States Paying To Re-Open National Parks Wish Feds Would Bring All That Oppressive Money Back

As we mentioned yesterday, the cognitive dissonance around the defunding of government has been pretty strong these last couple of weeks. The fairly basic notion that if you vote to not fund a government service, that service goes away seems to mystify some folks on the right, who have decided that the shutdown of national parks and monuments is really just something that Barack Hussein Obama has ordered out of personal spite, because he is just mean. So now, several states where tourism dollars actually make a big difference to the local economy have decided that they're willing to pay to re-open the parks. But they're also really not happy about it. See, the thing about lurving that 10th Amendment so much that you wish the federal government would just go away also means that you can't have a lot of the nice things that the mean old jackbooted thugs provide, unless you pay for them. And your state may not have the same ability to pay, because tax base -- and your state's own idiotic "job-attracting" tax policies. Yes, we know, socialistic madness.

The AP has a fine story on the dilemma faced by the states:

The Obama administration’s willingness to reopen national parks shuttered by the government shutdown came with a big caveat: States must foot the bill with money they likely won’t see again.

So far, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Arizona and New York have jumped at the deal [EXPLAIN DEAL HERE]. Governors in other states were trying to gauge Friday what would be the bigger economic hit --paying to keep the parks operating or losing the tourist money that flows when the scenic attractions are open.

South Dakota, for instance, is rounding up corporate donors to raise the $15,200 a day it will cost to reopen Mount Rushmore, which is a lovely bit of public-private partnership, but just like waiting for a guy to show up and mow the lawn at the Lincoln Memorial, it's no substitute for having a functioning federal government.

And of course, there are the governors like Jan Brewer of Arizona, who

balked at spending about $112,000 a day for a full reopening of the Grand Canyon. She said a partial reopening would be much cheaper while allowing tourists to visit and businesses to benefit.

“The daily cost difference is enormous, especially without assurances that Arizona will be reimbursed,” said Andrew Wilder, a spokesman for Brewer.

In the end, Arizona agreed to pay the Park Service $651,000 to keep the Grand Canyon open for seven days. The $93,000 a day is less than the $112,000 the federal government had said was needed to fund park operations each day.

Why, you might even get the sense that there are some things that the federal government is pretty darn good at, despite the insistence of teabaggers that private enterprise is always better. Nah, that's madness, what were we thinking?

In a related story, Wonkette would like to welcome Jim Hoft, who had a serious health emergency, back to his rightful place as Stupidest Man on the Internet; Monday, he ran a story about the brave stand taken by Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who joined "fellow patriots" in "storming" a closed section of Big Springs Ozark National Scenic Riverway. The national recreation area was closed by the Obama Administration for some reason that Hoft doesn't mention, so Kinder and some brave souls -- including a WWII veteran, so it was a holy cause -- took down the barricades to Make A Statement:

Peter Kinder told the crowd, “Our message to the ruling class in Washington is ‘We’re not going to take this!’ We the people created the federal government. My message to President Obama and his administration is ‘We are not surfs [sic] to a federal master.’ This president wants Americans to suffer. We are not going to stand for it in Missouri.”

Damn straight! We don't need an oppressive federal government maintaining natural areas, because 70 courageous patriots can show up, tear down barricades, stand around, take some pictures, and make speeches about Freedom. It's not trespassing, because they brought some veterans. And then when they leave, the ATV riders can show up and rip the place all to hell without having to worry about rangers, or maybe if the patriots think of it, they could volunteer to take turns guarding that spot and could shoot anyone who breaks the rules. Problem solved!

[ AP via DailyKos / Gateway Pundit ]