Another government shutdown, who would have guessed that would happen?

Once again, the U.S. government has shut down and I, like many of you, am sick of it. Unfortunately this comes as no surprise to any of us that follow politics. If you don’t agree just shut everything down, use scare mongering tactics and then miraculously come to a decision to reopen the government.

I am not going to blame one party over another, because I believe both parties are to blame and are using it as a bargaining tool.

I think the only way to stop this childish behavior is to make these lawmakers pay. I would suggest that they lose a month’s salary for every week the government is shut down and that money should go into a fund set up for veterans. Lawmakers should also not be allowed to leave their respective chambers until they reopen the government.

I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I think the government should be run like a business. If there is only so much money to spend, they need to put together a budget that reflects those limitations.

If they want to spend more than what they have, they need to figure out how to make money to cover those expenditures.

Furthermore, businesses can’t just shut down because the executives or board of directors can’t come up with a solution to a problem. The government should be no different.

The American people also need to let these public servants know that we are on to all their grandstanding and carping when they force a government shutdown. We are not stupid, we know that, if they wanted to, they would find a way to make sure a government shutdown never happens again.

Speaking of lawmakers not doing their jobs, because no farm bill was passed or extended in 2018, U.S. Department of Agriculture programs that fall under the farm bill are technically operating under the 1938 and 1949 permanent farm laws. Fortunately, there will be no issues until Jan. 1 because the farm bill covers fiscal years and crop years that extend beyond Sept. 30.

But farmers would not be in this situation had congress done its job, which is to pass a new farm bill every five years. The reason for this is because farming and ranching, like every business, changes every year, which should be reflected every time a new farm bill is written.

I don’t think it’s too much to ask for lawmakers to rewrite the farm bill every five years to protect farmers and ranchers, who don’t have the ability to name their price when it comes to selling most of what they produce.

Hopefully, as I write this on Friday, Oct. 2, our elected officials will have come to their senses and reopened the government.