You WILL get it - when the tax bill finally comes in and Papa Joe realized he spent so much that he COULDN'T just tax the rich people, he had to tax the poor people too.
Having worked for the government indirectly, I can tell you that this is just a pile of one-upmanship at its stinkiest. One party or the other says "There is not enough in this spending bill for my people" OR "There is too much in this bill for your people." So the great Congressional pissing match starts up, headlines are made, political capital is wasted, and eventually, someone says, "Oh, all right. We'll trim a little here, boost a little there. OK?" And at some point everybody feels like they did their part so they pass an outrageous spending bill.
In the interim, non-essential government workers get furloughed but essential workers continue to work and get paid. Because I was usually considered "essential" due to it being military support with deployed troops, I rarely got furloughed. Some non-essential spending goes on hold. But after everyone cleans up after the pissing and posing match, all the stuff that was suspended gets reinstated anyway.
In the greater scheme of things, it is all political theater.
