Three Reasons the Shutdown Shows We Need to Fire the Government

1. The fact they can shut down the government in the first place

The fact that Congress is allowed to shut down in the first place is perhaps one of the best reasons for why the government should be immediately fired. Getting to take time off of work at full pay seems like a poor incentive and/or punishment for politicians to actually do their jobs.

No business on the planet would dare to shut down if they failed to reach a decision about something. You think when Apple has a budget problem they can close their offices and punish the consumer? No, they order Thai food, and plan for a long night. If we don’t fire the government over this shutdown, at the very least we should make those in Washington do the exact same thing … Except in a room without air conditioning on a minimum wage salary until they can reach an agreement, and without any delicious Thai takeout.

2. They make us pay them,even when they refuse to work

How is it that when our government misspends our money, we are the ones that have to pay for it? They have failed, miserably, to do something that literally every person in the country has to do every day, set a budget, and yet somehow they come out of this quagmire of incompetence fully compensated. This, while teachers and soldiers who actually do their jobs are left to take out loans to feed their families.

This madness reminds me of the great comedian Bill Hick’s reaction to being told by Washington to tighten his belt to help pay back the deficit … I could see tightening my belt, so long as it’s around a politician’s neck. All this, and we’re still going to have to pay the taxes for all the days they throw their bureaucratic temper tantrum.

3. Their “cuts” aren’t to save money, but to punish the people they represent.

They claim they’ve cut the budget to the bone, which is true in the sense that they’ve cut only the bone and refused to cut any of the fat. The cuts made by our government seem to have been made out of nothing but spite for the American people.

One of the most talked about budget cuts is the closure of monuments in Washington, DC. This has been widely protested by veterans across the country, who have stormed the monuments in protest. In response, the government has actually spent thousands to hire over a half dozen armed guards to keep veterans from visiting the monuments.

First, and perhaps most obviously, how does closing a monument save the government money? The monuments are all outside, and having people look at them costs the state absolutely nothing. “Closing” big decorative rocks to save money is something only a bureaucrat could comprehend. Second, if the government was truly concerned about saving money, they wouldn’t hire armed men to keep people from looking at them. These cuts are clearly designed to punish the public.

In addition to the national monuments, the shut down has closed national parks, and popular government websites such as NASA.gov. These closures are just as absurd as the closures to the monuments. Again, I fail to see how keeping people from taking a walk in the woods is costing the government money. This, and the government still has to pay domain fees to put up the message that they can’t afford to keep their popular websites running.

Congress didn’t make these cuts to save Americans money, Congress made these cuts to punish Americans for Congresses’ incompetence.