Countdown to Government Shutdown

Seven days and counting until the standoff in Washington ends up in a government shutdown.This hour we've looked at both sides and their plans to keep the government running, but if for some reason they don't end up playing nice, what does that mean for the government and for you?The Wall Street Journal points to the 1981 Antideficiency Act, "The only government activities allowed in the absence of a funding plan are those connected to the safety of human life or the protection of property."So what would be safe—military operations and border security. Our troops overseas would continue to get funding through the pentagon, as would the secret service detail on the president.Other safety activities safe from a shutdown include air traffic control and security screening, which would continue, but officials are not revealing how they would get funded.They say, “Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail,” will stop the post office from delivering your mail and you can add a government shutdown to that list. Since they're "self-funded," what little business they do will keep going.And thank God the Federal Reserve won't get stopped. Who knows what would happen to us without their sound advice.As for what would get closed - or held up is not an exact science.But the paper looks back to 1995 and 1996, the last time the government dealt with this situation.Social security would likely keep sending out checks every month to current beneficiaries, but new retirees may have to wait until the shutdown is over before they see any new checks. The same goes to new applicants for visas and passports. Back in '95 about 200,000 applications went unprocessed.

Also at that time 368 national parks were closed, as were national monuments and museums, impacting millions of visitors and tourists. Toxic waste clean-up at more than 600 sites also came to a halt. That's not including the hundreds of thousands of federal workers that will likely get furloughed during the time of the shutdown.I am in no way advocating shutting down the government, but I am hoping those standing up for taxpayers won't get scared into backing down - for fear some parks may close in March.And if it was that scary - lawmakers wouldn't have gone on vacation this week.

Be sure to catch the Willis Report on the FOX Business Network every weekday from 5-6pm ET.