Suppose they gave a government shutdown…
…and nobody noticed?
Oh I know, I know; the Democrats and the MSM will milk it for all it’s worth as the fault of the evil Republicans, and as a dreadful dreadful thing. But if it happens (as it seems to be doing right now), and if its effects are not especially felt by the average person, doesn’t that dilute the threat? What if the specter of a government shutdown is actually more ominous than the thing itself (at least, than a partial, temporary shutdown)?
Andrew Stiles lists the effects and the non-effects:
Active-duty troops will still be paid.
Several hundred thousand non-essential federal employees will go on furlough. National parks will be closed. But Congress can pass a bill to reimburse furloughed employees for missed pay (they did this in the 90s).
Welfare and food stamps, Social Security payments, unemployment benefits: no change.
And irony of irony, Obamacare implementation is unaffected.
Now, this doesn’t mean that some people—especially those with vacations already planned to national parks—won’t be miffed. And it also doesn’t mean that most people are paying enough attention to know what will be affected, and so they can easily be swayed by media hype. But I like to think that people actually will notice what’s what (I can dream, can’t I?).
Note the photo for the featured article about the shutdown featured on the main Yahoo page. Hype much?:
Oh, and Harry Reid continues the calm rhetoric Democrats are known for: “We will not go to conference with a gun to our head.”
Lots of fear has been raised on the Republican side by the results of a Quinnipiac poll that says Americans “hate the Republican approach of closing the government in an effort to repeal” Obamacare, 77 to 22. That’s pretty overwhelming, isn’t it?
Let’s take a look at the poll itself, rather than mere reports about it. We find some interesting things. For example, there’s this question:
“Do you think President Obama is doing too much, too little, or about the right amount to compromise with Republican leaders in Congress on important issues?” The answers were: too much 11%, too little 50%, about right 32%. When the same question was asked about how Republican leaders were doing, the answers were 11%, 68%, and 15% respectively. So both sides are being blamed for lack of compromise, although the Republicans are being blamed somewhat more.
Another question on the same general subject: “Who’s responsible for Washington gridlock, Democrats, Republicans, or both equally?” Answers: 10%, 28%, 58%. So, “both equally” wins by a mile.
As for the big shutdown question—well, this was the way the actual question was worded:
“Do you support or oppose Congress shutting down major activities of the federal government as a way to stop the health care law from being put into place?” The answers, as previously reported: 77% oppose, 22% support. In the question, however, the shutdown was defined as affecting major activities; this is not what’s happening, by most people’s definition of “major.” And there was no mention of political parties in that particular question. More people blame Republicans for this than Democrats, as we know, but by way smaller margins than 77% to 22%.
Dare we hope that many people actually have figured out that Democrat intransigence is part of this too?
maybe here is why…
Salon Acknowledges “Elites’ Strange Plot to Take Over the World”
http://thenewamerican.com/world-news/item/16639-salon-article
and the article
Elites’ strange plot to take over the world
A few decades ago, politicians hatched a Tom Friedman-esque idea to unite U.S. and Western Europe.
Did it succeed?
By Matt Stoller
http://www.salon.com/2013/09/20/elites_strange_plot_to_take_over_the_world/
and a few choice quotes in hopes that someone will pay attention (remember alan graysons recent admissions).
Stoller, be it noted, is an accomplished left-wing journalist and former senior policy advisor for prominent Democrat congressman Alan Grayson.
In a September 20 Salon article entitled “Elites’ Strange Plot to Take Over the World,” [after this article] Stoller spelled out much of what The John Birch Society and other patriot groups have been ridiculed for believing for decades.
Surprise!!!
now the question is whether they are so far along noting can stop them.
i do notice that we havent even caught up to these people and their admissions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (how will that rejigger the ideas that are bantered without validity?)
come read the old books now, as soon you wont be able
Writing of events that have been “written out of liberal historical memory,” Stoller introduces Salon readers to Clarence Streit, a Rhodes Scholar-turned elite journalist who, in 1939, published an influential but now scarcely-remembered tome, Union Now: A Proposal for an Atlantic Federal Union of the Free.
Union Now became the founding text of a movement known as Atlanticism – the notion that North America and Western Europe ought to be united under a trans-Atlantic government – and soon attracted the support of most North American and Western European political elites
as i have said endlessly..
you read the books that they read that give them ideas, then you have the source of ideas they tend to use.
[edited for length n-n]
Now is the time for all good conservatives to write and call their representatives. Tell them in no uncertain terms that the President and Harry Reid, because of their refusal to compromise or even talk with the Republicans, are responsible for shutting down the government. The dems believe they will not be blamed. Tell ’em it isn’t so. I have and will continue to do so until this ends.
This issue is picture perfect for polling. How about asking this question:
Do you support President Obama shutting down the government in order to keep Obamacare?
If you like, read some of the comments at this Yahoo article. Overwhelmingly anti-Obama.
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-to-make-12-25-p-m–statement-134130294.html
The WW II memorial runs itself, so to speak. AFAIK, it has no moving parts. The Capitol Police police it, and they weren’t shut down. They did, however, try to shut down the memorial, which cost extra in terms of cop time and barriers and so forth.
A bunch of WW II vets on an Honor Flight busted the barriers and went into their memorial. Cops later on allowed it and tried to control traffic, in the conventional manner.
Dissention in several ranks here.
Shut Down Theater. Bastards.
From NRO’s Corner:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/360094/flotus-announced-her-twitter-account-limited-due-shutdown-andrew-johnson#comments
I bet Kleenex sales will shoot up as people try to wipe their tears.
J.J. formerly Jimmy J., 1:32 pm — “Now is the time for all good conservatives to write and call their representatives.”
Sigh.
My senators are Dianne (don’t-tell-me-about-the-constitution) Feinstein and Barbara (don’t-call-me-ma’am) Boxer. Total, utter waste of time.
My congressman is Darrell Issa. He doesn’t need my voice; he pretty much gets it.
(Yep, I live in a red oasis in a sea of deep blue. Gag.)
The National World War II Memorial was funded almost entirely by private contributions, as specified in Public Law 103-32. The campaign received more than $197 million in cash and pledges. Support came from hundreds of thousands of individual Americans, hundreds of corporations and foundations, veterans groups, dozens of civic, fraternal and professional organizations, states and one territory, and students in 1,200 schools across the country.
Donated and pledged funds were used to cover the total project costs of approximately $182 million. These costs include site selection and design, construction and sculpture, a National Park Service maintenance fee required by the Commemorative Works Act, groundbreaking and dedication ceremonies, fund raising, and the 11-year administrative costs of the project from its inception in 1993 through completion in 2004.
Remaining funds are held on deposit with the U.S. Treasury in a National WWII Memorial Trust Fund. The funds will be used by the American Battle Monuments Commission solely to benefit the World War II Memorial.