A Government Shutdown In Name Only

By Adam Bitely

Unless Congress approves legislation before March 5, many federal government operations will "shut down" or so we are led to believe. While the House has already approved a Continuing Resolution that includes $61.3 billion in spending cuts for the remainder of the fiscal year, the Senate has left itself with just a few days to pass this legislation which would prevent a shutdown of non-essentialfederal government services.

Everyone loves a good acronym to describe the dealings of government. So I have created one for the purposes of a government shutdown. Contrary to popular belief, many operations of the government don't actually shut down, including "mandatory" spending that continues to the tune of $2.1 trillion every year. I refer to the political theater routine that revolves around a shutdown: a SINO, which means a "Shutdown in Name Only."

If the Senate should fail to approve the House version of the Continuing Resolution bill before March 5, and the government does indeed shutdown, not a whole lot of government services and actions will be stopped.

The war in Afghanistan will still go on uninterrupted. Social security checks will still roll off the printing presses. Medicare benefits will not be stopped. Mail will still be delivered by the Postal Service. Federal courts and police forces will still operate as usual. And the IRS will continue to process tax returns.

So you might be wondering what part of the shutdown is bad?

Other than the fact that Congress will still be showing up to work as they usually do, it is hard to find the downside of a shutdown.

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-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary