Is Beer In Jeopardy Thanks To The Government Shutdown?

The government shutdown is now in its fourth day and while we know the mail will still come and laws are still being enforced, here’s who else and what else is being affected.

Kids With Cancer

This is one of the most sad aspects of the shutdown aside from our military not being paid and thousands of workers being laid off until further notice. Children with cancer who are relying on hope from clinical trials will have to just suffer. Every week the government isn’t running, ten kids with cancer won’t be able to start clinical trials for possibly life saving treatments. There are over a thousand kids who are already on clinical trials that can still get their treatments, but for those waiting, they will have to wait a little longer as the National Institutes of Health had to axe almost 75 percent of their staff.

Veterans

National memorials dedicated to our veterans are shut down until further notice. Thankfully VA nurses and doctors are still on the job, but the World War II memorial in Washington D.C. is shut down. That didn’t stop a group of WWII vets from storming the gates and going in anyway. The way they saw it, “If we can storm the beaches of Normandy, we can certainly storm the gates at our memorial!” Some Congressmen found out what happened and they were all clammoring to take credit for helping them out, but the vets said they decided to just do it on their own. Good for them!

Beer

I’m pretty sure I heard a resounding, “NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” when I said that, and I’m so sorry, but it’s true. The Tax and Trade Bureau had to lay off almost their entire staff so they can’t issue new brewery permits. I know that doesn’t sound as awful as it is because when they were fully operational, they were approving permits for at least a brewery a day. Now they’re just focused solely on collecting taxes.

How are YOU being affected by the shutdown?