A random act of journalism…I hope the writer, Nancy Benac, is prepared for the typical despicable discourse liberals will throw her way
(WRAL) The lingering federal shutdown is transforming a musty debate over the role of government in America into a coast-to-coast, prime-time reality show.
With landmarks closed, paychecks delayed and workers furloughed, Americans are drawing dueling lessons from the rippling effects of the partial shutdown: The disruptions show that the feds are way too involved in people’s lives or that the government does a lot of vital things that people take for granted.
There’s a messaging war underway to see which viewpoint will prevail. But any shift in public opinion also may well hinge on how much, or how little, people are personally affected as the shutdown drags on.
And that last part is the crux of the matter: so many people say the federal government is too big, does too much (something I mentioned Monday), but only as it effects Other People. The trillion-armed octopus known as the federal government has its tentacles in so many things that any cutbacks or changes effects quite a few Americans. We see state programs that are funded by Los Federales. Home mortgages. Student loans. Inspections of this and that. This program, that program. Things that should be done at the state, county, or local level receive federal backing. A federal shutdown should have a minimal impact on the lives of Americans. Yet, we see these sob stories left and right.
Republican analyst Rich Galen said people who started out disliking the federal government are likely to look at the shutdown’s effects and say, “See, the world is still spinning on its axis, even with these shutdowns and those 800,000 people furloughed. Apparently we don’t need them. They’re not critical.”
But Galen added that every type of government spending “has a champion, and these are services that we are demanding.”
“When it’s your house that’s underwater or your house that got blown over by a tornado, boy, do you want FEMA there,” referring to the federal disaster relief agency.
Bingo. Why is FEMA providing money to rebuild? If yours or my home burned down because of a lightning strike, would the feds give us money? No. We’d have to use our insurance. This goes to so many things. Where does it end?
