The Born Again Republic

     Now that we have traversed day one of a partial shutdown of the federal government, with the United States Congress having seen fit to fund the essential functions of that government, the true nature of a representative and constitutional government is abundantly illuminated. That nature is defined and completed by the term "essential," because after all, those are the only functions the founders saw for the central government, whose power they severely limited in favor of giving that authority to the people and the states in which they resided. So this is not so much a government shutdown as it is a born again republic.
      I would like to see the 800,000 federal workers who were furloughed as a result of this born again republic, be permanently furloughed. Now before you accuse me of being heartless to the plight of those people losing their jobs, let me explain. The so-called "non-essential" functions of the federal government are those things which the government does that either restricts private sector growth or gives large swaths of power to unelected union bosses and bureaucrats. With the federal government restricted by a lack of funding, they would no longer be able to stick their greedy little fingers in every aspect of our lives, communities and businesses. Those 800,000 federal workers would have no problem finding work in the burgeoning private sector economy that would result.
     It may take some time for those federal workers and others to heal from their unhealthy dependence on big government and unbridled union influence, but in the long run, they and the nation would be healthier for it. They would have to learn to fend for themselves like the rest of us, e.g., pay for their own health care insurance, their own retirement accounts and work some holidays that they currently get paid for not working. And without those federal bureaucracies and their multi-billion dollar budgets, politicians would have to learn to live with much less control over the lives of individuals, businesses and the country as a whole. The crony capitalists would also have to conduct their business without favors from government largess created by the politicians who hand it out in exchange for campaign donations.
     Yesterday's spectacular failure of the online registration system for ObamaCare was illustrative of what results from government straying outside the bounds of the essential functions that the founders outlined for it almost 240 years ago. Even the national parks, which have become more and more off-limits to the very tax payers who support them, could be maintained and preserved by private sector organizations and donations. The born again republic, which is glimpsed by this partial shutdown of the federal government, would make the founders smile and the rest of us enjoy the kind of liberty that they intended for this great nation.