The Absurd American Paradox, You Still Pay, Even When They Don't Work

Only in Washington can the government shut down and still send you a tax bill.

There’s something downright absurd about Washington’s favorite circus, the so-called “government shutdown.” The lights go out, the bureaucrats go home, the national parks close, and the media act like civilization is ending. TSA workers go on half pay, veterans’ calls go unanswered, and families cancel long-planned trips because the parks are barricaded. But one thing never shuts down, the IRS. Somehow, through every budget standoff and fiscal cliff, the one arm of government that always keeps running is the one that takes your money.

That’s the great American paradox. You can’t get your passport, your veterans’ benefits are delayed, your federal offices are locked, but your tax bill is still due on time. Washington can stop everything except your obligation to fund its dysfunction.

Benjamin Franklin famously said, “In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.” Well, Franklin never saw a modern government shutdown, where taxes stay certain but accountability dies. It’s a joke that stops being funny when you realize who’s paying for the the punchline.

No senator misses a paycheck, no bureaucrat loses a pension, no lobbyist skips a lunch meeting. The only one who pays the price is you, the taxpayer.

President Reagan once quipped, “The taxpayer, that’s someone who works for the federal government but doesn’t have to take the civil service examination.” Reagan said it with a grin, but the truth stings even more today. The American taxpayer is the only truly essential worker in Washington. Rain or shine, shutdown or not, you keep the whole broken machine running.

And here’s the irony no one in Congress wants to talk about, if the government can “shut down” without the country collapsing, maybe it’s too big to begin with. Maybe we don’t need 2.2 million federal employees to do what states, counties, and private industry could handle better, faster, and cheaper. Maybe it’s time to treat a shutdown not as a crisis, but as a wake-up call.

During the last standoff, one viral quote summed it up perfectly, “For every day the government is shut down, we shouldn’t have to pay income tax that day.” Imagine if Washington had to live by that rule, suddenly, you’d see bipartisan cooperation in about ten minutes. Nothing motivates politicians like losing their favorite addiction, your money.

President Donald J. Trump understood this better than anyone. During the 2019 shutdown, he told Americans, “Many of you have suffered far greater than anyone, but not only did you not complain, you encouraged me to keep going because you care so much about our country.” That’s the difference between real leadership and career politics. Trump fought for a government that worked for the taxpayer, not the other way around.

Meanwhile, Democrats like Senator Dick Durbin lecture us that a shutdown “holds the livelihood of the American people hostage.” No, Senator, the hostage is the American taxpayer, chained to a system that punishes productivity, rewards incompetence, and never misses a withdrawal from your paycheck, even when it stops delivering what it promises.

Thomas Jefferson warned it was “sinful and tyrannical” to compel a man to fund ideas he abhors. Today, it’s worse, we’re compelled to fund a government that doesn’t even show up for work.

Turn on the TV and you’ll see reporters act like Washington’s gone dark, but the real darkness is moral, not physical. They’ll never stop taking your money, even when they stop doing their jobs.

So as Washington once again plays chicken with the American people, remember this, every shutdown proves that the federal leviathan is bloated, unaccountable, and unnecessary in half the places it exists. If the government can go dark for weeks and the sun still rises, maybe it’s time we rethink what “essential services” really means.

Reagan joked that the taxpayer works for the government. These days, it feels less like a joke and more like a job description.

Because as long as the IRS stays open while everything else closes, the message from Washington couldn’t be clearer, they’ll shut down the government before they ever shut down the gravy train.

They’ll close your parks, freeze your pay, and cancel your benefits, but they’ll never miss a deposit from your paycheck. That’s not governance, that’s extortion dressed up as politics.

And that’s the real scandal.

Perry O. Hooper Jr. is a former state representative, a current member of the Alabama Republican Executive Committee, the 2016 Trump Victory Chair, and a widely published political columnist.