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"Six days are all that remain for Democrats and Republicans until the expiration of the current federal budget. Although the House of Representatives passed a new plan on Friday, the resolution defunded the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. Naturally, the Democrat-controlled Senate is adamant about saving President Obama&amp;#039;s landmark healthcare law, in turn, creating a conflict. If a budget plan doesn&amp;#039;t reach President Obama by next week, the government will be forced to close its doors, affecting citizens&amp;#039; daily lives big time. If you&amp;#039;re looking to get a passport, for instance, or just visit a national park or national museum, you&amp;#039;ll be out of luck. All 368 National Park Services will be closed and passport applications won&amp;#039;t be processed. The good and bad news for government workers is that those who don&amp;#039;t work in &amp;quot;critical services&amp;quot; don&amp;#039;t have to come to work, but won&amp;#039;t get paid until after Washington reopens. Thankfully, some things will still remain intact despite a shutdown, such as Social Security benefits and postal delivery.  Since the previous government shutdown lasted three weeks and cost taxpayers about $1.4 billion, both sides are racing against the clock but are confident they&amp;#039;ll meet the deadline. Two members from each party appeared on NBC&amp;#039;s Meet the Press last week and confidently stated that a shutdown is out of the question. Regardless, if Republicans keep the condition of doing away with Obamacare, the government&amp;#039;s doors are likely to close come October 1. Do you think the two parties will reach an agreement in time? Share your thoughts in the comments below. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/news/a46656/nation-faces-government-shutdown-on-october-1/>