The day is young, but the least intelligent thing said about the shutdown and we're including man-on-the-street interviews has to be this column by Reasons Nick Gillespie blaming President Obama. Gillespies argument, to the extent that it is possible to detect one amid the poseur hand-waving, runs as follows:

A couple of points. First, the lack of a conference to negotiate the House and Senate budgets didnt happen for all sorts of reasons. It happened for one reason: Democrats pleaded to hold one and Republicans refused. Senate Democrats have spammed my e-mail in-box pleading for a budget conference on a near-daily basis. House Republicans refused because their strategy is not to negotiate through regular order but to use the threat of a shutdown and debt default to leverage unilateral concessions. This isnt my partisan accusation. They said this themselves, repeatedly!

Second, blaming the president for failing to kick the asses of leaders of the opposing party is a really dumb way to think about government, and especially so for a libertarian. Your analysis is that the president needs to compel the opposing party to accept policies it doesnt like? Thats a libertarian analysis?

Third, Gillespies entire rant is beside the point, because the lack of a negotiated budget is not the cause of a shutdown. Budget conferences are designed to set long-term federal budget policy. Keeping the government open doesnt require that. You just need to pass a continuing resolution. Thats it. Pass the CR, and the government stays open, and then you can either negotiate or not negotiate the federal budget.

Its continually amazing to me that this publication publishes commentary on public policy by a writer who lacks even a rudimentary understanding of the policy process.

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Confused Libertarian Demands Obama Become Strongman