Pull up whitehouse.gov and you'll see a pop-up warning, “Due to Congress's failure to pass legislation to fund the government, information on this website may not be up to date.”
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden talk to the media at Taylor Gourmet on Pennsylvania Avenue after walking from the White House for lunch Oct. 4, 2013 in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)
The warning, which has been standard for most federal websites since the partial government shutdown, continues: “Some submissions may not be processed, and we may not be able to respond to your inquiries.”
But those concerns didn't stop the White House from soliciting personal stories from the public about how the government shutdown is affecting them.
An Oct. 3 White House blog post is asking the public to share their story.
“Congress has two jobs to do: pass a budget and pay its bills,” the post says. “But earlier this week, Congress failed to pass legislation to fund the government, and now many vital services are shut down. So, we want to hear: How has the government shutdown affected you?”
Below it has a “Share Your Story” button. Clicking on that brings up a request for your name, email address and zip code, then your personal story.
Whitehouse.gov is currently displaying this notice amid the government shutdown.
The blog was posted by Nathaniel Lubin, the acting director of digital strategy for the White House.
During the debate over passing a health care overhaul, the Obama administration sought personal stories to buttress its case.
In the case of the government shutdown – which revolves around a dispute over funding and implementation of Obamacare – the administration has aggressively moved to blame Republicans in Congress and proceeded to close national parks and open-air monuments.
--
[related]
