Archive: Opinions

I was going to write a satirical editorial about how a local Bed & Breakfast was shutting down breakfast and bed sheets because its local town would not approve a boarder wall (to keep the B&B's boarders at bay).  But I can't pull it off.  Because, as any satirist will tell you, you can't satire a satire.

We elect leaders because we expect them to... I know this is a shocking notion... lead.  Part of their responsibility is to keep the government running so that the services that we are all paying way too much taxes for are rendered.  I don't notice a tax shutdown.  So why is there a government shutdown?

When you look at government shutdowns you have to look at who they help, and who they hurt.  The people most immediately hurt are the employees who suddenly have no paycheck, but make no mistake, everybody is hurt, and so are the resources we collectively own.  For example the National Park Service is reportedly worrying that damage done to unsupervised national parks will take years to reverse.  And while, as I just mentioned, there is no tax shutdown, the piece of the IRS that renders help to taxpayers in figuring out their taxes isn't available during the shutdown.

Of course the tax structure in this country is so simple anyone can understand it, so what's the harm?  Whoops!  Fake News Alert!  Pretty much nobody understands tax forms except highly trained accountants, which makes paying taxes even more expensive for the rest of us because we need accountants to sort it out for us.  Fine, but for those brave souls -- heroes, really -- who brave the 1040 themselves... well, you're on their own.

I have heard politicians say they believe in what they believe in, but let's see what we can all agree on and make those things happen.  That is what should be happening in Washington.

Holding the country hostage over a border wall would be absurd if it weren't really happening.  Our so-called leaders should put that and any other bones of contention aside, agree on the rest, and let the government do what it is supposed to do.  Shutting the government down certainly makes a dramatic statement, but it is nothing more than a bad act by political hacks (including our so-called non-politician president) to stroke their own egos. It is an easy way out, as opposed to actual leadership which takes hard work.

If illegal immigration is such a national emergency and such a threat to the United States what's next?  Will the US declare war on Mexico?  If the shutdown weren't so absurd I wouldn't be worried about this, but with the shutdown setting a record for the number of days the government only partially works, I can't rule anything out.

If a wall is truly a good solution to this problem a strong leader would make a compelling case to convince the majority of lawmakers that it would be money well spent.  It's an alleged democracy.  If you can convince the majority, you get your thing.  If you can't... well all those folks who voted for Hillary are still Americans, aren't they?  In another few years they can vote again.

Here's a thought - let's keep the departments, but shut down the government completely, ie. the people who allegedly govern.  That would take politics entirely out of the equation, and the country could chug on without all the nonsense.  Wouldn't you just love a news day without the he-said, she-said, red vs. blue nonsense we see every day and just have actual news?

This kerfuffle over a border wall is no less absurd than a boarder wall.  It is a shameful excuse for withholding services that Americans have to pay for, whether we receive them or not.  Shame on all the lawmakers in Washington on both sides of the aisle for letting this happen.

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