A government shutdown? Bring it on

Democrats are fighting Republicans over every single dollar in proposed spending cuts, says Larry Kudlow in National Review. But if the GOP truly wants to restore Washington's financial health, it has to "hang tough" and insist on a deal that slashes tens of billions from this year's federal budget, and imposes "a spending-limit rule with real teeth." If Democrats won't budge, "then why not shut down the government?" Sure, we'd have to deal with some inconveniences. But that's "a minuscule price to be paid for the greater good of financial solvency and economic growth." Here, an excerpt:

[N]o great harm will come from a shutdown. Social Security checks will be mailed. Other benefit payments will be met. Air-traffic controllers will do their jobs. Border protection and military operations will continue. Uniformed military personnel will be exempted. The Post Office will do its business uninterrupted. And incoming revenues can be designated for interest payment on the debt.

Doesn't sound that bad to me. It sure isn't the end of the world....

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Of course, in the event of a shutdown, the political blame-game will run full hog, like it did during the mid-1990s. But the public mood today is far more hostile to big-government overspending, borrowing, and taxing than it was in 1995. Most important, taxpayers will benefit from a shutdown. That's the key point. And voters will reward leadership.

Read the full article at National Review.