Once again there was a full weekend slate of games, with each earnestly attempting to win.\u00a0 The challenge is that such an account could easily depict either the National Football League or<\/i> the President and Congress.\u00a0 At least in the NFL, a struggling team takes more responsibility for the situation they\u2019re in.\u00a0 The President and Congress \u2014 regardless of party \u2014 spend more time blaming the situation on the other than they do in solving the problem.\u00a0 They spend too much time in front of the cameras.\u00a0 Too much time rallying the troops.\u00a0 Too much time playing games!\u00a0 They play political games.<\/p>\n
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Unfortunately, we, the public, too often camp in front of biased, un-objective \u201cnews\u201d sources, allowing them to rhetorically seduce us, as we join in the reindeer games.<\/p>\n
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Geepers.\u00a0 With all due respect (and \u201cdue\u201d seems temptingly relative at the moment)<\/i>, the President and Congress need to halt the insults, turn away the cameras, roll up their sleeves, and learn to work together.\u00a0 If we can negotiate with Syria, we can negotiate with senators and representatives.\u00a0 I don\u2019t care if their offensive lines are depleted.\u00a0 I want our leaders of both parties<\/i> to realize this is not a game.<\/p>\n
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As of midnight last night, a Republican-led House and a Democrat-led Senate and a Democrat-led White House hadn\u2019t passed and enacted a law allowing the federal government to spend more money.\u00a0 Constitutionally, if Congress doesn\u2019t pass a law to spend money, the government isn\u2019t allowed to spend it.\u00a0 Hence, government is required to \u201cshut down,\u201d thereby no longer funding \u201cnon-essential\u201d functions or personnel.<\/p>\n
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At this time, 3 observations in particular exist from the Intramuralist\u2019s perspective…<\/p>\n
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One, hypocrisy is rampant in this situation.<\/p>\n
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As pointed out in Sunday\u2019s post, how parties feel about spending more or less is often directly tied to their majority or minority position.\u00a0 See Pres. Obama\u2019s quotes as a president and senator; they are strikingly different.\u00a0 The hypocrisy is central to each party\u2019s game-playing.<\/p>\n
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Two, government shut downs have happened 17 times since 1976…<\/p>\n
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From a Democrat-led House and a Democrat-led Senate under Republican President Gerald Ford… to a Democrat-led House and a Democrat-led Senate under Democrat President Jimmy Carter (5 times)<\/i>… to a Democrat-led House and a Republican-led Senate under Republican President Ronald Reagan (7 times)<\/i>… to a Democrat-led House and a Democrat-led Senate also under Reagan… to a Democrat-led House and a Democrat-led Senate under Republican President George H.W. Bush… to a Republican-led House and a Republican-led Senate under Democrat President Bill Clinton (2 times)<\/i>…<\/p>\n
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(Did I mention that hypocrisy was rampant?)<\/i><\/p>\n
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And finally, three, there\u2019s a quick way to solve this shutdown…<\/p>\n
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Remember that only \u201cnon-essentials\u201d go unfunded during a shut down; however, all lawmakers \u2014 including the President, representatives, and senators \u2014 continue to be paid.\u00a0 Let\u2019s withhold their paychecks.\u00a0 Let\u2019s refrain from funding them if they cannot or refuse to compromise and forgo the cameras.\u00a0 Let\u2019s watch then if they still engage in such a dysfunctional, political game.<\/p>\n
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Allow me to briefly recall a childhood memory…\u00a0 My brothers will tell you that I used to consistently cheat when playing \u201cMonopoly.\u201d\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t very good at it \u2014 nor did I have the patience to play it well \u2014 so I would quietly and yes, oh-so deviously steal money from the bank when my older brother turned his head away.\u00a0 Granted, my brothers will also gleefully add that I still couldn\u2019t manage to win.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t fun.\u00a0 I had to steal to play. \u00a0 At least when I engaged in disrespectful, hypocritical activity, I realized it was a game.<\/p>\n
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Respectfully,<\/p>\n
AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Once again there was a full weekend slate of games, with each earnestly attempting to win.\u00a0 The challenge is that such an account could easily depict either the National Football League or the President and Congress.\u00a0 At least in the NFL, a struggling team takes more responsibility for the situation they\u2019re in.\u00a0 The President and … <\/p>\n