Republicans are going to need a bigger lifeboat

[cali]

Democratic lawmakers and liberal activists arranged 20 child-size chairs on the lawn outside the Capitol on Wednesday to represent 19,000 children who could lose access to Head Start because of the government shutdown — on top of the 57,000 slots lost in the low-income preschool program because of budget cuts.

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On the second day of the shutdown, House Republicans continued what might be called the lifeboat strategy: deciding which government functions are worth saving. In: veterans, the troops and tourist attractions. Out: poor children, pregnant women and just about every government function that regulates business or requires people to pay taxes.

The lifeboat strategy was the brainchild of Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), the freshman who has become the de facto leader of congressional Republicans in the shutdown. On Tuesday, GOP House members introduced bills that would exempt three entities: the national parks, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the District of Columbia. On Wednesday, they added the National Institutes of Health and pay for National Guard members and military reservists.

Here are some of the functions not boarding the GOP lifeboats: market regulation, chemical spill investigations, antitrust enforcement, worksite immigration checks, workplace safety inspections, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Internal Revenue Service’s audit capabilities, communications and trade regulation, nutrition for 9 million children and pregnant women, flu monitoring and other functions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and housing rental assistance for the poor.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/republicans-are-going-to-need-a-bigger-lifeboat/2013/10/02/528067c6-2ba8-11e3-8ade-a1f23cda135e_story.html

[HooptieWagon]

1. Let's just call them The Republican Death Panel. nt

[kestrel91316]

2. USDA APHIS is shut down, so no animals (livestock, horses, pets) can be shipped

abroad from the US (some countries will accept the pets without a federal vet signature though).