Well, here it is...the morning after "the shutdown". Our 'colleagues' on the other side of the aisle have decided that what is best for the country is to try to hold us hostage, send out ransom demands that they know no one with a sane mind will agree to, and the sit back and watch the ensuing fireworks.
The problem with this scenario is that while they continue to get paid, and receive benefits, folks that require needed government services begin to suffer.
Our famously 'do more of nothing' House Republicans have thrown their wild temper tantrum, taken their ball out of the sandbox, and now refuse to play with the other kids because they think they aren't playing by the rules...their rules.
The consequences of those actions follow below the fold.
I woke up this morning to the sound of screaming kids, as I do most mornings.
Running through the house, playing with the new cat. who is trying desperately to get away from them and find a nice, quiet, safe place to hide and get adjusted to life in a new house.
In the kitchen, I hear my 83 year old father in law making his breakfast, again, as he does every morning. For him, it's a routine that he follows without deviation.
As I go in to fix the morning pot of coffee (Oh, Grand and Glorious Caffeine rush) that I so desperately need to wake up, he walks over to the fridge and pulls of his grocery list from the side and starts staring at.
I ask him, "trying to figure out what you need to get?". No response.
"Dad?"
He looks up at me and says. "I can't go - Commissary is shut down. They made and announcement yesterday over the PA that if the government shut down, they would be closing their doors until they got it fixed."
For a man his age, my father i law is a pretty sharp-minded dude; still independent, drives himself where he needs to go, and manages his own accounts. He's ex-Air Force security, and to me he's tough as nails. But this one's really got him worried.
"I'm fine on food right now," he says, "but we've only got about a week's worth left in the house. After that', I don't know what we're going to do." A look at the accounts reveals why. His AF pension check arrived on time, as did another check that he receives regularly. His SS electronic deposit, however, is not there - a victim of the shutdown. At least for now.
I usually don't worry for the man - he can take care of himself. But this situation has both me and my fiancee worried as well. The GOP is playing games with the lives of the American people.
This needs to stop...now. There's more at stake here than just the Tea Party getting their way like the spoiled child that doesn't get it's way. There are lives at stake. And if they can't remember that, or don't want to remember that, there are ways that we can remind them.
Elections have consequences, and so do actions. Or, in the case of the GOP, inaction.