I just happened to see about fifteen seconds of the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Ms Maddow was breathlessly denouncing the "shutdown" of the federal government which is approaching at midnight tonight. And Rachel is not alone. CNN has had a clock counting down the days, hours and minutes to the shutdown of the federal government. The entire media establishment is wrapped up in the government shutdown.
But what's the truth? The truth is best told with two numbers: 4,231,000 and 30,000. The first is the total number of people who work for the federal government. The second is the number of people who will not be reporting to work next week if this terrible "shutdown" takes place. That's right, if no bill is passed by midnight, then on the next work day, over 99.3% of all federal employees will report for work. The government will go right on as before. No one will even notice that anything has changed. There will be no "shutdown". In truth, there won't even be a partial shutdown. What there will be is a batch of secretaries and clerical workers who will have a few days off until the matter is resolved. National security will not be compromised. The armed forces will still be on duty. The TSA will still be at the airports. The CIA and the NSC will still be working. Even the fools in the White House will be on the job.
The sad thing is that the so called "shutdown" is nothing more than a political stunt. Somebody ought to let Americans know that the whole drama is not real.
But what's the truth? The truth is best told with two numbers: 4,231,000 and 30,000. The first is the total number of people who work for the federal government. The second is the number of people who will not be reporting to work next week if this terrible "shutdown" takes place. That's right, if no bill is passed by midnight, then on the next work day, over 99.3% of all federal employees will report for work. The government will go right on as before. No one will even notice that anything has changed. There will be no "shutdown". In truth, there won't even be a partial shutdown. What there will be is a batch of secretaries and clerical workers who will have a few days off until the matter is resolved. National security will not be compromised. The armed forces will still be on duty. The TSA will still be at the airports. The CIA and the NSC will still be working. Even the fools in the White House will be on the job.
The sad thing is that the so called "shutdown" is nothing more than a political stunt. Somebody ought to let Americans know that the whole drama is not real.
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