MCGONIGLE: Action on World AIDS Day
Well, it’s that time of the year again — as Americans gear up to spend nearly $800 billion over this holiday season, our government is taking a good, hard look at its own finances. Yes, that’s right, it is almost time for the annual budget showdown. This classic rivalry pits red vs. blue, chamber vs. chamber, and last year ended in a 15-day shutdown of the federal government. This scenario happens if Congress does not come to an agreement about what it wants to fund (aside from the mandatory spending on entitlement programs) by October 1: the start of the new fiscal year. Thankfully this year, on September 17, the House of Representatives passed a “continuing resolution”(CR) to keep the federal government running, which the Senate passed soon after and Obama signed into effect. The CR essentially keeps flat funding for government agencies past the drop-dead date of October 1. This CR funds the government until December 11.