Blue Ridge hotel defies Park Service shutdown

[LoneLaugher]

Even though the Blueridge Parkway remains open to traffic the park service ordered a private hotel to close.

"The Pisgah Inn, a private hotel that holds a concession on the Blue Ridge Parkway, has become a national sensation as it defies “intimidation” and a National Park Service order to close its doors."

This hotel receives no federal funds yet the dear leader is paying rangers to block the hotel entrance. The hotel actually pays the government a franchise fee based on its income. This means our little dictator wannabe is costing us money beyond the pay for the rangers to block the hotel. Plus they are putting 100 people out of work needlessly.


Blue Ridge hotel defies Park Service shutdown - Washington Times

What few people seem to realize is the inn is privately owned but on federal property, that means when the government shuts down the inn must shut down too. To allow concessions within the parks and monuments to operate with the people responsible for health and safety absent is not in best interest of the public.

Apparently right wing media was so excited by a headline of government shutting down private business that they ignored the facts.

This was addressed early in the thread, the inn is located on a parkway that is remaining open and patrolled by the rangers, they are taking extra manpower to block the drive to the inn from the parkway. The business owner is responsible for safety in his area of responsibility. There is no rational reason for this action.

You are assuming all of that.

Please stop.

The decision regarding what is funded or not....and what stays open or closes is not made by the ******* White House.

You assholes are embarrassing.

 

[gallantwarrior]

If the Conservative wing, the Tea Party wing of the Republican congressional delegation could accept these facts: The ACA was passed, signed into law and deemed constitutional by the SCOTUS and,
The Republican nominee for President campaigned to repeal the Act and was soundly defeated (the wish of the American people).

There are rules and measures to enact and repeal legislation that do not evolve destroying the American system of government.

If these extremists realized those simple, commonly known facts,
would we be in a shutdown today?

It is the obsessive drive of folks who went to Washington not to govern but to sabotage and destroy that lead this crisis. What clear thinking people are left to wonder is how can they say that the results of their obsession is the fault of anyone but themselves?

How much bullshit can we endure from them without the people rejecting their venomous brand of politics?

Whether you like it or not, Nosmo, nobody in Congress, except the Senate who won't pass a budget, are failing to follow the rules that Congress set down. "Nay" votes are just as legal as "aye" votes. So why should the House Republicans be required to vote for something they believe to be fiscally corrupt and immoral to boot just because a Democratic super majority crammed something down their throat that most Americans no longer wish to have?

If you were absolutely opposed to something a Republican majority passed, and you voted the Republicans out of the majority in one chamber of Congress so that the Democrats could fix it, would you be as condemning of the Democrats who were voting exactly as those who elected them wished them to vote?

So are you saying that the Tea Party Republicans are acting responsibly and in total honesty? How can they blame the shutdown on anyone but themselves? Had they done things with the best interests of the American people in mind, would they shut down the federal government, or is it nothing but the cheapest form of political theater?

Plenty of blame to go around, as far as I can see. How can you not blame the opposition team that refuses to negotiate on any point...you know, the "my way or the highway, f**k everybody else" bunch. Particularly the pack of criminals lead by Reid and Pelosi.

 

[TooTall]

"Just before the weekend, the National Park Service informed charter boat captains in Florida that the Florida Bay was "closed" due to the shutdown. Until government funding is restored, the fishing boats are prohibited from taking anglers into 1,100 square-miles of open ocean. Fishing is also prohibited at Biscayne National Park during the shutdown. "

"
The Park Service will also have rangers on duty to police the ban. Of access to an ocean. The government will probably use more personnel and spend more resources to attempt to close the ocean, than it would in its normal course of business.
This is governing by temper-tantrum. It is on par with the government's ham-fisted attempts to close the DC WWII Memorial, an open-air public monument that is normally accessible 24 hours a day. By accessible I mean, you walk up to it. When you have finished reflecting, you then walk away from it."

"
Apparently, according to an anonymous Park Service ranger, “We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting.”
Centuries ago, King Canute famously failed to command the ocean tide to stop. His display was actually a means to educate his subjects on the limits of royal power. Today, however, our President actually believes he has the power to control the oceans. "






Feds Try to Close the OCEAN Because of Shutdown

Here are just 3 places that were affected by the shutdown and 1 that wasn't. Take notice that 3 of the 4 are in states that Romney carried. The last one was given a go-ahead since they did vote for Obama.

In Wisconsin, officials are keeping seven federally subsidized state-owned forest, wildlife and recreation areas open, even after receiving instructions from the federal Department of the Interior to close them. The state lands depend on federal funds for 18% of their budgets, or $701,000 total.

But the federal government turned down Republican South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard's offer to keep the Mount Rushmore National Memorial open with state workers. The National Park Service told state officials that it was required to use federal employees, not state employees, at the monument, and that opening Mount Rushmore would set a precedent to open the other federal parks.

With the partial suspension of U.S. government services showing no signs of ending, tourists will continue to be turned away from the Grand Canyon, despite a push by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and local businesses to reopen the state's signature national park.
Brewer wants the iconic park reopened and has offered to pay for it with state money, but her proposal was rejected Thursday by a park official who said that as long as the federal government remains shut down, such a plan isn't an option

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D., Md.) worked with the memorial, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Fire Administration to open the site briefly for the annual memorial service.

 

[Flopper]

Even though the Blueridge Parkway remains open to traffic the park service ordered a private hotel to close.

"The Pisgah Inn, a private hotel that holds a concession on the Blue Ridge Parkway, has become a national sensation as it defies “intimidation” and a National Park Service order to close its doors."

This hotel receives no federal funds yet the dear leader is paying rangers to block the hotel entrance. The hotel actually pays the government a franchise fee based on its income. This means our little dictator wannabe is costing us money beyond the pay for the rangers to block the hotel. Plus they are putting 100 people out of work needlessly.


Blue Ridge hotel defies Park Service shutdown - Washington Times

What few people seem to realize is the inn is privately owned but on federal property, that means when the government shuts down the inn must shut down too. To allow concessions within the parks and monuments to operate with the people responsible for health and safety absent is not in best interest of the public.

Apparently right wing media was so excited by a headline of government shutting down private business that they ignored the facts.

I wouldn't be surprised to find that some in the RW media know this but decided it's worth reporting like they did anyway to get their readers all nice and hopped up...


...oh wait, I mean keep their readers all nice and hopped up.

I have a friend that works in Yellowstone. He said all concessions including hotels are closed to the public. Campers were given 48 hours to leave the park. The park service has the power and responsibility to close franchised concessions when there are concerns for health and safety. Most of the parks and monuments are operating with a skeleton crew.

 

[Papageorgio]

What the Moonie Times left out:

Bruce O'Connell, described in the article as the "owner" of the Inn, isn't the owner after all. He leases the place from the National Park Service.

How did they leave that out when they said the inn was on federal land?

"Left out" as in "misled and then failed to clarify". Here's the wording in the article:

>> Inn owner Bruce O'Connell confirmed to The Washington Times that rangers were parked at the entrance to his inn... <<

Except it ain't his inn; it's the gummint's. What Bruce owns is the business of running the inn, for the term of his lease.

As to whether the gummint's in violation of that lease, I don't have a copy of it so I don't know what provision might be in there for gumint shutdowns, but what I read did mention that they told O'Connell he was in violation.

The first sentence in the article says "holds a concession" seems pretty foresight to me. He has been operating the inn for several years, so his inn seems normal, after all it was Bruce that said "his inn" the article simply quoted him.

My confusion is, it costs the government nothing to let it stay open and the government makes money off the lease and how much he sells. So at a time when the government can make money, it's using government money to keep it shut down. That doesn't make sense.

 

[OKTexas]

What few people seem to realize is the inn is privately owned but on federal property, that means when the government shuts down the inn must shut down too. To allow concessions within the parks and monuments to operate with the people responsible for health and safety absent is not in best interest of the public.

Apparently right wing media was so excited by a headline of government shutting down private business that they ignored the facts.

This was addressed early in the thread, the inn is located on a parkway that is remaining open and patrolled by the rangers, they are taking extra manpower to block the drive to the inn from the parkway. The business owner is responsible for safety in his area of responsibility. There is no rational reason for this action.

You are assuming all of that.

Please stop.

The decision regarding what is funded or not....and what stays open or closes is not made by the ******* White House.

You assholes are embarrassing.

No, I'm not assuming a damned thing, the Blueridge Parkway is a through road and remains open and patrolled and the inn is located on the parkway. The inn is a private business that pays franchise fees to the government based on its income, it does not receive federal funds and the budget has no bearing on their operations. And yes the executive branch does decide what is closed. I know this is a hard concept for you low information voters to understand, but that's the way it is.

 

[Pogo]

"Just before the weekend, the National Park Service informed charter boat captains in Florida that the Florida Bay was "closed" due to the shutdown. Until government funding is restored, the fishing boats are prohibited from taking anglers into 1,100 square-miles of open ocean. Fishing is also prohibited at Biscayne National Park during the shutdown. "

"
The Park Service will also have rangers on duty to police the ban. Of access to an ocean. The government will probably use more personnel and spend more resources to attempt to close the ocean, than it would in its normal course of business.
This is governing by temper-tantrum. It is on par with the government's ham-fisted attempts to close the DC WWII Memorial, an open-air public monument that is normally accessible 24 hours a day. By accessible I mean, you walk up to it. When you have finished reflecting, you then walk away from it."

"
Apparently, according to an anonymous Park Service ranger, &#8220;We&#8217;ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It&#8217;s disgusting.&#8221;
Centuries ago, King Canute famously failed to command the ocean tide to stop. His display was actually a means to educate his subjects on the limits of royal power. Today, however, our President actually believes he has the power to control the oceans. "



Feds Try to Close the OCEAN Because of Shutdown

Here are just 3 places that were affected by the shutdown and 1 that wasn't. Take notice that 3 of the 4 are in states that Romney carried. The last one was given a go-ahead since they did vote for Obama.

In Wisconsin, officials are keeping seven federally subsidized state-owned forest, wildlife and recreation areas open, even after receiving instructions from the federal Department of the Interior to close them. The state lands depend on federal funds for 18% of their budgets, or $701,000 total.

I don't know about your other examples but the Wisconsin story has already been debunked (here). It wouldn't surprise me to find similar debunkments for some of the others. That's what happens in a political circus.

Wouldn't surprise me, but just not worth the time to look this silly shit up -- that one above, somebody else found.

That said, your fly-on-the-wall report of how these decisions came down is fascinating. And it doesn't work anyway; both Maryland and Wisconsin voted for O'bama, which makes 2 out of 4.

 

[JakeStarkey]

The only tantrum here is yours, OKTexas.

Jake a heads up. All hell is about to rise up over this. Make sure you are on the right side of it.

Whatever side JakeTheFake is on is, by definition, the WRONG side! Haven't you realized that by now?

The fact remains that Obama has thrown no tantrum, but has the numbers, the will of the people, and time on his side.

The only tantrums here are by the reactionaries of the far right.

 

[Pogo]

How did they leave that out when they said the inn was on federal land?

"Left out" as in "misled and then failed to clarify". Here's the wording in the article:

>> Inn owner Bruce O'Connell confirmed to The Washington Times that rangers were parked at the entrance to his inn... <<

Except it ain't his inn; it's the gummint's. What Bruce owns is the business of running the inn, for the term of his lease.

As to whether the gummint's in violation of that lease, I don't have a copy of it so I don't know what provision might be in there for gumint shutdowns, but what I read did mention that they told O'Connell he was in violation.

The first sentence in the article says "holds a concession" seems pretty foresight to me. He has been operating the inn for several years, so his inn seems normal, after all it was Bruce that said "his inn" the article simply quoted him.

My confusion is, it costs the government nothing to let it stay open and the government makes money off the lease and how much he sells. So at a time when the government can make money, it's using government money to keep it shut down. That doesn't make sense.

Actually it's not quoting him; it's a third-person reference. Which means the writer of the article chose the wording.
IOW it wasn't Bruce O'Connell who said "Inn owner Bruce O'Connell"; it was the writer/editor, about him.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Ten days ago, every nutter here would have voted to defund all national parks, monuments and museums.

Today they are the most ardent defenders of these institutions.

Tomorrow, will they approve funding for more national parks? I wonder?

******* overbearing bullshit.

Yer lying again, pisshead!

 

[LoneLaugher]

This was addressed early in the thread, the inn is located on a parkway that is remaining open and patrolled by the rangers, they are taking extra manpower to block the drive to the inn from the parkway. The business owner is responsible for safety in his area of responsibility. There is no rational reason for this action.

You are assuming all of that.

Please stop.

The decision regarding what is funded or not....and what stays open or closes is not made by the ******* White House.

You assholes are embarrassing.

No, I'm not assuming a damned thing, the Blueridge Parkway is a through road and remains open and patrolled and the inn is located on the parkway. The inn is a private business that pays franchise fees to the government based on its income, it does not receive federal funds and the budget has no bearing on their operations. And yes the executive branch does decide what is closed. I know this is a hard concept for you low information voters to understand, but that's the way it is.

Are you going to prove any of it?

 

[Amelia]

Jake a heads up. All hell is about to rise up over this. Make sure you are on the right side of it.

Whatever side JakeTheFake is on is, by definition, the WRONG side! Haven't you realized that by now?

The fact remains that Obama has thrown no tantrum, but has the numbers, the will of the people, and time on his side.

The only tantrums here are by the reactionaries of the far right.

President Obama Job Approval
RCP Average

Approve 43.7
Disapprove 50.9

Spread -7.2


The spread has increased since the shutdown started.


He does not currently have the will of the people on his side. If he regains the will of the people it will in part be because stories of people the Obama admin is going out of their way at extra taxpayer expense to harm aren't getting the airplay they deserve.

Barrack Barrycade No-Negotiating Obama needs some better advice than he is getting right now.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Even though the Blueridge Parkway remains open to traffic the park service ordered a private hotel to close.

"The Pisgah Inn, a private hotel that holds a concession on the Blue Ridge Parkway, has become a national sensation as it defies “intimidation” and a National Park Service order to close its doors."

This hotel receives no federal funds yet the dear leader is paying rangers to block the hotel entrance. The hotel actually pays the government a franchise fee based on its income. This means our little dictator wannabe is costing us money beyond the pay for the rangers to block the hotel. Plus they are putting 100 people out of work needlessly.


Blue Ridge hotel defies Park Service shutdown - Washington Times

What few people seem to realize is the inn is privately owned but on federal property, that means when the government shuts down the inn must shut down too. To allow concessions within the parks and monuments to operate with the people responsible for health and safety absent is not in best interest of the public.

Apparently right wing media was so excited by a headline of government shutting down private business that they ignored the facts.

That might actually make sense if it made sense. Unfortunately, there two problems with your statement, the most crucial being that the government did not ******* shutdown. The proof of this statement is the fact that the government is busy spending money shutting down a private business that stayed open during previous fake shutdown dramas.


Then again, no one ever accused Flopper of being able to reach a logical conclusion.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

This invitation is still open from yesterday -- post where I've "defended the government". I'm getting used to the sound of crickets.

What is it with you people who think you can just make shit up?

Seriously? Do you read your posts?

And .... that's supposed to be the documentation for what you can't find?

No shit, the most honest thing you've ever done on this board is your choice of screen name.

Some things do not require documentation. Documenting you defending the government would be like documenting the fact that the sky is blue.

 

[Jarlaxle]

OKTexas remains merely one of those who believe they know all, see all, understand all while, in fact, has not a clue.

Wow...talk about pure projection!

Nah, that's your hero, Rush.

Haven't listened to Rush at all in 10+ years, haven't listened regularly in 15...but you're wrong on everything else, what's one more thing?

 

[bodecea]

Because it is on federal land, and the government cannot provide services for which it is liable?

Exactly.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Even though the Blueridge Parkway remains open to traffic the park service ordered a private hotel to close.

"The Pisgah Inn, a private hotel that holds a concession on the Blue Ridge Parkway, has become a national sensation as it defies “intimidation” and a National Park Service order to close its doors."

This hotel receives no federal funds yet the dear leader is paying rangers to block the hotel entrance. The hotel actually pays the government a franchise fee based on its income. This means our little dictator wannabe is costing us money beyond the pay for the rangers to block the hotel. Plus they are putting 100 people out of work needlessly.


Blue Ridge hotel defies Park Service shutdown - Washington Times

What few people seem to realize is the inn is privately owned but on federal property, that means when the government shuts down the inn must shut down too. To allow concessions within the parks and monuments to operate with the people responsible for health and safety absent is not in best interest of the public.

Apparently right wing media was so excited by a headline of government shutting down private business that they ignored the facts.

I wouldn't be surprised to find that some in the RW media know this but decided it's worth reporting like they did anyway to get their readers all nice and hopped up...


...oh wait, I mean keep their readers all nice and hopped up.

If the government was actually shut down they wouldn't be able to send people out to tell business to shut down. By the way, any business that actually depends on a government service that no longer exists will shut down without being told. The evidence that supports my position is the fact that banks have stopped issuing SBA loans because the service behind them no longer exists.

Try using deductive reasoning occasionally, you might find yourself learning how to think.

 

[bodecea]

What the Moonie Times left out:

Bruce O'Connell, described in the article as the "owner" of the Inn, isn't the owner after all. He leases the place from the National Park Service.

Yeah? So? Around here, there are three companies that lease land from the Corps of Engineers to operate marinas...and they're remaining open.

Is the Corps of Engineers the National Park Service?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

What few people seem to realize is the inn is privately owned but on federal property, that means when the government shuts down the inn must shut down too. To allow concessions within the parks and monuments to operate with the people responsible for health and safety absent is not in best interest of the public.

Apparently right wing media was so excited by a headline of government shutting down private business that they ignored the facts.

This was addressed early in the thread, the inn is located on a parkway that is remaining open and patrolled by the rangers, they are taking extra manpower to block the drive to the inn from the parkway. The business owner is responsible for safety in his area of responsibility. There is no rational reason for this action.

You are assuming all of that.

Please stop.

The decision regarding what is funded or not....and what stays open or closes is not made by the ******* White House.

You assholes are embarrassing.

You are assuming that everyone is as stupid as you.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

What few people seem to realize is the inn is privately owned but on federal property, that means when the government shuts down the inn must shut down too. To allow concessions within the parks and monuments to operate with the people responsible for health and safety absent is not in best interest of the public.

Apparently right wing media was so excited by a headline of government shutting down private business that they ignored the facts.

I wouldn't be surprised to find that some in the RW media know this but decided it's worth reporting like they did anyway to get their readers all nice and hopped up...


...oh wait, I mean keep their readers all nice and hopped up.

I have a friend that works in Yellowstone. He said all concessions including hotels are closed to the public. Campers were given 48 hours to leave the park. The park service has the power and responsibility to close franchised concessions when there are concerns for health and safety. Most of the parks and monuments are operating with a skeleton crew.

What's your point?