As the federal government 'shutdown' (if you can even call keeping 83 percent of the government open a shutdown) continues, more examples of the federal government's desire to make the shutdown as painful as possible emerge. The latest example is the park service preventing a group of senior citizens from taking pictures in Yellowstone National Park. After which the rangers prevented the tourists from leaving their hotel. From The Eagle-Tribune:
The bus stopped along a road when a large herd of bison passed nearby, and seniors filed out to take photos. Almost immediately, an armed ranger came by and ordered them to get back in, saying they couldn’t “recreate.” The tour guide, who had paid a $300 fee the day before to bring the group into the park, argued that the seniors weren’t “recreating,” just taking photos.
“She responded and said, ‘Sir, you are recreating,’ and her tone became very aggressive,” Vaillancourt said.
The seniors quickly filed back on board and the bus went to the Old Faithful Inn, the park’s premier lodge located adjacent to the park’s most famous site, Old Faithful geyser. That was as close as they could get to the famous site — barricades were erected around Old Faithful, and the seniors were locked inside the hotel, where armed rangers stayed at the door.
Just how much is it costing the government to stalk tourists to prevent picture taking, and barricade seniors inside their hotel?
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PDFTags: shutdown