Okay.  He was 6'3".

The government shutdown illuminates two important things.  First, there are more than 42 million Americans receiving food assistance, and some undocumented folks do as well.  Senator Charles Schumer denies that, but he couldn't care less about the truth.  All the Chuckster has to do is check Oregon's budget; one and a half BILLION dollars is earmarked for migrant health benefits. Twice the dollar amount allocated for Oregon's state police.

But the most important takeaway of the shutdown is the insistence by the Democrats that the Obamacare subsidies, passed during COVID to provide TEMPORARY relief, be made permanent.

When President Obama signed his health assistance bill in March 2010, the Congressional Budget Office estimated it would cost around $940 billion over a ten-year period.

Stunningly wrong.  The number came in around 1.3 TRILLION for the period ending in 2023.  Now the Dems want much more.  Why?  Because the liberal goal is for the federal government to take over the health system.  If the American taxpayers continue to fork over trillions in subsidies, that goal becomes much easier.

There are two truisms here.  First, that some Americans need free healthcare because they are destitute.  America was founded on Judeo-Christian tenets, which demand compassion for those in need.

However, the second truth is that the entitlement system is being gamed by millions.  Sorry, I don't want my tax money going to healthy people who refuse to work.  You want to get high all day long? You're on your own.

Government has never really cared about holding Americans accountable in the entitlement area.  We saw that recently in the Medicare reform measure, where job or volunteer requirements were made mandatory.

The left howled with indignation!  How dare you deny the poor?  You are a white nationalist!  Or something not good.

A growing weakness of the United States is its dependence on an enormous government bureaucracy.  This never works out well.  Incredible waste, and fraud always follows.  No system can evaluate individual circumstances.

But even worse is the mindset of dependency.  It's a form of slavery, if you think about it.  And that's what the progressive left wants - as many folks as possible totally addicted to handouts.

That's not what the "land of the free" is supposed to be about.  That's abject weakness.  And that's the real controversy in the government shutdown.

Sign up to be a Premium or Concierge Member on BillOReilly.com to get the best reporting - honest news and analysis is vital. Sign up here.