Time to stop using economic terrorism

I just returned from Washington, D.C., on Monday. The impacts of the longest shutdown in our nation’s history are distressing and increasingly intolerable.

The obvious impacts were the closures, such as all 19 Smithsonian museums. The not-so-obvious impacts were on the local businesses. Getting a table at the tony, popular restaurants? No problem, even on the weekend. When we asked our Uber drivers how they were faring, all of them said they were hurting because business was so slow. All businesses are suffering.

Washington, D.C., is a microcosm of the nation. The damage from this shutdown is being felt not just by the furloughed workers but by every single business both upstream and downstream of those workers. For more than 30 days, movie theaters, restaurants, Uber drivers, grocery stores, gasoline stations, doctors, dentists, and retail stores are enduring losses of revenue that will never be recovered, ever!

It’s time for the president to stop playing games and allowing non-elected, non-impacted bloviators (Ann, Rush, I’m looking at you) to hold this most basic government function hostage. This is economic terrorism, pure and simple. As with all terrorism, if Congress gives in, it would be rewarding this horrific stunt and encouraging similar acts in the future.

I encourage the president to reopen the government now, and to stop playing with the lives and livelihoods of American workers both inside and outside of government.