THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 29, 1995 TAG: 9511290006
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Regarding the recent federal-government shutdown: From what the news says, only ``nonessential'' services were shut down. What business does a government that is trillions of dollars in debt have providing anything but ``essential'' services anyway?
I understand that this shut down was both confusing and stressful for many, but it was not a total surprise. What if we planned it? What if every year for two weeks we had an organized pause in ``nonessential'' government operations?
If we assessed the system, we could actually define ``nonessential'' better. I know of some federal offices where the program managers were sent home but the guy who cleans the toilets was hard at work.
A planned government shutdown would save money if done properly. It would allow Congress and the president to do their political posturing, or have a food fight. It would give people a planned time to spend with their families, go to their time shares, do personal business or just relax. It would be a perfect time for the military services to have their sexual-harassment stand down, their drunk-on-the airplane stand down or whatever the stand down of the month is. The time could be allotted for contractors to do upgrades on federal facilities without interrupting the workers. It would give management a chance to catch up if needed.
The pause in operations has worked for other organizations. The baseball strike a few years back gave birth to the ``All-Star Break'' and a bye week in football gives injured players a chance to heal.
We might make a startling discovery in a two-week space without ``nonessential'' operations. We may find that our federal government is involved in things we really don't need or want. We may actually find that the shutdown of the federal system would be a relief.
KORT MILLER
Chesapeake, Nov. 15, 1995 by CNB