A partial government shutdown just wasn't going to hit people the way the Obama administration needed it to, so officials resorted to some unprecedented acts to make Americans feel the pain, as Conservative Intel's David Freddoso notes:
Most people — even the poor in state-run safety net programs — don’t have that many interactions with the federal government agencies affected right now by the shutdown.
So it’s a challenge to make people notice that your agency is vital to the survival of the Republic. The feds have to apply a lot of force and behave in unsubtle ways to make you angry with Congress.
1. Veterans
No group has been more visible during the shutdown than veterans. Memorials were closed, and House Democrats voted against bills that would restore funding to veterans programs.
A short list of some of the monuments closed (note that veterans moved barricades to see their monuments anyway):
» World War II Memorial
» Normandy cemetery
» Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
» Iwo Jima Memorial
Just 4 percent of employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs have been furloughed, according to Government Executive magazine, making it even more odd that the department’s funding wasn’t restored.
