to be fair, most of the blame for this goes to the assholes that, ya know, actually did it
Sure, but we have systems in place that prevent them from doing it basically all of the time, and we shut them down. On purpose.
This sort of thing is why the Continuing Resolution Process needs to be reformed to prevent the government from shutting down. And seriously, was there ever a time when a shutdown didn't end in an embarrassing failure for the party that instigated it?
I agree with this statement. The sun setting of appropriations was meant to reign in monarchies through the power of the purse, but since our elected officials are too irresponsible, the only solution is automatic CR of some sort when funding lapses.
A process like this is used in many states. IL has extensive continuing appropriations in statute from bond payments to pensions to transfers to local government. They are so extensively used that combined with court-ordered payments, over 90% of the state continued to run during the two year budget impasse that ended in 2017.
