropriations or under some more limited multi-year appropriation -- it can spend money under laws that explicitly allow for spending prior to appropriation (the most prominent of which is the Feed and Forage Act of 1861) and under section 1324 above it can spend money in emergencies that imminently threaten the safety of human life or protection of property. That's it. An executive branch official can't just decide it would save money in the long run to spend a little now and save a lot later. The Anti-Deficiency Act is enforced through criminal penalties of up to two years in prison for each violation.
Re: The Government Shutdown on the Web
#17The point is, it costs something, as a recurring cost, to keep them up. In a shutdown, the only costs you can justify are the costs of shutting down. It is easy to project that the long-term costs of keeping almost anything running will exceed the cost of closing the doors. The author wants to treat the shutdown as though it is temporary, while the executive is required to treat it as though it is permanent.
Re: The Government Shutdown on the Web
#18We shouldn't treat the law as some sort of obscure documents that can only be understood by high priests. Here's the relevant parts of the anti-deficiency statute: 31 USC § 1341 - Limitations on expending and obligating amounts (a) (1) An officer or employee of the United States Government or of the District of Columbia government may not— (A) make or authorize an expenditure or obligation exceeding an amount availab…
This is all nice and good, but can you point to any government/federal agency sources that are citing the Anti-Deficiency Act as rationale for the web shutdowns? Seriously, I'd like to know, since OP just tosses the idea out there at the end of the article without much discussion.
If the Anti-Deficiency Act is not used as justification, then your interpretation of the law, as applied to the web shutdowns, is moot.
Re: The Government Shutdown on the Web
#19The FCC is down. As a radio operator, I find this extremely disappointing: http://www.fcc.gov
That just means that now is the time for all those Software Defined Radio experiments we've been putting off. Spread spectrum mesh networks encrypted so NSA can't spy on them... for the win.
That is an idea! It would be fun to run SSH over packet radio while no one is around to enforce Part 97!
Re: The Government Shutdown on the Web
#20They should really use a banner that blocks out the page, similar to what Wikipedia did during the SOPA/PIPA protests [1]. This would still make the point that government shutdowns are disruptive to the services that people depend on, without incurring the extra costs of an actual shutdown. Maybe the point is better made by letting people stew in actual frustration though...
[1] http://www.macworld.com/article/1164871/how_to_access_wikipe...