Notes on the shutdown (government shuts down private businesses)

The federal government, in the guise of a government shutdown, is stationing park rangers in front of a private business and stopping customers from entering. The Pisgah Inn in North Carolina is a concession inn. The owner has a deal with the National Park Service to run an inn. Apparently, however, they feel free to put him out of business for political reasons. Just as apparently, they have come up with enough money to guard the parking lot during the shutdown. Seems like they could be using this money to keep something running instead. A partial list of the things that they are spending money to guard in order to keep people away: Washington open air monuments such as the WWII memorial (Washington DC) Pisgah Inn (North Carolina) Cliff House restaurant (San Francisco) Note that there have been confirmed reports of as many as eight park rangers guarding the barricades around the Lincoln Memorial and the WWII Memorial to keep people from walking up to them. Contrast this with the number of rangers who normally guard these displays (zero).