For working Americans, the government closed in 1981.

[Democrats_win]

The government stopped enforcing anti-trust laws, they stopped protecting the rights of workers to unionize, and they stopped enforcing the fairness doctrine on our airwaves. The government scaled back enforcement of safety rules and they began looking the other way as wall street fraudsters and banksters began their crime spree. Worse, government regulators became captive to the industries they were supposed to regulate because of the funding schemes that were put in place. Oh, and let's not forget that the government no longer enforces usury laws which allows our bailed-out bankers to loan shark us to death.

So excuse me if I don't get excited about this government "shutdown," because it was shutdown 30 years ago! The GOP does understand this one important idea about the shutdown: no one will notice because the government no longer helps Americans.

[SDjack]

1. EPA was transformed to the "Environmental Polluters' Agency" nt

[Hydra]

2. Sad but true

They opened an all night window for the 1% though.

[PowerToThePeople]

3. The used a RayGun on the US Citizen. n/t

[truebluegreen]

4. +100

I think this

"... no one will notice because the government no longer helps Americans. "

is exactly why they hate the ACA so much, and are fighting to prevent it from going into effect. If it is as big a disaster and as unpopular as they say, why not wait, let that be demonstrated and then repeal it? But if it shows that the government can make positive changes in people's lives, that flies in the face of the central premise of the Reagan revolution: "Government is not the solution, it is the problem."

It's a death knell for their whole "philosophy" (which is really just thinly-disguised greed and selfishness but that's another story).

[Mnemosyne]

5. K&R nt