MCViewPoint

“because most of the government employees out because of the shutdown don’t come close to doing anything the public needs. It took a long time to figure out what to shut down to harass the public. Finally, someone hit on the TSA–which technically is security theatre and not what the public “needs” but, hey, it is the law that we are required to participate”

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2019/01/washington-monument-syndrome-is-in-play.html

Drudge is featuring a story on the explosion of no-show airport security screeners as the shutdown continues.

This is his top above-the-fold headline:

The game is this: Whenever a politician is “threatened” with a minor slowdown in spending, the first thing to do is to eliminate police, firefighters, ambulance services, school buses, etc. — everything that inflicts the maximum discomfort on the victims of the government monopoly (a.k.a., taxpayers). The booboisie then wake up from their American Idol stupor for a moment to raise a fuss, and the proposals to slow down spending growth disappear. (It’s called the “Washington Monument Syndrome” because the head of the National Park Service shut down the Washington Monument in the ’60s in response to Congress’s temporary refusal to fund his complete spending wish list. Tourists from every state complained to their congressmen, and the Park Service wish list was fully funded).

My working theory is that it took government operatives so long to put the Washington Monument Syndrome into play (We are 24 days into the shutdown) because most of the government employees out because of the shutdown don’t come close to doing anything the public needs. It took a long time to figure out what to shut down to harass the public. Finally, someone hit on the TSA–which technically is security theatre and not what the public “needs” but, hey, it is the law that we are required to participate.

–RW 

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