U.S. federal government "shuts down"

[guitarfool2002]

I want to relate a story that just developed locally over the weekend, starting Friday morning with a chance phone call by a local representative to a radio show that turned into something far greater. And with far greater implications, but I'll leave that to everyone's own opinion of what happened.

Unfortunately, I doubt this will break nationally, though I could be wrong. Even in the local media reports, there are inaccuracies and incorrect facts, and I just happened to be listening Friday when it happened in real time.

I say that because it goes against several points of the "narrative" that's being promoted in the national media. Again, take it for what it's worth if you're taking sides.

There is a Philadelphia restaurant called the "City Tavern". It's been run as a theme restaurant of sorts, based around it's history dating back to the colonial times in the 1700's when the area taverns were a meeting place and watering hole for historical figures like Ben Franklin. Also, when Philadelphia and Boston were the epicenters of colonial activity during Revolutionary times.

The City Tavern serves food and drink with a historical theme anchoring the whole experience, from the menu to the type of dinnerware and the atmosphere of the restaurant itself. It's one of those "time machine" type of things that people not only go to for a dinner or drink but also book large parties and functions to get that historical experience.

The City Tavern is privately owned, and employs roughly 80 workers, again all private employees, not government workers. It also is located in what is considered a "historical district", what is zoned as such, and therefore the ownership of this restaurant includes being classified as a lease of the property rather than owning the building, because the historical site cannot be purchased under many laws and codes. If you want to open a business, you can be classified as a "vendor", and pay the lease, but you as the business owner are responsible for operating that business and paying your workers, as well as maintaining everything inside that business. But, again falling on what is zoned as a historical site, you cannot own the site.

That's the background.

There was a similar "shutdown" in the 90's, when Clinton was President and Gingrich the Speaker. The City Tavern was not shut down. Why would it be? The employees are private, the business is privately owned, there is no government employee working in the business and the business is not run by or staffed by the government. The payroll and budget is met by a private owner.

Yet in 2013, the business was ordered closed due to the shutdown. It's a historical area, which is being shut down, therefore the business must shut down as well. The owner who is also the chef appealed to the mayor, various politicians, Washington DC itself...no effect. Sorry, you're closed due to the shutdown. This left his business having to cancel bookings and reservations which he listed as costing in or near the 6-figure range in losses, as well as having 80 employees who depended on both salary and tips out of work.

Fast forward to last Friday. A Philly congressman named Bob Brady called into a radio show Friday morning to talk shop and clarify a few issues he had heard on the station. Totally unsolicited, he was not a scheduled guest who had been booked ahead of time. That conversation ended, and in on odd stroke of coincidence, the owner/chef of the City Tavern was booked in the hour after Rep. Brady's call. The owner told his story, full of detail and information that would not have been published or reported in the media, including exact figures on lost bookings and out-of-work employees who he was trying to keep in daily contact with during the closure.

The owner also said that his questions and pleas to various government officials and departments were met with either no response, or a basic sentiment of "tough luck", it's a government shutdown.

Yet, remember, the restaurant is not run by the government, and the employees are not government workers. AND, they stayed open during the last shutdown in the 90's for those reasons.

So the host has an idea - it seemed to hit him during the conversation - Has rep. Brady been contacted about this? He just called in, let's try to arrange something with him, see if he can help.

Brief background: Rep. Bob Brady is a democrat representing districts in Philadelphia. He's known as being one of the better bargainers and negotiators in the area, as well as having considerable "pull" in the area and in DC when it comes to certain budget and funding issues. Most often, he is one of the go-to men who is called in when a union negotiation seems to be at a stalemate. Union reps trust him, and he has a unique way of being able to bargain things out and come to a deal in the end.

He also has a reputation for being there for his people. He's always at events in the Philly neighborhoods, and he's not wearing a three-piece suit and tie. He's considered "one of the guys" in his areas, and he does seem to get things done for his people. That is a hard reputation to earn in Philly, and surrounding areas, because like many areas we're littered with a bunch of phonies and empty suits...whose only direct contact with their constituents is at town-hall forums held at senior centers on weekday mornings when most of the people are at work.

So Brady and the owner of City Tavern are put in touch - Brady had not heard of the Tavern's issue until he was told about it through the radio show.

Rep. Brady then proceeds to navigate the federal government network to get some results.

Unlike the owner/chef, or any of us, he knows who to call. And when he doesn't get a good answer, he knows who to call next. And he has a way of cutting through the bullshit to get results.

Sure enough, his complaints and questions go to the Interior Department, who oversees the various historical sites and parks, right to the Secretary Of The Interior. Brady in his usual style says something like "I talked to some people", and eventually got to the top of the chain, where he says his comments included reminding those people who funds them in Congress...again, recall Brady sits on several of these committees that fund these things.

Guess what? The Department of The Interior "allowed" City Tavern to reopen, this weekend. The chef said he barely had time to get ready, he went with no sleep as he and his staff got all the workers scheduled, went to his food distributors and markets to stock the place for a service, and he was back serving meals.

So, let's take a look at this. And draw your conclusions as you see fit.

Rep. Brady used his political pull to get in touch with the Interior Department. They, through the cabinet-level position of the Secretary Of The Interior's office who Brady spoke with, ordered that the City Tavern be "allowed" to open, as it had been in the 90's during that shutdown.

Makes sense - the Tavern employees and business is privately run, there are no government workers involved in running the restaurant. Why should they be shut down? And under whose authority?

If the Secretary Of The Interior - a cabinet level appointment - and the Department of The Interior have the authority to order a reopening of the Tavern, they also made the call to order it closed. Seemingly for reasons different than existed in the 90's.

Right?

What were those reasons in 2013? We know who made the call, if it were the GOP-led Congress holding the cards and making the calls, why didn't Rep Brady contact them to reopen it?

The decision to close the private business down came from the Interior Department. Whose leadership is a cabinet level appointment made by the president.

Add it up, and after all of that, ask why would the Interior order a business like City Tavern to close? And why did it take Rep. Bob Brady to get a result or even get the attention of those who ordered it closed in the first place?

[Bean Bag]

John McCain: The Last Republican?

 Bean Bag-

 What is wrong with you? Yes, the polls show there are no heroes in this, including Obama,  but they just as surely show the GOP is taking a far greater hit. If Obama caves to the demands of the Pee Party, as the GOP at large seems to have done, a dangerous precedent will have been set.

Oh goodie.  And just what is a "dangerous precedent" exactly?  Enlighten


Cuz, you know... in no way would ANYONE accuse the danglin' terd of a totally fascist healthcare system takeover is in anyway "a dangerous precedent."



"Tea Party setting a dangerous precedent"    That's funny.  I'm cryin...  



Sorry for being so indignant about all this.  I know you guys think I'm over-the-breakfast table about this stuff.  But... "oh goodie."  I'm saying that because I'm delighted to have the health care industry in the hands of people I don't think know anything about the health care industry.  Oh... and that just paid 640 MILLION DOLLARS for a website that doesn't work!!  



Yeah.

[Moon Dawg]

  Dangerous precedent  "Majority rule" has always been the way of these things. If a small minority is allowed to hold the govt hostage in order to overturn a law that has been upheld by the Supreme Court, THAT would be a dangerous precedent. 

[guitarfool2002]

  Dangerous precedent  "Majority rule" has always been the way of these things. If a small minority is allowed to hold the govt hostage in order to overturn a law that has been upheld by the Supreme Court, THAT would be a dangerous precedent. 

What about the precedent of closing a business like the City Tavern in the example I posted, when there were 80 private workers, none of them government workers, effectively locked out of their own privately-owned business by what appears to have been an order from the Department Of The Interior? There was no precedent for this - it set what is also a dangerous precedent in a way - especially considering the business remained open during the previous shutdown when the historical sites around it were closed.

If a cabinet-level government agency can close a business for no reason other than what would seem to be an attempt to call attention to the effects of this shutdown, what else can they shut down with no reason, or precedent?

Speaking of precedent with the Affordable Care Act, what precedent was set when the "settled law" of health care has been changed or amended a handful of times by the authority of the president without a congressional vote, or any other procedural methods?

I'd argue one president deciding to change a law and not following the standard procedure nor that which is allowed in the Constitution or structure of the government is setting a dangerous precedent.

Don't like something in a law that has been passed, signed, and approved by the Supreme Court? Change it! Just go ahead, change it to suit your needs. The law says large businesses need to comply by a certain date, the president decides that date isn't necessary, amend the law and extend the compliance deadline for a year, no voting necessary.

Sounds like a precedent to me.

[Bean Bag]

That's right -- we haven't really talked much about how the President AMENDS the law on the fly.  A law that Moon Dawg and the robed strangers on the Supreme Cert have deemed Constitutional and therefore infallible.  The Prez is doing this.  Changing the law on the fly.  Anyone angry about Ted Cruz ... care to man-up and respond to this??  Hmm?

dangerous precedent?  No... it's a liberal demorat.  Nothing they do is dangerous.  And I'm not implying that anyone on here doesn't think it's dangerous... I'm speaking of our media/pop culture... which only see Ted Cruz as "holding hostage" the nation.  All while the Prez and the "Rats" pass a law against the will of the people and then use that as a blank check to do whatever they see fit.



But Ted Cruz is dangerous.  Right.  Ted Cruz.  Who, I might add, isn't doing a damn thing "unconstitutional."  In fact.. he's the only one doing his Constitutional job.  Representing the views of his people, as he should.  And using his position to speak about it.  And using the House as ... oh, what's it called? 

CHECKS AND BALANCES.  The gov't (Prez, Senate, SCOTUS) have all agreed to enforce the gov't on it's people.  And the House (a small minority) is using its constitutional authority to save the poeple from a runaway Prez, Senate and SCOTUS.
 

[Moon Dawg]

  I never said Obamacare was infallible. Neither did the Supreme Court. What I said, basically, is that shutting down the government when you don't get your way is bad news. Good or bad, glad or sad, Obama won this battle.

[Bean Bag]

What's bad for the country is good for Obama.  He didn't get his way, so he shut the gov't down.  And as you say, he "won."  What did he win?  More importantly, what did we lose?

[guitarfool2002]

Anyone else see the irony in yet another change being made to the Affordable Care Act this week, coming from the White House, with no vote, no resolution, no debate, no negotiation...just a change ordered from the White House.

Now the "deadline" has been extended again on the individual mandate to carry individual health insurance.

Let me understand this: So many people from John McCain to Harry Reid and the rest of the peanut gallery said "this is settled law, it musn't be changed!"

"Settled law", is it? Mustn't be changed? Supreme Court ruled on it, all of that, we can't extend it because it's "settled law"?

Yet it gets extended and changed again without any of the procedures in place to amend any law, by the order of the executive branch of the government, disregarding the notion of settled law.

Gotta love politics. 

[Bean Bag]

The "deadline extension."   

This is Demorat Jeanne Shaheen.  New Hampshire.  Just one of the turds up for reelection, and is hoping she can get an extension, so we forget about our pending doom, that her party rammed up our collective shoots.



Thanks Jeanne.  Of course, we all know... this extension is not for us.  It does nothing for the people.  Responsible people have to plan ahead.  Companies are still going to plan for the inevitable.  People's hours still get cut.  People still won't get hired.  Insurance plans are still going to continue down the price-hike turnpike.  People are still going to be dropped from their freakin' plans.

This does NOTHING.  It's for Jeanne.