And the government shutdown goes on and on and on…

Recently we learned that military death benefits are not being paid. I can only imagine how much further the backlog is for disability claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs. It’s a mess. Who will blink first? Take my poll about the shutdown at the end of this column and, as always, the comment section is open.

In the meantime, I happened to catch an interview conducted by the Associated Press in which Montana’s first-term Representative, Steve Daines, was quoted saying that he “ran for Congress to serve the people of Montana“ and he “ran to have the courage and leadership to address the issues facing this county.”

These are very noble and worthy causes. Nice talking points, too. Daines should feel fortunate that as a first-term House member anyone wastes their time talking to him or even asking him his point of view. He seems to be just sitting in Washington waiting for Sen. Ted Cruz to tell him what to do.

But the zinger was Daines saying “It would be irresponsible to raise the debt limit without resolving the underlying problems that led to this crisis.”  Continue reading →