Shutting Down The Federal Government’s A Good Thing—Here’s Why!

“We must consult our means rather than our wishes.” ― George Washington

American families make a budget, corporations make a budget, small businesses make a budget. These budgets are designed to keep the doors open and keep spending in check, in order to put money away for a rainy day.

Budgets are how we, as individuals, get things done. Budgets are how we the people keep our doors open for family and friends. How we save to send our children to schools and universities, how we purchase our homes, buy our cars and eat, drink and be merry.

The federal government has “intentionally and repeatedly” failed to create budgets on time, within we the taxpayers means and it has failed to spend our tax dollars on what we the people value most, the health, wellbeing, safety and security of our families.

There is always the fear that somehow shutting the government down is a bad thing. But is it?

Let’s take a look at the federal budget process to understand that it may be a “good thing” to let the government shut down.

The federal budget for each fiscal year, which runs from October 1 to September 30, is approved by the House, Senate, and the President combined.

The President submits a detailed budget request for the coming fiscal year, which begins on October 1. The budget contains estimates of federal government income and spending for the upcoming fiscal year and also recommends funding levels for the federal government. Congress then must pass appropriations bills based on the president’s recommendations and Congressional priorities.

Congress’ 12 Appropriations Committees

There are currently 12 Appropriations Committees that create their respective budget and send it to the floor of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate for a vote. BTW, we pay these committee members and their staffs to get the job done on time and within the budget.

The 12 Appropriations Committees are:

1. Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
2. Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
3. Defense
4. Energy and Water Development
5. Financial Services and General Government
6. Homeland Security
7. Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
8. Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
9. Legislative Branch
10. Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
11. State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
12. Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

If Congress does not pass all appropriations measures by the start of the fiscal year (October 1st), it has to enact a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government running.

This is the key problem that keeps rearing its ugly head, as it did in 2024 as follows:

• On January 19th, 2024 Congress, failing to do its job, passed a CR extending the dealing to March 1, 2024.
• On February 2, 2024 Congress, failing to do its job, extended the CR to March 8, 2024.
• On March 8, 2024, Congress, failing to do its job, extended the CR to March 22, 2024.

NOTE: According to the Government Accountability Office, there have been 47 CRs between fiscal years 2010 and 2022.

At 5:00 a.m. on March 22, 2024 the budget, which should have been passed on October 1, 2023, finally passed, 6 months late.

Congress has failed we the people.

This failure is not just a one off, it has become Washington, D.C.’s way of doing business. Creating anxiety and concern in order to pass budgets that benefit the few and take away from the many.

We the people are facing death by CR after CR after CR and budget after budget after budget!

The budget process has become a joke.

The Federal Budget and America’s Values

Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. said, “Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.”

Those who are supposed to spend our money wisely and on things that we truly value, i.e. life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, have failed us.

We saw just this year that Congress use CRs to keep the government open but funded programs that are patently offensive to the majority of Americans.

Here’s a short list created by the Family Research Council[3],

• $400,000 requested by Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) for Briarpatch Youth Services in Fitchburg, Wisconsin. The group promises to hide minors’ struggle with gender dysphoria from their parents while indoctrinating teens in extreme gender ideology.
• $400,000 requested by Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.) for the Mazzoni Center in Philadelphia, which carries out transgender hormone shots, clears the way for transgender surgeries, advertises transgender services for minors, and holds drag show fundraisers.
• $1,808,000 requested by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed (both D-R.I.) for Women and Infants Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, which carries out first- and second-term abortions at its Family Planning Clinic.
• $650,000 requested by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) for Dartmouth Hitchcock Nashua in New Hampshire. “We routinely provide both medication and procedural abortion care up to 22 weeks of pregnancy,” the group declares.
• $780,000 requested by Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) for Amador Health Services in Las Cruces, New Mexico, which boasts that it “can provide transgender/gender non-conforming (GNC) health education, therapeutic counseling and referrals, and additional LGBTQ+ support that puts your safety and comfort first.

Also listed the following concerning earmarks in the 2024 budget:

• “Sen. Bennet (D-CO), $845,000 – Envision: You, CO (SAMHSA) – LGBTQ advocacy.”
• “Sen. Shatz (D-HI), $550,000 – Hawaii Health and Harm Reduction Center, HI (SAMHSA) – LGBTQ services and syringe exchange.”
• “Sen. Schumer (D-NY), $1,000,000 — SAGE, NY (ACL) – LGBTQ advocacy.”

QUESTION: Do these $6,433,000 in appropriations and earmarks truly fit your personal values?

Shut It Down

Brookings Institutes’ David Wessel [1] reports, “Under the Antideficiency Act (initially passed in 1884 and amended in 1950), federal agencies cannot spend or obligate any money without an appropriation (or other approval) from Congress. When Congress fails to enact the 12 annual appropriation bills, federal agencies must cease all non-essential functions until Congress acts. This is known as a government shutdown. If Congress enacts some but not all of the 12 appropriations bills, only agencies without appropriations have to shut down; this is known as a partial shutdown.”

Here’s what happens and why it is a good thing:

1. During shutdowns, many “non-essential” federal employees are told not to report for work. If these employees are non-essential then why are they on the payroll. Companies don’t hire non-essential employees, why should the government. Identifying these non-essential employees is the perfect way to start cutting government.
2. Government employees who provide what are deemed “essential services”, such as air traffic control and law enforcement, continue to work, but don’t get paid until Congress takes action to end the shutdown. All this applies only to the roughly 25% of federal spending subject to annual appropriation by Congress. So, technically 75% of government employees are not essential? Does this mean we can fire up to 75% of those currently working for the federal government!
3. Benefits such as Social Security and Medicare continue to flow because they are authorized by Congress in laws that do not need annual approval (although the services offered by Social Security benefit offices may be limited during a shutdown). So we the people will still get our Social Security checks and Medicare benefits. That’s a good thing.
4. The Treasury continues to pay interest on U.S. Treasury debt. If we eliminate the debt this all goes away. Does this make sense to you? NOTE: According to GAO’s projections, debt held by the public will more than double over the next 30 years, rising from around 97% of GDP at the end of fiscal year 2023 to 29% in 2054.
5. Shutdowns can be disruptive, leading to delays in processing applications for passports, small business loans, or government benefits; shuttered visitor centers and bathrooms at national parks; fewer food-safety inspections. Why not turn these over to the private sector or to the states? The states issue drivers licenses, why not let them issue passports using federal guidelines? Why not get the government out of the small business loans and turn that over to the banks and other lending institutions? Why not privatise visitor centers and make them a profit making entity that pay for themselves? As far as some government benefits, bathrooms at national parks, food-safety inspections aren’t these best left up to the private sector?
6. Other workers deemed “essential” would remain on the job, though they also would not get paid. Services like mail delivery and tax collection would continue. [2]

Interestingly the Federal Courts and Congress itself are minimally impacted by a government shutdown. While some congressional staff may be sent home without pay, the question remains is the Congressional staff bloated?

So there you have it. Government can “shut down” with minimal impact if government cuts itself and shifts many of its responsibilities to the privates sector or to the individual state, e.g. Texas dealing with the border.

We are concerned that big government has become the opiate of the people. We now believe that we the people’s money is truly the opiate of big government.

©2024. Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

Sources:

[1] What is a government shutdown?

[2] US government shutdown: what does it mean?

[3] ‘Total Abomination’: $1.2 Trillion Bill Funds Teen Trans Programs, Abortion to 22 Weeks

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