A New Low Looms for US Politics of War

From The Cable:

"The president has been clear that he does not want a shutdown... But we are aware of the calendar, and to be prudent and prepare for the chance that Congress may not pass a funding bill in time, OMB today encouraged agency heads to begin sharing their contingency plans with senior managers throughout their organization to ensure that they have their feedback and input," OMB senior advisor Kenneth Baer said in a statement about the email. "As the week progresses, we will continue to take necessary steps to prepare for the possibility that Congress is unable to come to agreement and a lapse in government funding ensues."

In the event of a shutdown, all uniformed military personnel would continue to work but would stop receiving paychecks, an official familiar with the government's planning told The Cable. As April 8 falls in the middle of the Defense Department's two-week pay period, military personnel would actually receive a paycheck totaling half the normal amount. A large number of Pentagon civilians would be furloughed without pay for the duration of the shutdown. Support structures for military families, such as military schools, would remain open. When the shutdown ends, the soldiers would get their back pay but the civilians might not.

President Obama is about to become the first American President who fails to pay the Army while it is deployed overseas fighting in a war zone. I'm not sure how that fits into a reelection campaign, but it will sure look ugly when reflected as ones Presidential legacy through the prism of history.

We are going to have embedded reporters in Afghanistan getting paid while covering soldiers fighting and dieing during the Spring Offensive that are not getting paid. The government shutdown is starting to look a lot like the antithesis of executive leadership, and how this somehow politically helps the Commander in Chief or the political party in the majority is an enigma to me.

If the President wants to allow the minority to shut down the government for political purposes, he better demand a Defense budget first. Failure to do so leads to several political problems that no amount of spin can cover up during an election campaign.