Mark Pocan: “I am here on behalf of the Congressional Progressive Caucus in our Special Order hour to talk specifically about what is…”

“I am here on behalf of the Congressional Progressive Caucus in our Special Order hour to talk specifically about what is happening this week, or better yet what is not happening this week, in Congress. Mr. Speaker, it has been almost exactly 48 hours since the GOP government shutdown in this country; 48 hours since 800,000 Federal employees have been furloughed; 48 hours since our national parks have been closed; 48 hours since the Small Business Administration is no longer issuing new loans; 48 hours since the Centers for Disease Control won't be able to monitor the influenza season coming up; 48 hours since the National Institutes of Health has essentially shut down; and 48 hours since we are costing the U.S. economy $300 million a day. This isn't a number that the congressional Democrats or the Progressive Caucus has come up with. This is coming right from an article from Bloomberg News. According to Bloomberg News: A partial shutdown of the Federal Government will cost the U.S. at least $300 million a day in lost economic output at the start. They go on further: Government spending touches every aspect of the economy and disruption of spending more than the direct loss of income threatens to damage investor and business confidence in ways that can seriously harm economic growth. It goes on to explain two major reasons why we are going to have this impact of $300 million a day.…”