Shutdowns Hurt America
By Gavin Jenkins, Senior Managing Editor
Unless a miracle happens, the United States government is going to have a partial shutdown beginning Sunday morning.
This will be the fourth shutdown in a decade. It will be the 11th of my lifetime, and I was born in 1980. America was born in 1776.
Aren’t you exhausted by this? I am. I’m so exhausted that I finally understand why Post Malone got “Always Tired” tattooed under his eyes.
Our politicians are dysfunctional. It’s not normal, and it’s getting worse. Four shutdowns in a decade? Are you kidding me?
Government shutdowns hurt the roads and bridges construction industry by delaying projects. It also strains state, county, and municipal public works employees who maintain roads.
This government shutdown could trigger a recession, which we have avoided for the past two years. If the economy tanks, inflation goes up, again, and supply chain issues get worse, again.
The price of equipment and materials for working on roads and bridges will skyrocket.
And that will hurt the roads and bridges construction industry at a time when business is booming, thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The last shutdown was the longest at 34 days. Can you imagine if this shutdown matches that record or, God forbid, is longer?
That will hurt every single contractor in the country. Every operator, every engineer—everyone will feel the economic pain.
Well, not everyone. The politicians will be fine. And their mega-donors won’t break a sweat paying bills.
Politicians who force a shutdown don’t deserve to be in power. They should be voted out of office.
We need adults running this country. We need professionals who have policies and know how to govern.
We need leaders who can lead, who want to reach across the political aisle and get work done without shutting down the government. RB
About the Author
Gavin Jenkins, Senior Managing Editor
Senior Managing Editor
Gavin Jenkins is an award-winning journalist based in Pittsburgh. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, VICE, Narrative.ly, Prevention, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Beijing Review.
In 2020, two stories he wrote for Pitt Med Magazine earned three Golden Quill Awards from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania. “Surviving Survival” won Excellence in Corporate, Marketing and Promotional Communications – Written, Medical/Health, while “Oct. 27, 2018: Pittsburgh’s Darkest Day, and the Mass Casualty Response” won Excellence in Written Journalism, Magazines – Medical/Health, as well as the Ray Sprigle Memorial Award: Magazines, a Best in Show award.
After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in 2003, he covered sports for the Bedford Gazette, in Bedford, Pa., and the Martinsville Bulletin, in Martinsville, Va. In 2006, he returned to Pittsburgh to write for Trib Total Media. Based out of the Kittanning Leader Times, he worked for the Trib for two years, and then he moved to Shenzhen, China, to teach English and freelance. After two years in China, he earned an MFA in nonfiction from the University of Pittsburgh.
When he's not at work, he's usually playing with his border-collie mix, Bob.