Politics of the shutdown evident in actions of Obama administration

Frontiers of Freedom

11 years ago

For furloughed workers, the federal government shutdown has clearly had an impact. But for most citizens, the shutdown has been notable for largely going unnoticed. That’s not because federal officials aren’t doing their best to make it appear otherwise. In fact, federal officials often seem to be working harder to inconvenience Americans during the shutdown than they worked to serve Americans when the government was in full operation.

The hassle factor has been most notable at national parks, including open-air monuments honoring veterans that are typically accessible 24 hours a day. Government officials have erected barricades and stationed guards. How is the government spending less money on those efforts than what would occur if visitors were simply allowed to walk up to the monuments.

Yet at the same time, the Park Service allowed an immigration reform rally on the National Mall — attended by several House Democrats — even though the mall was supposedly closed by the shutdown.

The Defense Department stopped $100,000 payouts to fallen troops’ families, insisting that a recent bill funding military payments didn’t authorize the payouts. This outraged countless citizens. The benefits are usually paid within days of a death.

The Justice Department gained notoriety for taking down its AmberAlert.gov website before reversing course after public outcry. Those actions didn’t prevent issuance of Amber Alerts, but how does leaving a website in place represent an unaffordable expense during the shutdown? A spokesman said preserving the site without a government worker to maintain or supervise it represented a “cyber-security risk.” So why did the agency put the site back up?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture isn’t providing data on sales reports from livestock auctions, including those in Oklahoma, that are used to set prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Those reports normally provide information on supply and demand, exports and prices. In addition, all USDA websites with past informationon livestock sales were taken down. Once again, it appears federal officials are actively trying to artificially create problems. Not generating new reports during a shutdown makes sense; removing old reports from websites serves no purpose and requires paying people to take them down. Is the federal government spending money to notspend money?

CNSNews.com reports that The Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health suspended a dog therapy program where volunteers take dogs to visit hospital patients, including children with cancer. The NIH justified that action because the dogs must first be evaluated by federally funded veterinarians.

The White House website greets visitors with a message decrying “Congress’s failure to pass legislation to fund the government,” and warns the website “may not be up to date” and that inquiries may go unanswered. But the White House Twitter feed remains prominently featured. Tuesday morning, it declared, “See what the President told @SpeakerBoehner earlier today.” Apparently, spreading partisan messages was deemed an “essential” government function even as front-line workers were furloughed.

As these random cuts occur, dubious spending continues apace. CNSNews.com reports the Army purchased a mechanical bull for $47,174 on Oct. 7.

President Barack Obama accuses Republicans of taking “hostages” in the budget fight. However, that description appears to better fit the executive branch Obama heads, which keeps imposing cuts driven by apparent spite, not serious fiscal management.

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This op-ed article was written by the editorial board of the Oklahoman.