AnticsOfTheShutdownOct2013 <– PDF version
So we’ve had another “partial shutdown” of the federal government. As usual, the administration did what it could to inconvenience the people for political gain; “essential” government employees worked as usual; and “non-essential” government employees received a two-week taxpayer-paid vacation. Meanwhile, non-government employees who suffered from slowdowns and furloughs went without. Situation normal: the ruling elite always look out for themselves and their non-essential government colleagues, first and foremost. Finally the Democratic faction of the ruling elite came up with a temporary fix on 16 Oct 2013 which will cause the same debate to recur in Jan 2014. In return, the Republican faction received a promise to negotiate spending cuts from the elitist President that would not even talk to them during the partial shutdown.
This shutdown started when the Republican faction attempted to link de-funding of Obamacare to a continuing resolution; they later reduced their demands to a delay in the individual mandate, but failed in the end to achieve even that. The Democratic faction spent the two weeks busily claiming the shutdown was a conspiracy by the Republican faction, whimpering non-stop that it was unfair to link Obamacare modifications to a continuing resolution. But, in their never-ending hypocrisy, the Democratic faction ignored the fact that Obamacare was passed originally as part of a budget resolution. Therefore every budget bill would naturally allow a challenge to Obamacare. The blame-stream media of course castigated the Republican faction at every turn. What else should be expected from institutions that behave as if they were entirely owned and operated by the Democratic faction?
But the Republican faction is equally hypocritical when they pretend that they would behave any differently than the Democrats if Obamacare had been their idea. After all, the main purpose of the law is to transfer power to the government by regulating the distribution of health care services, and the Republican faction desires the expansion of government power just as much as the Democratic faction. As always, it is the people who lose out; in this case, the people will, in the long run, end up with lower quality or lesser quantity at a higher cost, typical of every one-size-fits-all government program. If the problems signing up for Obamacare so far are any indication, the law is even worse than the analysts concluded. Good thing the Democrats didn’t read it before they passed it — now they have plausible deniability.
The ruling elite cannot or will not do their jobs because they do not have the discipline to impose a budget process, hence the need for continuing resolutions. This is especially true of the Republicans, who control the House of Representatives from whence all funding bills must originate. In this instance the budget problem was coupled with a need to raise the debt limit because the government would be technically unable to meet all its obligations around the 17th of Oct 2013. Once again, the hypocrisy of the administration was in full vigor, claiming that the U. S. would have defaulted on Treasury obligations (i.e., to pay interest on the debt) on that date. But there is sufficient cash flow from the never-ending cascade of federal taxes being paid every month to cover those interest payments. What Mr. Obama really meant was that the government would not be able to both service the debt and make full payouts on all the social programs, corporate welfare, and excessive regulation which the ruling elite together has imposed on the people.
In reality, both factions wanted a shutdown. The Republicans wanted it for two reasons: a) to embarrass the President into allowing a cancellation of his signature “achievement”; and 2) draw attention to the excessive government spending (except for the part they voted for). The Democrats also wanted it for two reasons: a) to distract attention from the scandal-of-the-week; and b) let the blame-stream media paint the Republicans as extremists for political advantage.
Look no further to the ruling elites in Washington for “leadership” or “solutions”. If it’s not in the Marxist Handbook, the Democrats cannot understand it. If it requires working together for a sensible objective, the Republicans cannot pull it off. The good news is that they get to do it all again in a few months.
Tags: Federal Budget
