Back in Us

Back in the U.S., back in the U.S., back in the U.S.S.R.

Well, that was an effort in futility.

The right wing of the Republican Party was successful in taking the country hostage for 16 days and then freed the victims after receiving a ransom of nothing — zero, zilch, nada.

All they managed to do was waste a lot of time, create animosity and make a lot of folks anxious about the future. Instead of cutting government waste, they created more.

The GOP's goals were admirable — defund Obamacare, cut government spending, pare back entitlements. We're $16.7 trillion in debt, for Pete's sake. There are no coupons or 0-percent refinancing offers.

The Democrats would have none of it. They like using our tax dollars to buy the votes of those living off the government. They dared the GOP to default on our massive debt.

Instead, the Republicans merely kicked the debt-ceiling-Obamacare can down the road while kicking themselves in the backside. They bluffed. They went all in. They blinked. They folded.

What are conservatives to do?

It's going to happen again in a few months when our government hits the debt ceiling again and even more money we don't have is needed to keep our debtors happy with a AAA rating. After all, our debt is the most reliable investment in the world.

The 16-day shutdown of the federal government ended up achieving nothing except spending even more millions that we don't have on a few pet projects.

It's insanity, and our elected leaders refuse to do anything about it.

At least when the government was shut down, the printing presses at the Federal Reserve were idled. Now we find out they'll have to work overtime to catch up with printing more money to send out checks to government employees who essentially got a 16-day paid vacation.

Why would anyone pay people not to work? Oh, that's right, our government does it every day for millions of Americans who have no desire to work.

It used to be a disgrace for an able-bodied person to live off the...