WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- From Dulles Rail, to car sales, to federal workers' home mortgages -- the impact of a federal default on our region could be enormous.
Some federal workers are practically in tears about the uncertainty of the debate in Congress.They just have no idea if they're going to get paid if the federal government stops paying its bills.
Hyattsville businessman Guy Berliner was giving away ice cream on Capitol Hill, hoping a little comedy will convince Congress to compromise.
"Everybody qualifies, except the people working up there," he said, pointing at the Capitol. They don't qualify.
"Everybody needs to go back to kindergarten and learn how to share and make friends and make nice and come up with something together," said Megan Lyons, slurping one of the free ice creams.
"It does cost us money," said Berliner about giving away ice cream every day until there is a resolution. "But unless they solve the debt crisis, it's going to cost us all, including our children and grandchildren money."
The Greater Washington Board of Trade is warning a default could cost local businesses a fortune. President and CEO Jim Dinegar warns default could hurt ten times as much as the government shutdown we just avoided a few months ago. "This may really be a cash crunch for a lot of businesses in Greater Washington that may not get paid."
Outside the House of Representatives, federal workers, progressives, and union leaders rallied to complain that they're pawns in a political battle.
Union leader Eddie Eitches says his members in the Department of Housing and Urban Development keep asking him what's going to happen. "People live paycheck to paycheck. This is really serious stuff. And we're living with tremendous uncertainty. What will happen after August 2nd?"
When the government threatened shutdown in the spring, information was tough to come by, but at least the feds had been through it before and there was some kind of plan.
Federal default is unprecedented.
And if the Obama Administration has a plan for who will get paid and who will get furloughed, it has yet to share it.
Written by Bruce Leshan
9News Now & wusa9.com.com