The Bucknellian

Check out our new and improved website at ww.bucknellian.net!

  • Home
  • About
    • Archives
    • Graduates/Achievements
      • Awards
    • Newsstand Locations
    • PDF Issues
    • Policies
    • Fall 2013 Staff
      • About the Adviser
  • Contact
    • To advertise
    • To join the staff
    • To submit a Letter to the Editor
  • Subscribe
  • Media
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
  • News
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
  • Sports
    • Beyond the Bison
    • Club/Intramural
      • Men’s Rowing
      • Men’s Rugby
      • Women’s Rugby
      • Ski Team
      • Men’s Squash
      • Women’s Squash
      • Men’s Volleyball
    • Men
      • Baseball
      • Basketball
      • Cross Country
      • Football
      • Golf
      • Lacrosse
      • Soccer
      • Swimming & Diving
      • Tennis
      • Track & Field
      • Water Polo
    • Women
      • Basketball
      • Cross Country
      • Field Hockey
      • Golf
      • Lacrosse
      • Rowing
      • Soccer
      • Softball
      • Swimming & Diving
      • Tennis
      • Track & Field
      • Volleyball
      • Water Polo
  • Arts & Life
    • Columns
      • Cooking Corner
      • Humor
        • Rees’ Pieces
        • From the Mind of Wiley Jack
      • Off the Beat and Path
      • Sleeping Around
    • Review
      • Books
      • Campus Events
      • Movies
      • Music
      • Restaurants
      • Television
    • Study Abroad

Lack of decisions causes government shutdown

October 9, 2013 by Sara Blair Matthews

Justin Marinelli
Writer

As I have established in previous pieces this year, I believe that the legitimacy of a government derives from its capacity to govern the populace. A government that refuses to govern, like ours, quickly hemorrhages its legitimacy, contingent on the arising societal dysfunction. Luckily, though, things seem to be carrying on just fine for the most part, so I see no need to declare the illegitimacy of the current government, and I look forward to the day it resumes its duties. Still, it does concern me that it was allowed to shut down in the first place.

It strikes me as downright absurd that our government can just stop functioning without our elected officials suffering any sort of repercussions. If a business were to shut down due to internal disagreements, would there not be lay-offs and reorganizations to prevent such a thing in the future? Yet, does anyone really expect that similar measures will be adopted by our government with its unperturbed functioning?

It seems that the incentives for our elected officials to avoid a government shutdown are simply too ambiguous to be reasonably effective. While it is possible that there will be reprisals in the next election, I suspect that Democrats will blame Republicans, Republicans will blame Democrats, and there will be no unified condemnation of both parties for their childishness and immaturity. It is because of this that I have decided to propose a few measures that should be implemented to ensure that we do not again suffer the embarrassment of having a non-functional national government.

First off, in the event of a government shutdown, all members of Congress should become immediately ineligible for re-election. They may finish serving the rest of their tenures, but that should be the end of their political careers. They should be banned from holding any other political office in the future, whether it is a federal, state, or local position, since they have demonstrated their inability to live up to the responsibilities of public service.

Additionally, Congressional pay should be suspended for a year. Why should we pay people who refuse to work? Our taxes pay their salaries so that they can make laws and govern our country. If they refuse to hold up their end of the bargain, they should not receive compensation. The contract is violated, and thus rendered void.

Finally, there is nothing like public shaming to keep people in line and really hammer home the impropriety of certain behavior. I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to putting politicians in the stocks for a day as punishment for this kind of impropriety, but I prefer a more subtle approach. Why not make them wear a scarlet letter, at least until the shut-down is over? Nothing like a little social opprobrium to keep people within the  bounds of responsible and reasonable behavior.

This may all sound extreme, but is not the very idea that our government can simply stop governing in the event of sufficient disagreement an extreme possibility in itself? This is such a departure from historical norms of governance that the overwhelming majority of humanity throughout time would be unable to comprehend it. Moderate solutions cannot fix extreme problems. We need strong measures in place to discourage politicians from shirking their duties, and strict punishments in place for those that do. To do anything less is to invite dysfunction, squabbling, and an ineffectual government.

Filed Under: Opinion, Uncategorized

Recent Comments

  • Jennifer on Editorial: House Party excess is a community wide issue
  • Francisca B. Barry on “Breaking Bad” leaves audience in anticipation
  • Lance McDonald on Hip-hop artist storms off Spring Concert stage early in setlist
  • Give Credit Where Credit Is Due on To submit a Letter to the Editor
  • Melissa on Fall 2013 Staff

Like us on Facebook

Check out our Twitter

Check out our Instagram

Tags

Athlete of the week athlete of the year baseball BSG Bucknell Forum Bucknellian sports awards comedy Cooking Corner cross country field hockey football golf harry potter Howard Gardner lecture Lewisburg men's basketball men's golf men's lacrosse men's soccer men's tennis men's track men's water polo national sports NIT People of the Year pool pass project review samek art gallery softball student behavior Study Abroad volleyball Wiley Jack women's basketball women's golf women's lacrosse women's rowing women's soccer women's swimming women's tennis women's track women's water polo wrestling zumba

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in