The greatest political achievement I've witnessed in my lifetime, has to be the 1995 shutdown of the United States federal government!
Sure, some people called it a "crisis," but I saw it for what it was ... FREEDOM!
Ahhh ... Those were the days ...
Just Say Snow
For the first time in memory, the federal government has closed for three straight days. "Snowmaggedon" has shut down Washington, D.C. and its suburbs. With the third storm within a week hitting the region, causing white-out conditions, even Uncle Sam can't function.
In theory the government closure is costing all of us. Some 230,000 D.C. area employees stayed home, costing an estimated $300 million "in lost productivity per day," according to federal officials. But is the shutdown really hurting the public?
Using the term "productivity" in the same sentence as "federal government" is a dubious exercise. No doubt, in the sense of performing a task efficiently, the Feds can be productive. Just watch how quickly and completely the IRS attempts to clean out the average taxpayer. That explains the joke about Washington's preferred tax form of just two lines: "How much do you earn? Send it in."
But government efficiency doesn't mean productivity in a larger sense. That is, does government activity yield a better life for Americans? On net, the answer is no. The only problem with Snowmaggedon is that it has not affected the 85 percent of federal employees who work outside of the D.C. area.
I remember the shutdown, and thought it was a pretty cool thing. They sun still rose, we were all breathing, and the libs had a break from destroying the country. Good times!
Amazing isn't it? Surviving without the Great Leviathan?