A modest proposal: Let's have a REAL shutdown
In the furor over this latest Washington standoff, let us not overlook this outrage:
The Federal Aviation Administration, which keeps our planes flying safely, was forced to begin a partial shutdown this weekend because Congress can't agree on legislation to fund it.
So the agency is furloughing more than 4,000 workers, including those who collect the $200 million a week in taxes that help to pay for it.
Air traffic controllers will remain on the job for now, so the planes will keep flying, but airport construction and FAA funds for state and local airports will stop.
If it were not so inconvenient to the rest of us, I sort of wish they had to shut down the whole thing and grounded the planes - that way members of Congress could ride the bus to their home districts.
A nice, long bus ride would give them time to reflect on why they were elected in the first place.
"Their way or the highway," then, would take on a whole new meaning.
