The Great Shutdown

During this past December and January, the United States suffered the longest government shutdown in its history—over a month.

But was it really a shutdown? Of course not. Like all of the previous ones, it was only partial. Only “nonessential” functions were cut. And to really rub it in, many departments that were truly nonessential kept on trucking with no layoffs at all.

Politicians are constantly afflicted with the syndrome of spending more to fix problems they created by spending more. This has been particularly rabid during the eight Obama years from 2009 through 2016, when our national debt exploded and more than doubled from $9 trillion to beyond $20 trillion. They almost never have the backbone to make cuts, and when they do on rare occasions, the reductions are usually miniscule.

Hence, we routinely have deadlocks when bloated budgets get stymied by our minority of responsible public servants who insist on some spending accountability.

And thus—a shutdown.

The most visible cutbacks were our museums, monuments, and national parks. These disruptions did have some impact on some people’s vacations and activities, and no doubt, we had some unhappy campers. And since these items generate revenue on their own, like the Postal Service, these closures didn’t even save any tax money. The only logical reason for this was to agitate the people enough to make them demand their representatives cave in and end the shutdown.

Meanwhile, the multitudes of departments and programs that really should have been stopped—and I mean permanently—remained fully funded and allowed to carry on their abuses on the American people.

Much of our deep state is on auto pilot. No matter what happens, our 700 overseas military bases will remain open. The CIA will continue to arm terrorists and manipulate civil wars. Innocent non-violent people will continue to be arrested and given long sentences in overcrowded prisons for using or selling marijuana. Spying on American citizens will continue unabated. Abusive regulators will still be on the prowl. The Departments of Energy and Education will not even feel a blip. Bloated public assistance will continue reckless, unearned handouts.

So we end up with no solution at all—just more spending, more taxes, bigger debt, and bigger problems down the road.

The honorable Ron Paul had a suggestion: “We are told that all ‘non-essential’ personnel will be furloughed until Congress agrees to begin funding the Federal government again. In fact, the real ‘non-essential’ personnel are most Members of Congress themselves! Perhaps their pay should be docked for each day they pretend to be in conflict. The only danger of that, of course, is that they would reach the inevitable compromise even sooner.

“Who wins when a “compromise” is finally announced? Not the American people, that’s for sure! The winner will be, as usual, big government.”

As Ron Paul said, a “compromise” is not a solution. It is just kicking the can down the road. Sooner or later, we run out of road.

What IS the real solution? Cut spending. Eliminate non-essential programs and actions.

That should not be hard at all. Roughly 90 – 95% of our federal government is unconstitutional. The bulk of that percentage is government involvement in public assistance, health care, education, and meddling in various parts of the world.

Lower taxes. Massive spending cuts. Much less government. A balanced budget.

Let’s demand our elected leaders get enough backbone to carry it out. That is the one way we can make America great again..

Sources:

1. Paul, Ron, “What to Really Expect from the Government Shutdown,” January 23, 2018, http://www.lewrockwell.com.

2. Ringer, Robert, “The Dreaded Government Shutdown,” December 25, 2018, http://www.robertringer.com.

3. North, Gary, “The Shutdown and Liberty,” January 19, 2019, https://www.garynorth.com/public/19065print.cfm