Guess I will probably out of work next week.

Thanks to the Republicans. But, of course, they are already trying to blame the Democrats for any government shutdown that might occur. That's sort of like a bank robber going into a bank, taking a bunch of hostages that he threatens to kill if he doesn't get a million dollars and a helicopter, and then blames the police for making him shoot his hostages.

That is exactly what is going on with the Republicans.

If I was John Q. Public, I might tend to blame the side whose members are actually cheering about the possibility of a shutdown. And that ain't the Democrats.

Ah, well. I have lots of yard work that needs doing. I'll be too tired to spend any money, anyway.

UPDATE (Tuesday, 12:50 p.m. Pacific): I really didn't think we would get to this point. This is pretty incredible.

Here are a few things I have learned by poking around the internets in the last few minutes.

I would actually be one of the lucky government workers. I am certain to be designated a "non-essential" employee, which means they can let me go without screwing anything up in the immediate term. The unlucky ones, it turns out (such as, oh, Air Traffic Controllers), will be deemed to be "essential employees." That means they have to show up for work, even if the government gets shut down, but here is the kicker. They don't get paid until everything is back up and running again! Hey, worst of both worlds, yeah?

Another thing is that President Obama and the Democrats have agreed, in principle but not in specifics, to the 33 billion dollars in cuts that was initially put on the table by the Republicans. Yeah, they WANTED 66 billion in cuts, but my understanding is that 33 billion would have gone a long way toward their goals. Guess what? That isn't good enough anymore. Neither is getting a bill that would get the necessary majority in the House. John Boehner is now demanding that he get a bill that could be passed with a majority of JUST REPUBLICANS. No need for bi-partisan support when you can pass a bill with your simple majority, right? That's what the Republicans want now, or else they shoot the hostages.

I just cannot believe how absolutely insane this country has gotten in the last few years.

UPDATE II: No, "non-essential" government employees are still rather essential. They just aren't essential in highly critical, day to day work, such as, oh, Air Traffic Controllers and the like. The country can get along without us, for a little while anyway, for some time. But just wait until the military families stop getting paychecks or Republicans don't get their income tax return checks when they think they should, and you will start to hear about how "non-essential" we are.