In case you didn't already seen the news reports, casinos in Atlantic City were forced to close for 3 days because the government was having problems passing legislation regarding funding for the organizations who regulate the gambling there. The casinos lost an estimated $54 million in revenue because of this.

Casinos are already pushing a bill that would prevent something like this from happening again in the future. It's amazing to me that governmental incompetence or failure to agree would be allowed to shut down businesses and revenue. People are probably less sympathetic because these business are in a "sin" industry, and they theoretically make so much money.

But how offended would people's sensibilities be if they shut down a little mom and pop store on the corner because of a governmental breakdown?

There is no reason, in this particular situation, that people should be any less offended by the government's negligence in this case. If I lived in New Jersey, I'd be voting some legislators out of office.