OUTRAGEOUS: Obama Admin. Kicking People Out of Their Homes During Shutdown Because They Live on Federal Land

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) – The government shutdown is being felt close to home for some locals. They say they’re being forced out of private homes on Lake Mead because they sit on federal land.

Joyce Spencer is 77-years-old and her husband Ralph is 80. They’ve been spending most of their time in the family ice cream store since going home isn’t an option.

The Spencers never expected to be forced out of their Lake Mead home, which they’ve owned since the 70s, but on Thursday, a park ranger said they had 24 hours to get out.

“I had to go to town today and buy Ralph undershirts and jeans because I forgot his pants,” Joyce Spencer told Action News.

The Stewart’s Point home sits on federal land, so even though the Spencers own their cabin outright, they’re not allowed in until the government reopens.

Park officials said property owners can visit only to retrieve belongings; they sent Action News a statement which reads in part, “Unfortunately overnight stays are not permitted until a budget is passed and the park can reopen.”

Joyce Spencer said she’s alright in the meantime, staying with nearby family, but the move was a lot to handle as a senior citizen.

National Park rangers ordered to keep visitors out of privately run businesses

By Stephen Dinan

The Washington Times

Sunday, October 6, 2013


The National Park Service has closed privately run marinas, restaurants and inns throughout the country and in some cases even posted guards to keep people from using them during the government shutdown, arguing that it doesn’t have the money, manpower or authority to let them operate.

But the moves, which likely have thrown thousands of people out of work, are drawing scrutiny from Congress and don’t rest well with many voters who believe the administration is making the effects of the shutdown worse than necessary.


On Friday, the Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina decided it would buck the Park Service’s order and remain open — only to find park rangers come and block the driveway to the inn to prevent anyone from entering. The parkway itself remained open, but the administration said all concessions in national parks must shut.

“I’m questioning their authority to shut me,” Pisgah Inn owner Bruce O'Connell told The Washington Times on Friday as he fought to stay open.

Several congressional committees have said they would look into the Park Service’s decisions, accusing the Obama administration of trying to make the shutdown as painful as possible for Americans.



In the meantime, Americans across the country have embraced the chance to flout the closures as a defiant act of civil disobedience.

The Internet has been flooded with photos of people going around traffic cones and vehicle barricades to get to parking lots, bicycle paths and hiking trails.

Still, campgrounds, ski areas and basic services have been closed at all parks, the monuments the Park Service runs in Washington have been barricaded, and rangers are doing their best to keep folks away.


In Philadelphia, the park closures have shuttered the City Tavern.

On Cape Cod, the Nauset Knoll Motor Lodge is closed.

But not all private companies on park land have been shut down. Two high-profile places in San Francisco, the Argonaut Hotel in San Francisco Maritime National Park and Cavallo Point, a luxury hotel in Golden Gate National Park, are open.

The Park Service says those are operating under lease agreements rather than as concessions, which means they are allowed to stay open.

“Concessions operations are required to close; leases are permitted to remain open,” Mike Litterst, a spokesman for the parks, said in an email to The Washington Times.

The discrepancies are difficult for some to understand.

One man wondered why Skyline Drive, the road running through Shenandoah National Park, was closed but the Blue Ridge Parkway remained open.


Mr. O’Connell, who runs the Pisgah Inn, said he never received a certified letter or even a call from the park superintendent telling him to close, but rather got an email from someone in the park business office.

Other concessions had similar stories.

Mr. O'Connell said his workers are not federal employees, and his fire, police and rescue services all come from the county, so he isn’t drawing any federal funds. Indeed, the rangers posted at his driveway to turn away patrons Friday likely used more resources — and made it tougher for them to respond to an actual emergency had one occurred elsewhere on the parkway, he said.

Derrick A. Crandall, a counselor at the National Park Hospitality Association, an organization for park concessionaires, said the Park Service is showing less leniency this time than it did during the 1995 and 1996 shutdowns.

“Last time around, we saw some superintendents that tended to recognize hardship and perhaps be a little more forgiving of hard deadlines, just attempting to make sure any special needs were accommodated,” he said. “This year, from what I’m being told, there were some superintendents who acted to shut down ops before the Thursday 6 p.m. deadline.”

He said his organization plans to sit down with the Park Service and ask about trying to find “creative ways” to let the concessionaires get back up and running.

House Republicans have passed a bill that would open the national parks, but President Obama has vowed to veto it. In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said either all of the government must be funded or none of it will be funded.

They are finally letting most civilians back to work on Ft.Sill where I live. Really sucks for my cousin, her and her husband are both civilians working on post and they were both home with no pay. They have 1 kid and 1 on the way. Can't afford to miss that money.

Members Of Congress Seen Partying, Drinking On Capitol Hill All Week During Shutdown


Bartenders blow the whistle

Steve Watson
Infowars.com
Oct 8, 2013

Bartenders close to the capitol have told local reporters that members of Congress are keeping themselves busy during the government shutdown by partying and drinking, and generally having a great big knees up.

“I don’t think the public would be happy to know that they are actually enjoying this time.” one bartender at Hawk and Dove bar on Pennsylvania Avenue told WUSA9 News.

The barman added that members of Congress have been “cutting loose” all week, and started off with a party on the first night of the shutdown.

“There was a private party upstairs with a few Congress people and senators here that night.” the bartender stated.

VIDEO - http://bcove.me/eqlyu04o

WUSA9 also spoke to another bartender from a separate establishment who verified that members of Congress had been dropping into his bar all week, including on the day of the shutdown.

The bar manager, who wished to remain anonymous, stated “There were congressmen, there were lobbyists and staffers…we stayed pretty busy. They were definitely eating and passing the time before the vote.”

The news station also published a photo (see screenshot above) of House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer posing for a picture with actress Selma Hayek in a bar on the second night of the shutdown.

Last week on the night of the shutdown, several reporters indicated that members of Congress were drinking before and after the vote.



Ginger Gibson        ✔  @GingerGibson  

I'm not over exaggerating when I say I can smell the booze wafting from members as they walk off the floor.

9:30 PM - 28 Sep 2013
1,207 Retweets  217 favorites  


jennifer bendery        ✔  @jbendery  

About every other House lawmaker I just talked to smelled like booze. It's only 9pm. Wheeee!

9:05 PM - 30 Sep 2013
687 Retweets  139 favorites



KateNocera        ✔  @KateNocera  

I def saw more than 1 member of congress putting a few back on Penn earlier. Ran into 2 in the liquor store.

9:31 PM - 28 Sep 2013
67 Retweets  12 favorites  



Perhaps this is why congress has an approval rating lower than that of dog poop, hemorrhoids, witches, cockroaches, the IRS, toenail fungus and even the most evil disgusting thing of all… Wall Street.


Nyle Lynn  @NyleLynn  

 Charlie Sheen could keep partying and run the congress better than these nut jobs!
1:42 AM - 7 Oct 2013

Even though I live in Kentucky now, I love how Indiana said fuck it and kept parks open. Patoka lake was like...We don't care...business as usual.

Oggy educate yoursf Peter King openly said on CNN yesterday "we the GOP. Shut down the government."
Do you no understand how government shutdowns work? Congress can stop funding the government , the republican congress just did that in an attempt to defund Obamacare for the 43rd time.

Hey oggy please tell me your nutty enough to believe the government did the Boston bombing ?

both sides are to blame for the shutdown.

And im am not a republican, certainly not a neocon. I refuse to play your left right blame game.

The point is that the Obama Admin is trying to hurt the American people with this shut down. He is going over the top and the entire government looks like a bunch of bullies trying to teach the American people a lesson.

Gov’t Shutdown Denies Military Families Money for Funerals



DoD failed to notify Congress that they were refusing death benefits to military families

Julie Wilson
Oct. 8, 2013

As if the public hasn’t suffered enough from the government “shutdown,” which was initiated by unnecessary political antics, now the families of fallen soldiers are literally paying the price in an unimaginable way.
militarymom
The Washington Times reports that at least five families, who have lost a family member in the never ending war on terror over the weekend, have been denied their death benefits.


This is disgusting. If people cant see that our government has completely lost touch with the American people, completely lost touch with reality, than I literally don't know what else to do to wake you the fuck up.

This is the type of shit going on as Congress parties it up.

If you can say with a strait face that you think this country is going in the right direction you are a sociopath and should rush to your nearest mental health professional.

oggy420 wrote:

both sides are to blame for the shutdown.

And im am not a republican, certainly not a neocon. I refuse to play your left right blame game.

The point is that the Obama Admin is trying to hurt the American people with this shut down. He is going over the top and the entire government looks like a bunch of bullies trying to teach the American people a lesson.

then why say "Obama Admin" did this or that?

captain organic wrote:

oggy420 wrote:

both sides are to blame for the shutdown.

And im am not a republican, certainly not a neocon. I refuse to play your left right blame game.

The point is that the Obama Admin is trying to hurt the American people with this shut down. He is going over the top and the entire government looks like a bunch of bullies trying to teach the American people a lesson.

then why say "Obama Admin" did this or that?  

House Republicans have passed a bill that would open the national parks, but President Obama has vowed to veto it. In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said either all of the government must be funded or none of it will be funded.