Shutdown averted; Triad fights for credit

I was in the military when the first shutdown of my lifetime happened in November of 1995. The shutdown happened the day before payday and many civilians struggled for a week while both sides bickered about which items they would negotiate with as little backlash for future votes as possible. 

The second shutdown happened in December of that same year and lasted almost a month. Needless to say, a lot of people suffered- but not the military! We were paid although I really wanted to see if the loudmouths in my division were really going to refuse to show up to work if we were not going to receive pay. I tried to remind them that we are not an autonomous organization and if we were asked to work without pay while pulling weeds naked with jockstraps on our heads then that is what we would have to do. 


Clinton was President and the GOP controlled both the House and the Senate, which is probably why the military continued to receive pay. I blame Gingrich and his asinine Contract with America for the delays.


The 2011 government shutdown was going to cost the military pay along with 800,000 government employees (plus National Parks, contractors and even delayed some tax refunds). Sounds pretty bad except that there were provisions for those same 800k workers to receive government assistance, i.e. unemployment. And not to worry if you are on welfare- your baby momma would continue to receive benefits. Only the military would be sucking hind tit.


Currently, the House is GOP controlled 241 - 193 while the Democrats hold the Senate at a 53 - 47 margin. Fact: 

No Democrat-Controlled Congress Has Balanced Federal Budget in 40 Years; No Republican President Has Balanced Federal Budget in 50 Years

That maddening quote is cited from the historical data published by the Office of Management and Budget.   Even more maddening were some of the issues that divided both party's. What irritated me the most about the whole impending shutdown was the minuscule amount of money in question. 


The total amount of money requested for the 2011 budget was $3.83 trillion. Interesting that the word trillion is thrown around these days with such reckless abandonment. Let me write that budget figure out longhand: $3,830,000,000,000. To put that in perspective, the average salary in the United States is only .0000000156657963% of the 2011 budget.

The total amount of budget cuts causing such a fuss was $33 billion (proposed by the Democrats)- a mere .099% of the total budget. Chump change really.


With as much procrastination Obama displayed at the initial Gulf oil spill intervention, he finally intervened with the budget crisis and demanded resolution. For this he accepts credit for the (momentary) government shutdown. The Democrats accept victory because they gave up more than they asked for, which is exactly why the GOP is claiming victory. 


In the end the American people were shafted again, whether they know it or not. The tea partiers showed how a little determination can foster a radical change in government occupancy. I have decided that I will not vote for whomever is in office right now. I am not hardcore R or D but rather float either just to the right or to the left of certain issues, but I do know that if you are on the Trickish Knave Shit List you will not receive my vote:


Commander in Chief: Obama (D, Kenyan)
V.P.:  Joe "the" Biden (D)


Senate:
Diane Feinstien  (D) 
Barbara Boxer  (D)
Seriously, these two need to go just on basic principle.


House:
Dan Lungren  (R)


This guy is looking better every day.