Watch out! Political rant on the horizon

For the past few nights, the news has been saturated with stories about the pending government shut down. I'm going to venture out on a limb and say most of us do not want the government to shut down. Besides the services we'd lose and the people who wouldn't be getting paid, it can't look good to the international community. All around a bad idea.

My first thought is to do an all around budget cut. Using teeny tiny numbers for an example if our expenses are $100 and we only have $98, then just cut 2% of everything. Done.

But maybe that wouldn't work. Maybe there is a segment or two of our government that just cannot have 2% of its budget cut. (I kinda don't really believe this but I suppose it could be the case.)

So let's cut 2% of everything that is nonessential. But now you have the can of worms about what is essential v. nonessential. I have some ideas of what those nonessential items are (as in 99% of the budget) but I won't go into that here.

What I'm saying is I don't really have a solution, not one that is truly actionable for Congress at least.

What I do have is one serious objection.

Paying yourself (Congress, Mr. President) while you figure it out, or in this case fail to figure it out, but not paying the other federal employees who are doing their jobs just fine, is not OK. Most especially it is not OK to withhold pay from military personnel.

I know and agree that Congress and the Pres have big important jobs. I have no objections to their annual salaries (really, I honestly do not). But come on! Military personnel who are in danger are expected to keep being in danger for zero compensation? Meanwhile their families back home are putting the mortgage on a credit card while Mr. Fancy Pants Congressman figures out the budget?

In what world does the guy failing at his job get paid while the guy doing his job get to work unpaid?

I doubt there will be much of it but I whole-heartedly hope that Congressmen and the President will either not accept their salaries during a government shut down or will prompt donate the whole darn check to charity.

Or maybe they'll just figure out the budget in time to not have a government shut down. I sure hope so because the alternative, specifically the who will get paid and who will not, is a travesty.