A Government Shutdown

In spite of the fact that the fiscal year is almost half over, not a single appropriations bill has been passed by the Congress. As a result, the government is operating on a Continuing Resolution which permits spending at the same rate as last year and which was scheduled to expire two days from now.

Having, today, managed to pass a short term continuing resolution to fund the United States Government for just two additional weeks, Representatives and Senators likely believe that they are doing their jobs. If that is the case, they misunderstand the nature of their jobs - which include acting in a timely manner - and deserve to be fired for incompetence.

Unless action is taken in the next two weeks, the government will cease to pay its bills and all employees deemed not to be "essential" will be furloughed. The government was last shut down in 1995, in response to political war between President Clinton and Republicans, giddy with power after becoming the majority in the House of Representatives for the first time in forty two years. Those who were furloughed were eventually paid their full wages and salaries for the period - even though they had received an unscheduled vacation.

If a shutdown occurs this year, no one - specifically including Members of Congress and Senators - should be paid for the period during which they are furloughed. While furloughs would not be the fault of civil servants, there can be no justification for spending taxpayer money on work not performed. If a credible threat to refrain from paying salaries during the furlough period were to be made, then pressure from civil servants, who comprise a substantial bloc of voters, to resolve the budget issues would be close to irresistible.

Regrettably there is too much truth in the old cliche that a nation get the government that it deserves. It is, therefore, critical that Americans vote for honest and honorable candidates who will tell us the truth about our fiscal state and who will take timely action in the interests of our nation. We have too long suffered under politicians who focus on little but their own re-election and who pander to those who demand too much from the treasury without being willing to pay the taxes required to balance the budget.

Change is overdue. President Obama's 'Change You Can Believe In' turned out to be business as usual while the elections of 2010 merely provided our nation with another group of petty ideologues focused on their own importance rather than the real challenges, specifically entitlements and the cost of medical care, that we face.