The Weekend Rant: The Government Shutdown

I don't pretend to be an expert on politics but in my eyes, this entire shutdown thing is idiotic. It's also necessary, so I am conflicted. The Republicans have said the shutdown is about ObamaCare and massive overspending by the Democrats. The Democrats say the Republicans are just being babies.

I am a Republican, and I am against ObamaCare. In fact, I think it is the stupidest piece of legislation that has come out of Washington in recent memory. If I were an elected official, I too would use any means at my disposal to attempt to derail it. That's what the Republicans are doing. They are also using the means at their disposal to say "We are here. You have to pay attention to us. You can't simply do whatever you want, like you've been doing for the last 4 years."

The Republicans refuse to pass a spending bill unless the Democrats come to Conference. The Democrats refuse to negotiate in any way, shape or form. The Republicans offer to temporarily fund the government as long as concessions are given on ObamaCare. The Democrats refuse to negotiate. The bickering and name-calling and mudslinging is being covered by Liberal CNN and Conservative FOX News every second of the day. Both parties are playing the blame game.

Newscasters show clips of closed parks, furloughed government workers holding picket signs, and cut little pictures of hastily printed pieces of paper saying "This facility is closed due to the GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN" pasted on the doors of the Department of Education and on barriers surrounding the Lincoln Memorial.

HERE IS THE REAL KICKER: The Democrats and Republicans are arguing about how to spend DEBT. We are trillions of dollars in debt. ObamaCare will add trillions more debt. The most important vote, once the shutdown is over, is to raise the debt ceiling so we can spend more nonexistent money! This country is in debt up to our eyeballs and the most important thing congress has to do is pass a law so we can raise debt from eyeball level to hairline level. What happens when YOU spend 10 times as much as you make for a few decades?

And how will it end? Simple. It will end the same way everything in Washington has been ending for about the last 2 decades. A fun waltz called the Potomac Two-Step.  It's a simple closed door, back room negotiation where the Democrats scratch the Republicans back while the Republicans rub the Democrats feet. Who loses? AMERICA. Until we get a Congress and President that works for the people, we are doomed to this kind of BS.

And that's my weekly rant. Don't like it? TOUGH.