This did make me curious, when did the federal government start "running" on a budget and "shutting down" when it doesn't have enough money? All 250 years, or is this a more recent phenomenon?
For those interested, funding gaps only really became a thing in the 1970's, during Ford's administration [0]. It wasn't until a new interpretation of the Anti-Deficiency Act of 1880 that they became known as "shutdowns" in 1980 [1]. So a relatively recent phenomenon.
Hilariously, prior to that law, the executive branch would overspend early in the year, forcing more spending from congress in order to meet their contracts [2].
The Federal government of 200 years ago had a lot less money and performed much fewer functions than the Fed gov of today even during the current shut down.
I grew up in a small town in New Jersey, about twenty miles west. From the highest point in our town, you could make out the outline of the WTC, far off in the distance.
In 2001, I lived in Chicago, and I took a trip to Italy in September of 2001. I remember flying into Newark airport early that month, and marveling (as I always did) about the New York skyline, including the Empire State Building and the WTC.
I returned eight days later, on the first day that flights resumed after 9/11, and I remember flying into Newark again, and there was still smoking climbing into the air around where the WTC once stood.
I visited Manhattan in 1990 and took photos on top of the towers, and also from the Staten Island boat shuttle. I thought then and still think now that those towers looked magnificent.
Joanna Stern at the Wall Street Journal presented a project earlier this year where she and a team of editors created a short film using AI tools - not exactly the same thing here but the results were very good. They had a bigger budget too.
I just donated - the world is a better (and weirder) place with this store in it. If you live in the Chicagoland or Milwaukee area, you should check it out.
Had a relative that was a web developer, and I was using hotmetal in 5th grade, self-teaching myself how to write html and publishing things to AngelFire. Those were the days. Thanks SoftQuad.
