National park closure, anyone here been inconvenienced?

[clubhouse]

Originally Posted by tnchuck100

This condition should never be allowed to occur. Just because a group of inept, egotistical idiots cannot perform their job they should not possess the power to cripple our country. The closest to domestic disaster the country should face is congress losing their pay for failure to perform their duties. If it were within my power ALL of them, including Obama, would be fired immediately and replaced. The cost of running these shut down services (particularly the parks) is probably close to the loss of revenue.

I agree it is unfortunate the closure is effecting things like Nat'l Parks, Monuments, Recreational area, etc. I live very close to Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon NPs. The unintended consequence on local economies is significant.

However, I completely disagree with your statement "this condition should never be allowed to occur". This is exactly what is supposed to occur as designed by our founders and architects of our Republic. The founders never could have imagined the size our Federal Gov't has become, but that is where history has brought us and the shutdown is just another safety trigger to prevent tyranny and a massive power grabs. There is an absolute reason why "the power of the purse" resides in the House of Representatives. The makeup of the house is the most reflective of that of America's voting citizens...those who don't vote don't get to complain.

No matter your opinion of "Obmacare" that legislation is why we are here. That legislation was passed by a single party, which coincidentally lost several seats in the following election as a direct result of Obamacare. The Public has come to realize that although they may support a "healthcare overhaul" Obamacare has not delivered on its promises and now it's time to address that. If a shutdown, potential debt default, and the unintended consequences being discussed result in more effective healthcare legislation that actually delivers on the promises of Obmacare then IMO its worth it. Additionally if helps reign in our out of control spending, again it is worth it.

[troutslayer]

Look at the bright side...as long as it's gridlocked, there are no senseless regulations being enacted

[CruizinKim]

Originally Posted by tinlizzie23

Has anyone heard a Congressman or Senator advocating the idea of suspending their salaries until this is over ???? They live like royalty on our dime, constantly remind us of how "hard" they are working for us, and schedule "meetings" with constituents in the middle of a weekday when no working stiff can attend. Yet 99% of incumbents get re-elected. Somebody tell me why this is so ?????

Our local Republican Senator, Rob Portman, has voluntarily refused his salary during the shutdown. You may remember him as being a possible VP running mate to Romney and has worked under the Bush administration.

[SimeralKing]

Good for Senator Portman. One of my senators, Saxby Chambliss shut down his website (the other did not, nor did our Congressman)...like I couldn't find his senate email without it??? Gimme a break and you.are.fired. Amazingly...his website is again operational, yet it said "due to the government shutdown"..and hmmm it's still shutdown... oh whatever, I'm sure it wasn't my rant that did anything.

We have reservations at a COE campground starting Oct 25. Surely by then things will be back to "normal"? ...or maybe not. We'll just make other plans. Right now I'm planning on having a drink.

[Bob Landry]

If the government handles refunds the way they handle everything else, we should probably just consider our deposit a contribution to the national debt and move on.

[Bob Landry]

Originally Posted by clutch

So who is on duty to throw you out of the park if you are already paid up and checked in? Just curious, someone must still be working.

Supposedly, a group of visitors were detained at a lodge in Yellowstone for two days, under gestapo tactics courtesy of the NPS. This is the Internet, so we know how things develop, but if it turns out to be true, you can bet you won't see coverage of it on the Liberal controlled media. They are simply unwilling to give discredit where discredit is due. If this were a Republican administration, the lamestream media would have been on that 24/7 with hourly updates by Wolf Blitzer.

[Bob Landry]

Originally Posted by CruizinKim

Our local Republican Senator, Rob Portman, has voluntarily refused his salary during the shutdown. You may remember him as being a possible VP running mate to Romney and has worked under the Bush administration.

All of those people are millionaires made over. A few thousand dollars is irrelevant to them. For any of them to claim refusal of their salary in alliance with the American people is little more than a poor excuse for a dog & pony show.

[Iraqvet05]

Originally Posted by Bob Landry

All of those people are millionaires made over.

lol.... Missouri Senator Victor Callahan must be hiding his wealth pretty well. He rented an office in the small building where my wife works for years and still lives in the house his parents owned as a kid (I doubt the house is worth more than $150k). He would also take my wife's food out of the fridge but always payed her back. Nice guy but nowhere near a millionare. Missouri Senator William Krause is a captain in the national guard and used to be my commander in the Army Reserves....I can tell you he is no millionare either!

[Iraqvet05]

Those were bad examples. State reps make much less money than a US rep but I still find it hard to believe they are millionares.

[CruizinKim]

Originally Posted by Bob Landry

All of those people are millionaires made over. A few thousand dollars is irrelevant to them. For any of them to claim refusal of their salary in alliance with the American people is little more than a poor excuse for a dog & pony show.

You are probably right as many are already very wealthy. I was looking at the bright side of the gesture, though.

[SmokerBill]

I've been affected by the shutdown, but found a temporary workaround. On Monday I left WA state, heading south to Quartzsite, AZ. Tuesday I decided to go online and find out if the La Posa Long Term Visitor Areas were still open, since they ARE on federal BLM land. Well, they are closed, unless you had bought a permit before the shutdown.

Luckily there are four or five free camping areas nearby on BLM land that remain open, though there are no services provided. I'll have to go to town and pay if I want to empty my tanks. And also I can (technically) camp for two weeks, then must move to another spot at least 25 miles away. However, I doubt very much that any authority figure is monitoring the length of my stay. They are probably at home, watching TV and waiting for the shutdown to end.

[clutch]

Bill, there is a lot of BLM places to camp between Bouse and Hiway 95 on Plomosa Road. I see a lot of people out there that stay for a lot longer than two weeks. You can also camp on Shay road just out of Parker and on the North side of the hiway between Vidal Junction and Parker.

Let me know when and where you are and I will look you up.

Mike

[maromeo]

The Grand Canyon National Park is now open. The governor of AZ approved funding the park to keep it open.

[SmokerBill]

Hey Clutch, I'm at the Hi Jolly area just north of town right now. I'll probably be here for a while.

[clutch]

Bill, you have mail.

[Denise]

Little late to join this thread, but now that we are back in the US from our latest oversea's adventure I have time to post....

Unfortunately, we were visiting the Eastern Shore of VA during the final days of the shutdown. We had hoped to go up into the Assateague light house at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, but could only see it from a distance. Of course it's open now, but we are long away from that area now. Very pretty area and we enjoyed our visit never-the-less

[Crabman]

Originally Posted by Denise

Little late to join this thread, but now that we are back in the US from our latest oversea's adventure I have time to post....

Unfortunately, we were visiting the Eastern Shore of VA during the final days of the shutdown. We had hoped to go up into the Assateague light house at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, but could only see it from a distance. Of course it's open now, but we are long away from that area now. Very pretty area and we enjoyed our visit never-the-less

Those are great pictures that sum up the feelings of many on this issue, including mine. Hands in the air!

[Crabman]

Bumped up, relevant to new shutdown threat.

[wags999]

Originally Posted by Crabman

Bumped up, relevant to new shutdown threat.

Amazing how things never change...

[Crabman]

Originally Posted by wags999

Amazing how things never change...

I think post 56 sums up how most felt about the last shutdown. Those are friends of mine and that is just a few miles from here.