“Go Ahead….Shut it Down !!

From the Other Side of the Edge…..
Go Ahead….Shut it Down !!
By Joe Facinoli

Do us a favor,.…please,……SHUT IT DOWN !!

The Democrats in the U.S. Senate are threatening to “shut down the federal government”, by way of not voting to approve next year’s budget, if those dastardly Republicans in that chamber don’t go along with raising our federal debt ceiling, and/or make good on their attempt to defund Obamacare.

And,…..the bad news in this, ….is what, exactly ??

I say, go ahead, shut the whole thing down! Do what 80 years of bad and abusive government couldn’t do, or hasn’t done.

Close it all, and let’s just start over.

And what would we miss?

The IRS? Not likely. And it might even “stimulate” the economy, with all that extra cash in everyone’s hands.

The NSA? Ha!! Unless we could put all that listening and spying to some good use, like asking them where I put my car keys, which I lost this morning, or reminding me what my doctor said, two weeks ago, when he called about my high cholesterol.

The Dept. of Education? Right, what a rat hole that is. A $70 billion annual budget, and only 5,000 employees. Let’s see,….drop some zeros, carry the one (I hated 8th grade algebra),….that comes out to just about $14 million for each and every one of those fine folks to administer, each and every year!

And how’s our global standing doing these days, among the world’s education powerhouses, as a return on investment, for all this cash? Let’s be kind, and say that we’re not even in the Top Ten. Sad.

We’re much better off letting the states handle this, individually, with funding from each of these jurisdictions, for their own kiddies schoolin’. Or not/none, but it would be up to dems dat lives dere, to decides fer ‘demselves.

The Dept. of Energy? There’s a good one! Remember why that was invented, by President Carter? To find a way for the U.S., not to be so “energy dependent” on OPEC, and to find new, non-petroleum, sources of energy for everyday use.

How’s that working out so far, 36 years later???? $26 billion per year, and 116K employees now. To do what, put up some over-hyped windmills, and look for good sun angles, for the solar panels?? Way to go, Jimmy.

To be fair, it also looks after our nuclear weapons, but why doesn’t the Defense Dept. do that?

Ok, so you’re ahead of me. We might need to keep the military folks around, but that’s just common sense, and anyone would vote to keep that one going.

But perhaps, those stuffed shirts in the Pentagon have gotten just a tad overindulged?

I’d say. What, with virtually 1% of all Americans (that’s every one of us, not just those employed) working in some capacity, for the D.O.D. (Dept. of Defense, for those living outside the “beltway”). Over 3 million, in all.

Perhaps a little shutdown might do some good there too, in finding a way to cut the fat, somehow, out of this “gilded calf”.

D.O.J. ? (Or, Justice Dept. You outsiders are getting to be just a lit-tle annoying.) I think that we might be able to go for a good year or two, before we even noticed they were gone, for all the “trouble for nothing” that they stir up!

But actually, don’t you miss a toothache, when it’s gone? Again, the individual states, acting on behalf of the people and businesses within their borders, would be a better choice, to serve their own citizens rights and liberties.

But, what if you don’t like what’s happening in your state? Move. It’s a big country, with a lot of good places in it.

State Department ? Help me out here. Just why does the U.S. need nearly 300 embassies and consulates, all around this globe ?!!? There aren’t even that many countries!!

Why are we always the world’s negotiator, for every possible reason, region, and location? Just craziness, and way, waaayy too expensive. Shut ‘em down!

You like to travel? And depend on our embassies for help, if you do something wrong while in a foreign country, or get confused there? Then don’t go. Or, go at your own risk. Why does everyone here, have to pay for the indulgences of just a few, over there?

That’s not all they do, of course, but why do we need to be in 300 cities, most of them far, far from our shores, and many of them very close to each other. I’d say about 15 or 20 oughta do it. Board up the rest.

That’s just a taste of the “traditional” cabinet level departments, administered by the Executive branch of the federal government, that wouldn’t be missed, or could be drastically downsized.

And we haven’t even touched on the newly installed “Czar system”, of Barack the Oneth (or, the “Beneficent”, as he prefers).

44 new “positions” (and counting), since he took office (or the throne), all of which are unnecessary at best (because every single one of these “departments” could be handled by a congressionally approved department, already on the books), and are unconstitutional at worst, and are in fact, just that.

They are kept fairly under wraps, by the minions of Barack the 1th (not a typo, I was educated here), but I can only imagine the savings to our citizenry, if these dead weights (and rights violations) were removed from the accounting rolls. Not to mention (sorry, I did earlier), that we would be much better off without any of them, anyway.

Come to think of it, we were without them, until just recently, and did just fine then, out there in the cold cruel world, on our own, and all by our lonesomes. Thank you so much, oh Beneficent One.

And let’s not forget Congress, perhaps the biggest and most blatant abuser of the federal budget. Nearly $5 billion a year we spend on that mess!

Five Billion!!! And we get what, back in return??? That’s an easy one,…shut it down!!

And then there’s the nearly 4 million people who work directly for the federal government (again, over 1% of our entire population), in addition to the D.O.D. (you outsiders catching up yet).

What would they do, and just who do they blame for being out of work?

All I can say to them (including my dear sister, who has 20+ years in), is welcome to the real world, of private employment, where NO job is ever guaranteed, and your whole life can change, with one phone call from the right/wrong client/customer, who’s suddenly decided they don’t need your services anymore.

Those folks would suffer, through no fault of their own, but then again, no gravy train lasts forever.

So “have at it”, all you little boys and girls up on Capitol Hill. Threaten all you want.

Some of us couldn’t care less if you ever come to any agreement on these issues.

This is the Ultimate political “win/win” for the American public.

Either we don’t fund a national “trainwreck” (that would be Obamacare), and we don’t increase our debt limit (another trainwreck, that just keeps happening, year after year),….

...OR,…we shut down that money draining, money sucking, money losing, burdensome and far too intrusive federal government, if only for a short moment or two.

Hmmm,.….explain to me again,….where the bad news is?

Joe Facinoli

--Joe can be reached at: joefacinoli@gmail.com

Intelligent Response Encouraged !!