



In recent weeks, politicians on both sides of the aisle have been fundraising off of the government shutdown and possible default. On Monday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee blasted out an appeal to raise $2.5 million in order to stand up “against Republican hostage-takers.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has used the occasion to make a bigger point about the ideology of those tea party hostage takers. On Friday morning, she sent out a missive to her supporters, not to ask for money, but to slam the hypocrisy of “anarchist,” “extremist” GOPers who rage constantly about the ills of big government, and then beg for it when it’s gone. Warren made similar remarks in a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday.

“[N]ow that the House Republicans have shut down the government—holding the country hostage because of some imaginary government ‘health care boogeyman’—Republicans almost immediately turned around and called on us to start reopening parts of our government,” Warren says. And this is nothing new: “After the sequester kicked in,” she adds, “Republicans immediately turned around and called on us to protect funding for our national defense and to keep our air traffic controllers on the job.”

Here’s more Warren debunking the myth of “boogeyman government”:

When was the last time the anarchy gang called for regulators to go easier on companies that put lead in children’s toys? Or for inspectors to stop checking whether the meat in our grocery stores is crawling with deadly bacteria? Or for the FDA to ignore whether morning sickness drugs will cause horrible deformities in our babies? When? Never. In fact, whenever the anarchists make any headway in their quest and cause damage to our government, the opposite happens. … Why do they do this? Because the boogeyman government in the alternate universe of their fiery political speeches isn’t real. It doesn’t exist. Government is real, and it has three basic functions:

1. Provide for the national defense.

2. Put rules in place rules, like traffic lights and bank regulations, that are fair and transparent.

3. Build the things together that none of us can build alone – roads, schools, power grids – the things that give everyone a chance to succeed. … We are alive, we are healthier, we are stronger because of government.

The supporters who received Warren’s email obviously agree with her. Perhaps those Americans who disagree, but can’t get a flu vaccination, or a home loan, or a disability payment with a shut down government, will eventually come around, too.