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@ Alejandro
2023-09-23 22:39:56
> "We are deeply concerned. The concern is growing – almost by the day – because once we are in a shutdown there doesn’t seem to be a clear path out."
>
> — Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the US Chamber of Commerce
*Welcome to the latest issue of the Bitcoin For Families newsletter. This issue covers the upcoming government shutdown and what can you do as a bitcoiner to prepare yourself.*
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Yesterday I saw an article on CNN giving all kind of bad suggestions on what to do in case of a government shutdown, like for example, trading your stock portfolio based on the gut reactions of the market. This is BAD advice. You should never trade your stock based on short term, temporary events.
That's why I decided to cover the government shutdown today and what you can do to prepare yourself as a bitcoiner.
## Why are we heading towards a shutdown
Congress has not passed a budget for the 2024 fiscal year that starts on October 1st, 2023 and therefore, without a budget, the government will shutdown come October 1st.
We could debate a lot about the fact that Congress has not done the ONE thing that they must do: pass a budget to allocate those precious dollars they take from our paycheck but I'll leave that to the politics newsletters out there.
Some bitcoiners will argue that a partial shutdown of the government is actually good, given that it has grown too big already. But a shutdown is not the same as eliminating or scaling down useless departments and agencies. A shutdown impacts everything that Congress hasn't deemed as essential and will, for example, close **National Parks, which I think are one of the greatest inventions of the United States.**
The US federal government operates on a fiscal year that goes from October 1st to September 30th. Typically, the House would pass a series of bills containing the annual budget, then the Senate would modify them and finally House and Senate would negotiate and settle on the final bills and the budget.
But the members within the ruling party at the House can't agree on a budget so nothing has been passed.
>There will be a shutdown and despite what Mr. Bradley said, the shutdown will be ended by social pressure towards the ruling party in the House, who has full control to pass a bill.
## What will happen during the shutdown
Here is a quick video detailing what happens when the government shuts down.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YyZWLIkwHWY?si=I7ci_viBXYqqy9Tm" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
## What to do as a bitcoiner
NOTHING.
Really. DO NOTHING.
Ok, maybe you do need to do something but that's unrelated to the shutdown.
Take a look at the suggestions from an article I wrote back in July. **If you follow the recommendations below, you should be fine.**
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>Finally, there is a good chance that sats will go on sale when the government shuts down so it could be a good opportunity to increase your savings with real money if you can still remain cash flow positive.
But also consider that because sats are on sale, you will not get as much fiat back for your sats if you need to dip into your savings during the shutdown. This is particularly important for federal employees who will be not getting a paycheck until the shutdown ends.
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# Notable notes
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# Recommendations
## Tony
Tony writes fantastic guides about Bitcoin and Nostr.
You can follow him and find all his guides [here](https://habla.news/tony).
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See you again next week!
— Alejandro
This newsletter is for educational purposes. It does not represent financial advice. Do your own research before buying Bitcoin.
Photo credit: National Park photo by [National Parks Conservation Association](https://flickr.com/photos/npca/10057925616/in/photolist-gjMuSC-gnq3Qa-gshFZK-gnqqWc-gindZs-gnqr5t-2j5PtFP-gshuzJ-gjpzUA-gnu6eE-gnq84G-gsh5tB-giW7aG-kjWCBJ-SgGFzu-h4WhVV-gqAVQs-gsgwN1-gQmSwr-giwy2t-gjN7Wk-gmnFdx-gsgBdo-gnx1HS-gshJVp-gsh45V-giwk9J-gnqFPb-gsh8ma-rpQMbx-gu82xG-ghxvso-gjrQc6-gshLip-gnx1LN-gnx1E5-gnqCJH-gkYRgo-jGbvrC-gWuiAV-gnqG1J-QiJPvt-gnqkhC-gnqCq6-gsh7yZ-gnqCBZ-gFGJm3-hE2VsD-KVJAPD-guvNP8) and sourced under the Creative Commons [Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/) license.