Government wants you to play a role in the \u201cshutdown\u201d of the federal government. Your role is to panic.<\/p>\n
Republicans and Democrats both assume that shutting some government is a terrible thing. The press concurs. \u201cShutdown threatens fragile economy,\u201d warns Politico. \u201cFederal workers turn to prayer,\u201d laments The Washington Post.<\/p>\n
If the public starts noticing that life goes on as usual without all 3.4 million federal workers, we might get dangerous ideas, like doing without so much government. Politicians don\u2019t want that.<\/p>\n
They\u2019d rather have us worry about how America will cope.<\/p>\n
President Obama gave a speech where he actually said we need to keep government open for the sake of people like the person working for the Department of Agriculture \u201cout there helping some farmers make sure that they\u2019re making some modest profit,\u201d and the Department of Housing and Urban Development \u201chelping somebody buy a house for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Give me a break. Farmers don\u2019t need bureaucrats to teach them how to make a profit, and Americans can buy first homes without HUD helping a chosen few. Americans would make more profit and afford better homes if they didn\u2019t have to spend a third of national income on federal taxes.<\/p>\n
Bureaucrats, acting like bullies, protest the partial closures by doing things like cutting off access to public parks \u2014 even privately funded ones. Federal cops block access to outdoor war memorials and much of Mt. Rushmore. They block access to motels and order people out of private homes that happen to sit on federal land. The Washington Free Beacon reports, \u201cThe closure of a Virginia park that sits on federal land, even though the government provides no resources for its maintenance or operation.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is shutdown theater.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s similar to the fake \u201causterity measures\u201d in other countries. We\u2019re told that Europe\u2019s slow economic growth is a result of \u201causterity\u201d embraced by European governments.<\/p>\n
But there hasn\u2019t really been any austerity. England, where a \u201cconservative\u201d government is in charge, increased government spending by 4 percent.<\/p>\n
\u201cAusterity\u201d in Greece \u2014 supposedly so drastic that the public has little choice but to riot in protest \u2014 meant changes like reducing mandatory severance pay to one entire year (instead of two!).<\/p>\n
In the U.S., Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) told CNN the federal government has cut so much spending that there\u2019s just nothing left to cut: \u201cThe cupboard is bare! There\u2019s no more cuts to make!\u201d<\/p>\n
What? The federal government spends almost 4 trillion dollars! The government cupboard overflows! We fund entire cabinet departments that are worse than useless. The Labor Department interferes with actual labor. Commerce would flow more smoothly without Commerce Department bureaucrats channeling money to their cronies.<\/p>\n
The government hasn\u2019t cut spending \u2014 it never does. After the last shutdowns, politicians even voted to award retroactive pay to government workers who didn\u2019t work. Bet they do it again this time. The federal government remains the biggest employer in the country. President Obama says so with pride.<\/p>\n