Shutdown not the end of world

 Those who perceive gloom and doom in the current partial shutdown of the U.S. government appear to be guilty of both exaggeration and political opportunism.

On a local level, it is unfortunate that Glacier Park is closed — particularly during the first fall in years that people have been able to reach Logan Pass from the west side.

And there are undoubtedly a variety of impacts large and small that will be felt by people in Northwest Montana and across the country.

But in the scheme of the overall government, the sky will not fall if most of that government is shut down. We saw back in 1995 that life can go on if the federal government is taking a break.

And consider that every year around November and December, there is a de facto government shutdown when huge swaths of the federal work force claim their annual leave. Government offices continue to be operated with skeleton staffing and essential services are provided — and the general public never really notices that most of their federal employees aren’t working.

For those worried about the missing pay for federal workers, remember that back in 1995, furloughed employees were paid for time off when they returned to work.

That’s not guaranteed this time around but there undoubtedly will be a push to restore lost pay.

So far the current shutdown, therefore, is vexing to federal workers and an inconvenience to many Americans — but not exactly the end of the world. A caveat: the longer major parts of the government are idle, the more damaging the shutdown may become.

Far more dangerous to the country, it would seem, is the incredible standoff in the halls of power in Washington, D.C., that foisted the shutdown on us.

All in the name of destroying Obamacare and maintaining political purity, we are treated to a scorched-earth strategy in Congress that is not merely noxious but quite simply bad for democracy.

There’s plenty of culpability on all sides of the political spectrum — from the raging right to the lunatic left — that has culminated in this high-stakes shouting match. Our lawmakers should be embarrassed at their predicament; instead they’re proud.

This is not the way to solve the serious problems facing our country.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.