If you have any doubt that the Obama administration is just ‘playing politics’ with this government shutdown thing, well, we continue to get more evidence.
The other day, I gathered several links on the Obama administration’s spiteful focus on ‘optics’, that is, their taking of new/unusual actions (actions not taken in America’s many other government shutdowns) to make this one seem more painful.
Next, making the rounds this morning is a lovely quote from a top White House official:
Said a senior administration official: “We are winning…It doesn’t really matter to us” how long the shutdown lasts “because what matters is the end result.”
See? To the Obama crew, it doesn’t really matter how long the shutdown lasts. Neither does America’s fate. All they care about is scoring a political-points ‘win’.
Finally, The Economic Collapse Blog has a well-documented post on 36 Facts Which Prove That Almost Everything Is Still Running. A quick sample:
..the definition of “essential personnel” has expanded so much over the years that almost everyone is considered “essential” at this point…
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#3 Overall, 63 percent of the federal workforce will continue to work during this “government shutdown”.
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#6 Social Security recipients will continue to get their benefits.
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#9 Food stamp recipients will continue to get their benefits.
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#17 TSA employees will continue to molest travelers at our airports.
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#32 All city employees of the D.C. government have been deemed “essential” and will continue to go to work.
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RTWT. If anyone can contradict the post (with links), please do so in the comments. Otherwise, it proves further that – like the ‘sequester’ budget controversy earlier this year – the Obama administration is engaged in BS-ing the American people.
Well, Barry and Michelle might have a bit of personal concern over the shutdown, since it hits their personal army of servants:
The government shutdown has forced Obama to make do with only a quarter of his 1,701 person staff. That would leave 436 “vital” employees. The 90 people who look after his living quarters would be slashed to 15…
But that’s kind of a good thing, isn’t it? It might save taxpayer money in the long run, if it shows the Obamas that they don’t need so many servants. (I’ll wait for the laughing to quiet down.)
UPDATE: Some talk about uneven effects from the shutdown: Army grocery stores are closed, while Air Force golf courses remain open.
Much of that un-evenness arises from program-funding technicalities. But again, at least some of it comes from Obama administration choices: as, for example, their spending money spitefully to barricade certain open-air monuments and memorials (that were never barricaded in any previous shutdown).
There has always been the danger that 800,000 federal workers would be furloughed and no one would notice. A Dem’s gotta do what a Dem’s gotta do to make sure that doesn’t happen.
And commenter Polly has it exactly right.
That is an excellent comment indeed, Polly. Frankly, the behavior of the administration during this “shutdown” has been so shameful that I find myself increasingly feeling furious with anyone who is gullible enough to take the administration’s rhetoric about the shutdown seriously.
With the Barackadiing of the WWII Memorial and other sites, Obama is behaving exactly like the petty tyrant we “right wingnuts” always said he was.
You know, V, if Barack were just the teeniest bit less petty he might gain points with a poignant speech “opening up” the WWII Memorial (I guess what that means, really, is removing the barriers, since the Memorial is not generally guarded in any way) because these WWII veterans don’t have that many more days to see that which they earned by fighting for their country. He could, thereby, give the impression that he gives a damn about America and those who have helped to keep her free.
Then again, why would he do such a thing? With all of the media so firmly on his side, there’s nothing he can do that is so foul the media cannot spin it to be the Rs’ fault. He has NO need to submit, even a little, even for old fighters or even for children with cancer.
I was still active duty military during the 1995 shutdown and the differences with that one with today is startling. Very few civil service personnel within DOD carried the “essential” tag (I can’t speak with absolute authority for other Departments but I was lead to believe the same was true for them).
I was working in an office of 140 civil service and 8 military personnel. Not one, not even the Director, was considered “essential”. Myself and the other 7 military members were required to run this office providing support for the entire organization for the duration of the shutdown.
“non-essential” federal workers most likely will be paid for their “time off.”
The same cannot be said of those unemployed who are receiving federally-funded extended benefits whose payments are being cut by 7% in some states. That’s money they will NOT get, ever.
So, Obama throws the unemployed under the bus – is anyone really surprised?
Don’t forget, the DoD is now ‘debating’ on if the military funding CR means they can pay combat pay, or just base pay.
Or that the National Guards are shut down right now, thanks to Harry Reid.