By Stan Welch
Well, I just placed myself in grave danger in order to perform my journalistic duties. I stood outside for thirty minutes on this, the first day of the federal government’s shutdown. I am happy to report that not one piece of the sky fell on me. I was absolutely safe, despite the flock of chicken littles who have been squawking and flitting about the mainstream media’s propaganda machines for the last few days.
Canada has not invaded despite the fact that the borders are not guarded. Mexico is a different story, of course; although I don’t think it is the Mexican military that we need to be concerned with. And the invasion from the south has nothing to do with the federal shutdown, since it took place even while federal agents were on the job.
We have been told by every Democrat that the Obama administration could trundle up to a microphone that this shutdown, this refusal to continue funding the government without concessions concerning Obamacare, would result in chaos and destruction. Children would starve. Well, folks, millions of children are already starving in this country; and the most extensive, and expensive, safety net in the world hasn’t helped them. Those children have never bothered the Pelosians until now.
We are told that veterans would see their treatment and benefits delayed. Presumably that delay would be in addition to the average delay of almost three years that the average veteran faces while the government is humming right along.
National parks and monuments are closed but Medicare and Social Security continue to function. The Environmental Protection Agency is no longer currently working to impose administrative burdens on various sectors of the American economy. Government regulators are resting up, although the frisk and tickle Transport Security crews are still fondling grandmothers and the handicapped at the nation’s airports. Air traffic controllers are still working so the skies are about as friendly as usual.
Approximately 800,000 non-essential federal employees are staying home today, since the Democratically controlled Senate, under Harry Reid, has declared its refusal to even consider any budget that would defund or delay Obamacare. The president has refused to negotiate or to sign any budget that affects his “signature” program. The question that goes unasked, of course, is what are we doing with 800,000 non-essential federal employees in the first place?
The Democrats and the media are in a frenzy of blaming the Republicans and especially the Tea Party for these extortionist tactics, as if the Republicans are the ones refusing any attempt at compromise. Let’s get this straight folks. This is a deeply divided country, perhaps more so than at any time since the Reconstruction.
The liberal left seeks to grow government beyond the point of sustainability and to make as many people as possible dependent on the government. As a result, more than one hundred million people in this country now receive some form of federal benefit; and that number does not take Social Security or Medicare into account.
The right has a completely different view; and more importantly, a responsibility to oppose what they consider a nanny state approach to government. Obama and Harry Reid demagogue the right, especially men like Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Rand Paul and the Upstate’s own Trey Gowdy.
They accuse them of terrorist tactics and slander them; and a complicit media gleefully joins in. But when all the fiscal jargon and political posturing is scraped away, the fact is this: The Dems and Obama can’t believe that someone would actually question their statist agenda, much less try and interfere with it. When the Chosen One speaks, peasants should bow.
The federal government has been shut down at least seventeen times in the history of this country, and the country remains. The leverage afforded to the Congress in matters of the nation’s finances was established by the separation of powers. Their authority to engage vigorously in this issue is well founded and in complete accord with the Constitution. One might think that a self-proclaimed Constitutional scholar like our president would realize that fact; and realizing it, choose not to ignore it.
Make no mistake – the opposition party has the right and the responsibility to oppose and contest policies and procedures with which they disagree. It is called freedom; and somehow, we are managing to cling to it despite the efforts of the most powerful socialist cabal this country has ever seen.
When the boat you are in is about to be swept over the falls, someone has to have the strength and courage to paddle backwards, instead of simply enjoying the view. If that means shutting down the government, so be it.
The real reason the plutocrats in Washington, on both the left and the right, want to see this shutdown ended quickly is simple. The longer it lasts, the more people realize how few essential duties the government actually performs. That is a level of public awareness that Congress cannot endure.
