When I think of a government shut down there is part of me that wants to say “Yes, just close ‘em down”. The problem is ~ the “government” I am thinking of is still there. Congress isn’t shut down. They are up there earning (?) their huge salaries. The President and First Lady haven’t suddenly become Barack and Michelle who take the family back to Chicago and try to make do on their savings. The IRS is still functioning taking as much money as it can from us. So what “government” is shut down?
Unfortunately as a friend so wisely said, “they cut programs not politicians”. All those folks who work hard to keep certain government programs running have been sent home to live on savings and credit. They are no longer there to buy lunch from the vender on the corner, or groceries from the lady down the block, or flowers from the cart in Union Station on their way home. Oops - what are those folks going to do?
Or the man whose small but profitable company runs the ferries to and from Fort Sumter in South Carolina? He’s trying to make it on harbor tours but his clientele is Way down.
Or the man in Boston who today was to be the first to try a new drug for his type of cancer at the hospital connected to the National Institutes of Health -- sorry, we’re closed.
Or all those folks depending on food stamps, social security, or one of the already established government health insurance programs?
These are very ordinary people not some big over-arching “government”. When they close down a lot of other ordinary people are pushed out as well. Somebody didn’t think this one through carefully enough. Hmmm - I wonder who that was?
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