In Spite, White House Shuts Down Local City Tavern

The City Tavern located in Old City Philadelphia was the favorite meeting place of many of our Founding Fathers. Today, it employs 100 cooks, wait staff and hosts that provide a unique experience of 18th Century America to thousands of clientele every week. The restaurant is privately owned and operates completely on its own profits, and since the building and property are part of the National Park Service, the City Tavern very likely pays a percentage of its profit to the Federal Government as a franchise fee.  The City Tavern remained open through previous government shutdowns so restaurant public relations director Molly Yun was caught off guard on Thursday:  "We were somewhat shocked when we received the news today that we would have to close at 3 p.m." Many people are now out of work and the Federal Government loses a source of income which it desperately needs.

Unlike previous shutdowns, this is happening throughout the country. Some proprietors have refused to close so Park Service rangers have surrounded the businesses to block guests. The Park Services has erected barricades around monuments in open spaces such as the World War II Memorial in the National Mall to prevent war heroes from visiting. The Park Services is spending more money to close businesses and keep people out than it would to keep them open. A Park Service ranger admitted "We've been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It's disgusting."

So why is this happening in this shutdown? The National Parks Service is part of the Executive Branch and gets its orders from the White House. It is clear that the White House is punishing every day Americans to score political points. They believe the more pain to Americans, the more they will blame Republicans for the shutdown. A senior White House official admitted: “We are winning…It doesn’t really matter to us” how long the shutdown lasts “because what matters is the end result.” Up to this point, the polling data on the shutdown doesn’t support they are “winning” but it is apparent that this is a game for them.

All this so the White House doesn’t have to compromise with House Republicans who are trying to soften the devastating impacts of Obamacare which a majority of Americans don’t want. The House Republicans have passed bills to fully fund the federal government except for implementation of Obamacare. They have compromised and now are asking for individual Americans to get a waiver for one year from Obamacare, which is clearly not ready for prime time. (Obama has given a waiver to Big Business so they don’t have to comply with the law for another year and Obama has given Congress a waiver to provide large subsidies to buy health insurance. Why shouldn’t Americans get a waiver?) The House has passed individual funding bills for cancer treatment for children, keeping national parks open, keeping treatment for Veterans – the Democratic Senate refused to vote on them and Obama has threatened to veto them. They must not alleviate any pain to Americans which could jeopardize them from "winning".

Outside the beltway, Washington looks like a 13-year old who trashes his house because his parents won’t give him the credit card. It is time for them to grow up, compromise, and end this shutdown.