JOHN STOSSEL: Government Shutdown Threat Begs the Question -- Just Who Is an 'Essential Worker'?

(By John Stossel, FoxNews.com) - The handwringing continues over who is an “essential” government worker.

This was on Twitter yesterday: '@Gary__Austin Gary Austin: I work at a VA Medical Center, I was told, that office people were non-essential. Nurses, Dr's, Janitors, & etc had to work'.

I understand why government workers are anxious, but wonder why the rest of us should be.

If government shuts down, Americans will notice because the media will do lots of stories on disappointed museum visitors and traveler who can’t get a passport. But without the media hype, I doubt that most people would notice, because so much of what today’s government does doesn’t need doing.