Government Shutdown

They’re making us buy health care and the Republicans can’t stand it
They’re not just asking to get their way, they demand it
If they can’t change the bath water, they’ll throw the baby out the door
They just can’t stand to see such subsidies going to the poor

So they’ve shut down the government, with whatever message that might send
If you need a mortgage or a student loan, there’s no money left to lend
All the babies who need WIC so they can have some dinner
Are just gonna have to go without and get a little thinner

Heading out to Yellowstone? Better make another plan
Go to some country that is functioning, like Tajikistan
But if you’re in Pakistan or Yemen, watch out for the drones
The budget for them was left entirely alone

Don’t our taxes pay the gunships to do the things they do
Why don’t they shut down the military, too?

If you want safety in the workplace or a tax rebate
If you were hoping someone might have checked out that food that you just ate
Waiting for VA benefits? You might just start digging your grave hole
The only fully-funded branch is active duty, on patrol

Chorus

Hoping the CDC might warn us of an outbreak of disease?
You might just lick your thumb and stick it in the breeze
Because the biggest employer in the country has now laid off its work force
Except the ones responsible for dropping bombs of course

Chorus

“Government Shutdown” has only ever appeared as an iPhone Broadside, and on a live recording made at the Community Church of Boston in Copley Square (Boston, Massachusetts) in 2013.

Both of the major parties in the US are completely corporate, elitist institutions, in terms of their leadership. But even though they have so much in common, they often have to make a show of not being able to agree on things, to appeal to their bases. This seems to be especially important for the Republicans — to look tough and shut down the government when they don’t have enough clout in the Congress in terms of their numbers to actually affect policy more profoundly. This song was my musical response to the 2013 episode of the government shutting down temporarily.