Daily Archives: 3 October 2013

What if They Had a Government Shutdown?

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…and nobody cared?

A lot of financial sector data, for instance flow from the Federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Commerce.  However, these data also flow from private sector entities—organizations like the Institute of Supply Management (a host of forward- and backward-looking management surveys across a wide range of economic sectors), ADP (weekly jobs reports), the University of Michigan (confidence surveys), the Conference Board (roughly complementary confidence surveys), and so on.

Intuit makes, among other things, accounting and tax software—and it collects (with permission) employment data from 200,000+ businesses.  Its monthly employment reports, based on based on these real-time aggregated data, are current.  The best the government can do here (even when it isn’t shutdown) is eight months to a year behind real-time.

Etc.

And there’s Google and Bing.

Separately, but related, comes this…admission…from the just “shutdown” government:

The EPA said its plan for dealing with a shutdown would classify 1,069 employees, out of 16,205, as essential.

The Feds are saying that some 93% of its EPA employees are nonessential.  It’s reasonable to extend from that that the vast majority of these nonessentials are, in fact, surplus.  The EPA is a relatively extreme example, but it illustrates the degree of fat in the Federal government that could be cut—that is being cut by the present shutdown, at least for the duration.

Next there’s the actual impact of this government shutdown.  80% of all Federal employees are still at work (the EPA, et al., notwithstanding).  Parks are closed, which inconveniences several travelers (other than WWII veterans who forced their way into their War Memorial with the help of some Republican Congressmen and the acquiescence of the Memorial’s guards, who had more sense than their Park Service employers), and other frankly similarly minor items, but the government remains fully functional.

Finally, there’s this Federal hardship: First Lady Michelle Obama’s office announced via Twitter: “Due to Congress’s failure to pass legislation to fund the government, updates to this account will be limited.”

The Mendacity of the Obama Government Shutdown

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Here’s an example.  The House, earlier in the week, passed an appropriations bill—devoid of anything else, a clean CR, IAW Democrat instruction—the Senate passed it, and President Barack Obama signed it.  “It’s the law of the land.”  This appropriations law fully funds the DoD for the next couple of months.

Despite that, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel decided to furlough 400,000 DoD civilians (apparently his fair share of the Obama shutdown).  Congressman Buck McKeon (R, CA) wrote to Hagel, asking how that furlough worked, since DoD was fully funded.

Hagel’s response?  Through “a senior Defense official,” Hagel said he had no way to respond.

Unfortunately, most of the staff who draft congressional correspondence are furloughed[.]

Because the responsible officials—Hagel’s deputies, Obama’s appointees—are illiterate, apparently.  Or they need an authority figure to tell them what to do, and both Hagel and Obama are too busy to provide that instruction.  Or these worthies simply are too proud to do their work with their own hands.

Negotiations

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President Barack Obama spent 15-20 minutes in a Tuesday Rose Garden speech proudly proclaiming his refusal to negotiate with Republicans over the budget or the nation’s debt limit.  He spent another hour Wednesday afternoon telling Republican leadership directly that he would not negotiate with them.  After all, he has said through his representatives and Congressional colleagues that Republicans are terrorists and have bombs strapped to their chests, and that they want to burn the US economy; with what/whom is there to negotiate?

However, Obama, directly or through subordinates, will treat with actual terrorists:

Hassan Rouhani (phone call)

Ayatollah Khamenei (letter)

Muammar Qadhafi (meeting)

Bashar al Assad (via Senator/Sec State Kerry)

Mahmoud Abbas (meeting)

Hugo Chavez (meeting)

Najib Mikati (via Senator/Sec State Clinton)

 

h/t AEIdeas, which has imagery.