Egad! Another government shutdown?
Most of the denizens of official Washington are fanning themselves over the prospect of a government shutdown. That’s because, as usual, Congress hasn’t done its job of passing the 12 necessary appropriations bills that give the government the authority to spend our money.
They now have precious little time to get that done. Existing authority expires at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time Saturday, Sept. 30. The media and the Democrats (but I repeat myself) are all now coming down with the vapors.
It’s interesting that none of that crowd was terribly upset in 2020 when restaurants, churches, schools, funeral homes, manicure parlors, barber shops, florists, theaters, night clubs and frozen yogurt stores were forced by government diktat to shut down. Washington elites and their media stenographers didn’t need to be defibrillated when tens of thousands of small business owners were pushed to the brink of bankruptcy and beyond. By the apparent estimation of our betters in government and media, denying millions of law-abiding, tax paying citizens the ability to make a living is no big deal.
Government employees who were told to go home in March 2020 simply set up their laptops on the kitchen table or in the spare bedroom and pretended to put in a full day’s work while continuing to get paid. A huge percentage of those employees have still not set foot in their actual offices even though you and I keep paying for the space.
(To be fair, I’m sure that many government employees put in a proper day’s work during the pandemic. But I’d wager that for the majority of government workers, the pandemic very closely resembled paid time off.)
But now we’re talking about actually cutting off their pay because Congress hasn’t passed the necessary spending authorization. Now we’re told that closing up shop at the Department of Education – which, in its 43 years of existence has seen to a steady decline in student achievement and high school graduation rates – is unthinkable. Sending the Senior Assistant Deputy Director at the Bureau of Economic Analysis home without pay is an outrage. Being without whatever it is that they do at the Bureau of Industry & Security, the Center for Parent Information & Resources, the Stennis Center for Public Service and the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights will cause disruptions from which we will never recover.
(No, until now I’d never heard of any those government agencies either. But they, along with dozens and dozens and dozens more, actually exist. Here’s a list.)
We’ve had government shutdowns before. Aside from being unable to visit Carlsbad Caverns or take a White House tour, how badly was your life impacted?
FROM THE ARCHIVES: The government “shutdown” of 2013
And make no mistake. The government won’t really shut down. “Essential” services like the military and Social Security will continue apace.
And thus, we are confronted with the question. Why is a country that is $33 trillion in debt and spending $2 trillion a year more than it takes in spending money on anything that is “non-essential?”
Great work, Paul! As usual, you hit another homerun! Keep up the great work!
Most people don’t understand that the Constitution as written, held no provision for the government to be involved in education. Local schools were educating our people to a 90% literacy rate… and that included slaves. Yep most people taught their slaves/indentured servants reading, writing and ‘rithmatic. The government only got into the schools to turn them into training grounds for lower paid workers. That’s still true. I wrote a book about it. Thanks for what you do. WDE
We already know essential services such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and the Military are going to continue to function.
In the immortal words of Albert C. Swipster of Rob, Cheatum, and Steal Attorney group, “Letter Rip Taterchip!” Shut it down and terminate 75% of the jobs; especially the Senate, Congress, and the Executive Branch (Fire 100% of them!).
The left has long since stopped trying to hide their intentions and tactics for taking control of the country. It began with Roosevelt in the 30’s with the New Deal, continuing in the 60’s assault on education, the welfare expansion and entitlement generations, and now the gender wars. The powers-that-be are so far removed from the real world problems facing voters, and it is obvious they don’t care. If they remain in control after the election America will be changed forever.