Next time they threaten a shut-down...

I think we should do to Congress what any other employers would do if their employees were striking and refusing to budge on negotiations.

We stop paying them, and we hire scabs to fill in for them.

But where to find the scabs? It may be difficult to find people willing to fill in at a job where the pay is quite decent, the benefits are huge, the interns are willing, your employers don't actually know what you do and don't really expect anything from you, and you can't get fired for at least four years unless you're actually caught on camera sacrificing children (and even then, it depends which children).

Still, in this economy, SOMEONE will be willing to take on the burden.