With the government shutdown, there's been talk about all the people who can't go to work and how the national parks have had to close. However, I haven't heard about any silver linings to the shutdown. Are there any? Generally, I would think that the savings to the government might be large since the size of the federal workforce seems to have expanded quite a bit over the past decade.
I just read what Newt Gingrich had to say about the shutdown, and he helped clarify the question I asked yesterday. Gingrich was in office when the last shutdown occurred in the mid-1990s. He says this:
Back in 1995-96, there was the understanding that government shutdowns were an unpleasant but integral part of the legislative-executive power struggle. That power struggle is built into the American Constitution. The Founding Fathers wanted to protect freedom by separating powers so every branch had to negotiate with the others.
So it seems that shutdowns are a healthy sign that our form of republican government is working. The alternative - one branch of government having its say all the time - veers off the path of the balance of powers. I know that James Madison in particular was fearful of the potential for tyranny that resulted from too much power in the hands of one faction. I think that he would be one who would think that the shutdown is therefore better than the alternative.
Feds Try to Close the OCEAN Because of ShutdownArticle titles like this really get on my nerves!! Not once is mentioned in this article nor the linked article to National Review that Florida Bay is part of Everglades National Park.The Right is being incorrectly attacked for this shutdown all over the pace. Poorly titled and written articles like this don't help the cause. I should submit a sample of how this article should have been written. I can still attack Obama, Reid, and the Left but use facts rather than sensationalism and false propaganda. You'll need more Coast Guard and Harbor Masters out there to enforce this... that alone proves that Obama's and the Democrats' policies lack anything that remotely resembles common sense.
Terrible! No other word to describe that horrific mess: 1 man only to maintain the US-Canada border, cemeteries in Europe are closed, free food and even a Ku Klux Klan rally in Gettysburg was called off… http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24357415
Wow, I was totally mislead for a moment by that first one – one man for “[c]leaning and maintenance” of the obelisk fence along the border. At first I thought it was one man at a checkpoint along a vast border…which would have been more problematic
Speaking as someone who will probably be furloughed next week when MWR funds run out, I hope the Republicans keep it up until they extract some concessions from Democrats for once. I am perfectly willing to forfeit a couple month's salary to bring sanity back to government.
Shutting down the government would really be beneficial if it cut off the funding to the White House and Congress. Keep the parks open and furlough the real nonessential government employees who do the most damage. 🙂