The Democrats cry about the consequence of the government shutdown they orchestrated. Tens of thousands of government workers are not working. The CDC, NIH, Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and the IRS are shut down. OK, I am going to stop you right there. You did not have to sell me; I am good with it.
Many Americans are like me: I am more worried about government starting back up than shutting down. The only thing annoying about a government shutdown is how giddy Sen. Rand Paul and I get.
When they are closed, the Feds cannot meddle and rack up trillions in debt ($37 trillion and counting), which could result in delaying the bankruptcy of our country. And the government cannot get us into trillion-dollar wars of choice if it is shut down.
There will be collateral damage. If the government stays shut down much longer, the drug companies will have to lay off 50 U.S. senators.
Think about the federal government versus local governments and what each provides. We get most of what we need from local government: police, libraries, roads, schools, fire, trash pickup, EMS, hospitals, etc.
And most local governments balance their budgets and only ask about 6% from us. The feds tax us up to 40% and do little for us other than national defense (or “War” now). And they run a $1.8 trillion a year deficit.
Dems, face it, Chuck Schumer shut down government because AOC is challenging him for Senate leadership from the left. If she gets his seat, first, I suggest she Lysol it really well. Schumer has been in the Senate a long time — to way back when he did not have hair.
For the Pelosi and Schumer types, I have a rule: You can only be in Washington for two facelifts.
And who cares if obscure and intrusive agencies shut down? Even NASA being shut is fine. NASA has spent trillions and has not done anything for us since Tang. Musk has run laps around them in space exploration. Let the private sector handle more. If anything can be found in the Yellow Pages, government does not need to do it.
It is fun to watch the political theater around this shutdown. Dems cry crocodile tears over non-essential employees furloughed in agencies they have never heard of that do nothing for us.
Who will send our tax dollars to fund $3.6 million for pastry-cooking classes and “dance focus groups” for male prostitutes in Haiti? $4.2 million for LGBTQ+ in Uganda and the Balkans. $3 million for circumcisions in Zambia. And $3 million to put “Sesame Street” in Iraq. All of the above are actual pet Democrat spending items.
Of course, our senators and representatives get paid. They are protected under the Americans with No Abilities Act.
Two things become clear during a government shutdown: how little we need most government and how petulant public servants can be when they do not get their funding.
Under Obama, there was a lot of petty government intimidation. Remember how he hired extra people to make sure our open-air national parks were kept shut so citizens could not just walk through them? They locked the bathrooms at Yellowstone, thinking men could not possibly go potty in the national parks we pay for without government support and approval.
Government shutdowns have become a well-worn path of a dysfunctional Washington. They have the financial planning skills of an Ole Miss frat boy. It is like Schumer and Pelosi/Jeffries are walking the marble halls of the Capitol. Twenty feet ahead of them, they see a banana peel. They say in unison, “Here we go again.”
I have not missed any of our government so far. Maybe we fire them all and hire back what we miss?
If not, let me know when they have the Panda camera back up and running at the Washington Zoo.
Contact Ron Hart, a syndicated op-ed satirist, author and TV/radio commentator, at @RonaldHart on X.