I don’t have the direct quote but the sound bite went something like, “The Republicans have tried to shut down the government rather than let the Affordable Care act go forward. The joke is on them because everyone else is out of work but the registration for the new program goes forward.” The speaker was President Obama.
That means that the entire process of shutdown is political posturing to portray an Obama manufactured crisis. The one thing that has never been funded is going forward. The entire block that was to be funded is shut down. This is executive choice, not legislation. While the administration and Senate talk about total shut down they are quietly funding the things that are important to them. Like I am experiencing in public education, they cry broke and spend money on their pet projects.
One example I was reading yesterday was an historical site that accepts no federal money. It is totally self-funded and staffed. They sent in armed park police to force them to shut down. Or take the World War II Memorial. I was there last summer. It is a wide open area in the middle of the park area. There are not gates or fences. It is open 24/7 and there was not visible staffing. You could have visited it in the middle of the night and no one would care. No longer. Now we have spent money (which we don’t have) to send workers (who have been furloughed) to put up barricades to keep people away. Then the government pays security to make sure that no one goes behind the barricades.
Maybe the government needs to be shut down until everyone working for it goes and finds another job.
homo unius libri
I will take that as a hearty "Amen."
ReplyDeleteGrace and peace.