Shut it Down!

Word came last night, as I finished this blogpost, that a budget deal had been reached to avert a federal government shutdown.  I considered trashing this post, but thought I’d sleep on it.  This morning as I reread it, I determined my points remain valid and that there will be another budget impasse and possible shutdown, perhaps as early as this September.  So, I decided to go ahead and post it.    

            As I write this blogpost the Democrats are sounding ever more shrill over the prospect of a federal government shutdown.  Senator Harry Reid says, “the only thing Republicans are trying to avoid is tough choices.”  Democratic vitriol continues into the gutter as New York Congresswoman Louise Slaughter declares conservatives are “here to kill women,” in the embedded video.  But, if non-essential federal government offices did shut down I can’t think of a single way that would impact my life, at least in the short term.  I like it that my life is not dependant on a government office and I want to keep it that way.       

            Even if the government does shutdown, the military, Coast Guard, Air Traffic controllers, TSA and FBI will all still be on duty, but their pay might be delayed.  Mail will still be delivered.  Even the federal courts will remain open.  Police, firefighters and state courts are locally funded so they will remain open.  Try as I might, I can’t think of a federal employee that I would need in the next couple of weeks.       

          For far too long the federal government has spent more than it should on programs more designed to buy votes than improve the nation.  Even if my salary depended on the federal budget, as it did when I was in the military, the pain of this shutdown is a small price to pay to return the federal government to fiscal sanity.  

          Last October the Democrats controlled both houses of congress and the White House.  They could have, and should have, passed a budget then, but they did not.  I suspect that they did not want run in November on the budget they would passed in October. 

          I can put off visiting the Liberty Bell or Yellowstone for a few days.  A shutdown of non-essential federal services is a small price to pay in order to regain control of the budget.  If we can finally get the federal budget under control I say ignore the hateful rhetoric from the left and Shut it Down!     

Update on Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 8:59PM by Kyle Pratt

I know that a compromise was reached and a government shutdown was avoided, but trust me, we will be there on the brink again.  But, what does it mean to be on the brink of a government shutdown?  This video from the folks at Reason.tv shows, in a humorous way, what exactly a partial shutdown of non-essential government functions would mean for the average American.