DC's Blizzard of the Century: A Break for Taxpayers

In Which I Pick Up a Snowshovel (Again) and Count My Blessings

As I prepare to spend yet another day here in Reston, Virginia--roughly 25 miles from Washington, DC--shoveling snow and straining ligaments, here's an amusing bit of "reportage" for you from the always en pointe ABC News Site:

...experts say this month's storms, with their "historic'" proportions, are ultimately a net negative for taxpayers, who foot the bill for snow cleanup and the lost productivity of more than 230,000 idle federal employees. Official Washington was shut down for a third straight snow day -- unprecedented in recent times.

Office of Personnel Management chief John Berry, who decides when to close the federal government, has said each snow day costs taxpayers an estimated $100 million in work government employees don't do. 

Yes indeedy, the Federal government is out on snow leave yet again tomorrow, their fourth day in a row--something I don't remember happening since I returned to the DC area from South Carolina over 30 years ago. But this ABC report has it exactly wrong. The snow daze is not a cost to the taxpayers at all. It's a SAVINGS for the taxpayers.

Let me explain. We've had, at this point, almost an entire week where Congress hasn't been in full session. An entire week where they haven't been dispensing pork to public employee unions, leftists, and other barnacles and leeches who live off the flesh of actual working people. And an entire week where DC's Federal work force has not been abusing taxpayers by not responding to their urgent requests on this and that because it's not convenient.

Let's do the math. Assuming the ABC report's budget estimate is correct, if we gave the entire DC contingent of the Federal government the entire year off, that would be 100 million smackers X 365. My calculator gives me a total of $36.5 billion dollars. Now just this fiscal year, Congress and all our area worker bees in your government have colluded to get us about $3 TRILLION dollars in hock. So if it costs us $36.5 B to give 'em the year off, we would actually end up SAVING a ton of money and reducing the deficit to boot, ya think? Not to mention the political mischief that simply won't happen.

Plus, the snows have provided us with an added bonus. After this winter, it will be really hard for any Congressman, except the most hardened leftist, to argue that we need "crap and trade" legislation because we have to stop "global warming," er, "climate change." The only one still stupid enough to argue in favor of "global warming," er, "climate change," is the Goracle himself.