Shutdown Highlights Basic Fact: Most of Govt is "Non-Essential"
I've got a column up at Time.com about the true reveal of the government shutdown. They titled it "Shutdown Highlights Basic Fact: Most of Govt is 'Non-Essential'" and here's a snippet:
After learning that 95 percent of Department of Education employees were deemed "non-essential" during the government shutdown and furloughed, I'm still wondering: Is that all?…
The shutdown may have started over a hare-brained attempt by Tea Party darling Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to delay and/or defund President Obama's signature health-care reform (it is sure to fail because Obamacare's implementation is not contingent on passing a federal spending plan).
Nevertheless, the shutdown provides the country with a perfect moment to ask why a federal government whose spending habits are an insult to drunken sailors everywhere is paying above-market compensation to hundreds of thousands of "non-essential" workers.
I conclude that voters need to really furlough the ultimate non-essential federal employees: our elected officials.
