It seems as though the federal government is still operating. For now. The president-elect and vice president-elect are getting the Presidential Briefings. We notice the mail is still running. But these days, nothing can be taken for granted. Which is why so many Americans still look to the papers every day to make sure the behemoth is still there, paying some of them, protecting all of them, feeding the needy, etc.
You'd think that funding the United States government would be a given. And it was for the longest. Some of us are old enough to remember the brief government shutdowns in the 1970s. Most of us remember when a president named Bill Clinton expertly used shutdowns to his political advantage. But the things--rare in the past--are now used as cudgels when one party thinks it can get an advantage. Shutdowns are at least threatened every year, if they're not actually used. More's the pity.
The papers say the lame-duck session of Congress, in which some members are on their way out, might tackle things like covid relief and defense spending. There's partisan talk of appointing more judges. But the thing Congress must do is fund the government. Another temporary funding bill expires on Dec. 11. The AP reports: "At a bare minimum, lawmakers need to keep the government running by passing a stopgap spending bill known as a continuing resolution, which would put $1.4 trillion worth of unfinished spending into next year."
Imagine that. One-point-four trillion for a temporary fix. Fiscal restraint, where have you gone?
Perhaps the only thing worse than continuing to spend our children's inheritance--or perhaps their college fund--is for the federal government to default on its debts. That is, for the United States to become a deadbeat borrower. That cannot happen. The consequences would make the financial crises of 2008 and 2020 look mild.
Some folks might think that shutting down the government might actually save money. Believe it or not, that doesn't happen. Politico explains why:
"Furloughed workers almost always get paid retroactively for the time they were out--which means taxpayers are laying out money without getting any work in return. Museums and national parks can't collect fees and revenues from other sources like gift shops. Perhaps most importantly, federal workers spend thousands of cumulative work hours preparing for the event and recovering from it, literally shutting down their systems and then restarting them once the government reopens--paid work that is utterly unnecessary to the normal business of running the country, and sucks time away from safety inspections, or reviewing research grants, or whatever their actual responsibilities are."
In other words, when Washington politicians play chicken with our nation's funding, there's no way the American people come out as winners.
So while building another Navy ship or approving another judge are important matters, first things first, y'all. Even now, even during a transition, even in a political climate such as this, there are some things that government must do. There is no other option.