Arrest 'em? Who's going to do that, if the gummint is shut down and those with arrest powers are 'non-essential' anyway? Maybe TSA inspectors could do it.

The Republicans seem to thing that, since we don't want the government to stop in its tracks, they can get several 'social' policies changed through the 'budget' process. Their targets are NPR, Planned Parenthood, and the EPA, among others, so when they whinge on about 'balancing the budget,' but won't budge on these non-budgetary actions, you KNOW it ain't so.

And it's bloody costly to shut down the government, even for a day. And it isn't a given that any 'non-essential' folks will get paid after the furlough is over. I suspect the The Republican't Party (that's "Republican + T" Party) will hold out for not reimbusring those folks for their lost pay.

The Republican'ts want to cut government into little pieces, and simultaneously grant a 30% cut in tax rates for the wealthiest individuals and corporations. Their new 'plan' calls for cutting taxes for the rich (top rate drops from 35% to 25%), end medicare (by turning it into vouchers to pay the huge medical insurance industry), cut medicaid (the program for the poor -- Medicare is for the elderly), and similar stick-it-to-the-poor kinds of moves. They won't touch the bloated Defense Dept. budget, of course, nor raise any tax rates for the upper classes, but they're ready to go all Ron Popiel on the rest (Ron Popiel is the inventor of several kitchen gadgets that slice, dice, puree, and otherwise shred food products).

If they didn't have Fox News as the wielder of the corporate megaphone, they'd never try this, but they think they can get away with it because of that entity. The rest of this Congressional year, and the next-year's election season will be missing only one thing to match the description of the life of the peasant: it will be nasty and brutish, but it will not be short, alas.

Bob

Disclaimer: I will be furloughed if this goes through, and it will be a tough row to hoe for me, for sure.