Sunday Stills #1: Here's What You Can Do With Your Shutdown

I totally missed this photo until I came across it in Lighbox’s Pictures of the Week gallery a week ago. With conservatives precluding the ability of the government to pay its bills, raining down benjamins was a way of mocking that leverage — along with its paternalism. Putting money visibly into the legislator’s hands is also a direct repudiation of the tactical aim of choking the government. Of course, it’s also a reminder that the role of the Congress, in spite of the the moral grandstanding around budget cutting, ultimately involves appropriation.

(photo: Mark Wilson—Getty Images caption: Oct. 9, 2013. A U.S. Capitol Police officer picks up money that was thrown on the floor by activists protesting against the government shutdown at the Hart Senate Office building, in Washington, DC.)