Thread: Contradictions abound in federal shutdown policy

Contradictions abound in federal shutdown policy

By Eric Boehm / October 15, 2013 / No Comments





Part 43 of 46 in the series Shutdown 2013

SHOW US THE MONEY: Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer holds a check that will help keep open the Grand Canyon National Park.


By Eric Boehm | Watchdog.org
They’re from the government and they don’t want your help.
Except, sometimes, when the do.
One of the more interesting, though relatively inconsequential, aspects of the government shutdown has been the inconsistent policy from the federal government when it comes to accepting assistance from states and private donors who want to spend their own cash to keep certain things running during the shutdown.
As Watchdog.org reported last week, at least two states have been prevented from using a combination of state and private funds to reopen national parks closed after the federal government shutdown on October 1.
But the federal government has accepted funds from a private donor keep a different program running.
Head Start, a federally subsidized preschool program for 3- and 4-year-olds that is run by the Department of Health and Human Services, was partially closed by the federal shutdown. Seven programs in six states — Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina — were closed, affecting about 7,000 kids.
But then, two heroes emerged.
John and Laura Arnold, philanthropist billionaires from Texas, announced last week they would spend $10 million to keep those Head Start programs running until the end of the month.
The private donations were praised by the government and by groups that support Head Start.
“The Arnolds’ most generous act epitomizes what it means to be an angel investor; they have selflessly stepped up for Head Start children to ensure their path toward kindergarten readiness is not interrupted by the inability of government to get the nation’s fiscal house in order,” said Yasmina Vinci, executive director of the National Head Start Association.
The shutdown only affected states with programs that received a grant on Oct. 1, but if the shutdown rolls into November almost all other states will also see their Head Start programs’ subsidies cease, affecting an estimated 86,000 children.
Joy Pullman, an education policy analyst at the Heartland Institute, a free-market think tank based in Chicago, said it’s just more inconsistencies on education policy from the Obama administration.
“It’s not kind to families to cut it in the middle of the year, but really that program should be phased out because taxpayers are not getting a return on their investment for that program,” she said.
Since 1965, taxpayers have spent $180 billion on Head Start — more than 1,000 times the amount of the Arnolds’ gift. Despite all that cash, a 2012 HHS audit found little to no long-term benefits to children who went through the program.
But if the Arnolds want to spend their own money on supporting Head Start for a few weeks, it’s nice of the government to let them. Other offers of assistance have not been so well received — even to the point of stubbornness.
Those national parks — The Grand Canyon in Arizona and Mount Rushmore in South Dakota — bring enough tourists to their respective states to count as major economic drivers.
“We cannot afford to turn away this kind of revenue,” wrote Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer in a letter to the National Parks Service, offering state dollars to keep the park open to tourists. “To do so will unnecessarily devastate the employment of thousands of Arizonans who depend on the Grand Canyon – especially when there is a common sense alternative.”
On Saturday, the town of Tusayan, Ariz., presented Brewer with a check for $426,500 as a partial payment to open the park.
Nationally, the closure of the national parks is costing $76 million per day, according to an assessment of the parks’ economic value to local communities done by the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees.
And even on an individual scale, offers of help have been rudely turned aside.
Chris Cox, a South Carolinian who took it upon himself to mow the lawn on the National Mall, was ordered to cease and desist by law enforcement in the nation’s capital.
The whole thing seems wildly inconsistent. It’s great that private donations have been able to fill a gap in government services during the shutdown — whether you think those services should be provided by the government in the first place, or not — so why can’t states and private donors do the same with the national parks? Florida Gov. Rick Scott declined to use state money to reopen the three national parks in the Sunshine State.
The Department of Health and Human Services did not return calls for comment. Neither did the National Park Service.
So if you’re playing along at home, here’s how it seems to work: offer to mow the grass in front of the Lincoln Memorial, get threatened with arrest.
Offer to spend $10 million to keep 7,000 in a federal day care program, get hailed as a hero.

Part of 46 in the series Shutdown 2013

• Shutdown plan: Virginia will carry federally funded state workers until Oct. 4
• OKC National Memorial and Museum will stay open regardless of federal shutdown
• TN rep equates looming government shutdown with hostage crisis
• Government shutdown won’t shut down NSA spying
• 7 myths about a federal government shutdown
• Obamacare goes full-speed ahead as military pay enters uncharted waters
• Shutdown sparks New Jersey confusion about Obamacare
• Biggest education impact from shutdown? Furloughed bureaucrats
• Federal shutdown could furlough 57,000 Virginians
• ‘Business as usual’ for PA state government as feds prepare for shutdown
• Union plans rally as MN braces for federal shutdown
• Only government you don’t know about could go away in Illinois
• Shutdown? NM seems OK on the state level, but federal workers will feel the pinch
• WI congressional delegation soldiers on in Obamacare-shutdown battle
• Shutdown? What shutdown? States will carry on despite impasse in Washington
• McAuliffe tries to ride shutdown to victory in November
• NM delegation on gov’t shutdown: It’s the other side’s fault
• Panda Cam goes dark as government shutdown cripples cute
• U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin: I’m shutting down, too
• Missouri’s Wagner declines congressional pay during shutdown
• GIs take first battle of government shutdown
• The horror: Shutdown delays pro-Obamacare video contest
• Obamacare device tax ‘devastating’ to TN manufacturers
• Did The New Republic call for Obama to dissolve Congress?
• 4 reasons to cross the Potomac during the shutdown
• Are furloughed park employees trying to pick a fight on Facebook?
• Shutdown is ‘boom time’ for political fundraising
• Sorry Yogi: Reid calls move to open parks a ‘wacky idea’
• World War II vets 90, government shutdown 0
• Shutdown shouldn’t alter NM oil and gas bottom line
• FL tourism industry is magic, shutdown or not
• Fed shutdown leaves Americans stranded abroad
• GOP’s Johanns: People mad, feel ‘duped’ into believing government shutdown would stop ObamaCare
• Government shutdown brings relief to Main Street
• Chris Matthews’ weak grasp of government shutdown history
• U.S. senator turns total shutdown into partial shutdown
• Fed shutdown grounds plan to airdrop possibly harmful substance on TN land
• Ohio vets ready to storm World War II Memorial
• Some states battling with feds to keep parks, landmarks open during shutdown
• Federal tourist blockades called ‘vindictive’ in Virginia
• Veterans’ day: Ohio vets conquer World War II Memorial during government shutdown
• E-Verify: Is Obama happy to see right-to-work database go?
• Two battlefields raise the question: Who maintains Civil War sites?
• Contradictions abound in federal shutdown policy
• Park Service losing $76 million a day in shutdown
• Nebraska federal judge tells Congress to ‘go to hell’

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http://watchdog.org/110735/contradic...policy-abound/

Outrageous
Inmates Being Paid During Shutdown But Federal Prison Guards Aren't?!

Prisoners paid, but not the guards?



by Fox News Insider // Oct 14 2013 // 2:14pm As seen on America's News Headquarters


Guards at federal prisons are not being paid during the government shutdown, but still have to show up to work, while inmates continue to receive checks for the work they do at the facility.

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"There's different funding for inmate pay, and that has been funded," explained Michele Kunkel, President of the Government Employees Union Local 4040. Both Kunkel and her husband are employed at the prison in Yankton, S.D.

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Kunkel says she "certainly hopes" they will receive back pay for the time that they did not receive checks during the shutdown.



video at link below


http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/10/14/inmates-being-paid-federal-prisons-during-shutdown

High School Principal Cancels Pledge of Allegiance Citing Gov’t Shutdown — and Now He Could Be in Big Trouble

Oct. 15, 2013 11:54am Oliver Darcy


A Nebraska high school principal may face disciplinary action after he cited the government shutdown as the reason for canceling the daily pledge of allegiance one day last week.
Alliance High School principal Patrick Jones. (Image Source: KNEB.com)


District superintendent Troy Unzicker told TheBlaze his office is investigating the incident and considering taking disciplinary action against Alliance High School principal Patrick Jones for his actions last Monday.
“Yes,” Unzicker said, when asked if he is looking into reprimanding Jones. “It has to be considered.”
Unzicker, himself a veteran, added that it is school policy to recite the pledge each day and expects his staff to carry out their duties.
“We have board policy that says we will lead students in the pledge each day and we will be doing that,” he said.
Jones declined comment to TheBlaze on Tuesday and his office referred all calls to Unzicker.
According to Unzicker, Jones said his actions were aimed at inspiring conversation among the roughly 500 students in the school.

The district superintendent added that he has received some complaints from parents over last week’s cancellation.
Featured image courtesy of Shutterstock.com.
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Follow Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) on Twitter




http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/15/high-school-principal-cancels-pledge-of-allegiance-citing-govt-shutdown-and-now-he-could-be-in-big-trouble/