"...how is that any different than the privately owned Mt. Vernon, or the WWII memorial, which has zero staff or operational costs. How is it different than the privately funded Air Force, Navy athletics departments? Why block people from taking pictures of a rock more than a mile away from the actual entrance?"

The Only National Park Untouched By The Shutdown? Obama’s Golf Course

The Liberty Paper

The government “shutdown” has been quite a game of political theater. Most every essential government function remains intact, and furloughed government workers are still receiving their pay for now.

The Obama administration is threatening to cancel the Air Force, Navy football game. However, both athletic clubs receive private funding.

“There would be no cost to the government, there are zero appropriated funds in terms of conducting this contest at the Naval Academy,” Navy athletic director, Chet Gladchuk said. “It has no affect on the budget of the government one way or the other. What it does is that it eliminates the opportunity for the academy to generate critical revenue to support 33 varsity sports.”

The Air Force football team remains a member of the Mountain West Conference. According to Craig Thompson, Mountain West commissioner, institutions have $2.5-3 million in conference distributions, which each team may use at their disposal however they wish.

So again, the government wouldn’t have to pay one red cent to fund the game.

The story continues at Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota. The National Park Service recently shut down the state’s most visited tourist attraction. However, they also placed cones blocking off the road for miles so that tourists couldn’t even snap pictures from the outlook points leading up to the actual monument.

According to Jim Hagen, secretary of South Dakota Department of Tourism, “They won’t even let you pull off on the side of the road. I just don’t know what they’re trying to accomplish.”

However, in case that’s not enough theater, the feds went after privately owned Mt. Vernon, home of George Washington. The property is owned and financed by the Mt. Vernon Ladies Association. The federal government also closed access to the property’s parking lots shortly after they barricaded WWII veterans from viewing their memorial close to the National Mall.

Anyone who can’t see that the shutdown is little more than theater simply isn’t paying attention. If the above examples aren’t enough for you then look no further than to President Obama’s favorite golf course, which remains open. President Obama frequents Andrew’s Air Force Base Golf Course, which boasts three 18-hole courses. It is located on prime Washington D.C. property.

According to the PGA the US government spends an average of $384,000 – $1,000,000 per year on every golf course it owns. The federal government operates some 234 golf courses around the world. Combined, that’s a total of about $140 million per year on golf courses.

The course remains open. Officials cite that the course receives payments from private individuals on snacks and course fees, but it is clear that the courses still run on tax payer dollars. Many federal golf courses are also national parks, such as Yosemite National Park Golf Course.

Even so, how is that any different than the privately owned Mt. Vernon, or the WWII memorial, which has zero staff or operational costs. How is it different than the privately funded Air Force, Navy athletics departments? Why block people from taking pictures of a rock more than a mile away from the actual entrance?

The difference is that the other cases wouldn’t affect Obama and his pals directly. They only affect “we the people”.

Link:
http://www.thelibertypaper.org/2013/10/05/the-only-national-park-untouched-by-the-shutdown-obamas-golf-course/