(Image source from: U.S shutdown throws millions out of work})

It's the same old game - only the players have changed! In what can be dubbed as the supreme spending showdown in the last 17 years in the history of the U.S., the last shutdown being during the time of Clinton government, the Federal government closed down after lawmakers in the House and the Senate failed to reach a consent on spending bill to fund the government.
 
With the federal government closed down, many government services and agencies have been closed, suspended or otherwise impacted. Millions of federal employees are jobless and cops have cordoned off landmarks like the Lincoln Memorial and Statue of Liberty has been locked down. Not just that, government agencies have halted cancer treatments and trade negotiations.

The shutdown was enforced after the three bills fell short on Tuesday evening. The deadlock has flagged off fresh concerns on Congress' ability to execute most basic duties.

"This is a mess. A royal screwup," said Democratic Representative Louise Slaughter of New York.

"Obama accused Republicans of taking the government hostage in order to sabotage his signature health care law, the most ambitious U.S. social program in five decades," wrote a leading U.S daily.

"They've shut down the government over an ideological crusade to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans," Obama said in the White House Rose Garden.

"Spending authority for much of the government expired at midnight on Monday (0400 GMT), but that did not prevent the Obama administration from opening the health-insurance exchanges that form the centerpiece of the law," revealed Reuters.

AW: Suchorita Dutta