Stocks sink as government heads toward shutdown | ABQJournal Online

NEW YORK – Stocks sank Monday as Wall Street worried that a budget fight in Washington could lead to an event far worse for the economy- a failure to raise the nation’s borrowing limit.

Investors pulled back from stocks as a budget fight in Congress threatened to push the government into a partial shutdown for the first time in 17 years. Lawmakers have until midnight Tuesday to reach a budget deal that would keep government in full operation.

There is a simple reason why the budget battle – and, more importantly, an upcoming fight over the debt ceiling – are so crucial: the credit of the United States is the bedrock that nearly every other investment is built upon, largely due to the assumption that the nation will always pay its debts.

Stocks sink as government heads toward shutdown | ABQJournal Online

What’s changing, what’s not, in a shutdown | ABQJournal Online

In this time of argument and political gridlock, a blueprint to manage federal dysfunction is one function that appears to have gone smoothly. Throughout government, plans are ready to roll out to keep essential services running and numb the impact for the public. The longer a shutdown goes on, the more it will be felt in day-to-day lives and in the economy as a whole.

A look at what is bound to happen, and what probably won’t, barring a political breakthrough in the final hours:

What’s changing, what’s not, in a shutdown | ABQJournal Online