Fox Business host Stuart Varney believes that the ongoing government shutdown, while presenting no real threat to the economy, offers an opportunity to “punish” federal workers for “living on our backs.”

On the October 2 edition of AM 560's The Big John & Amy Show, co-hosts John Howell and Amy Jacobson interviewed Fox Business' Stuart Varney and asked him about the government shutdown and its effect on workers and the economy. Varney stated, incorrectly, that the shutdown was not having an impact on financial markets or the greater economy before launching into a tirade against federal employees. When asked if federal employees deserved to be recompensed for lost wages during the shutdown, Varney had this to say:

HOWELL: Do you think that federal workers, when this ends, are deserving of their back pay or not?

VARNEY: That is a loaded question isn't it? You want my opinion? This is President Obama's shutdown. He is responsible for shutting this thing down; he's taken an entirely political decision here. No, I don't think they should get their back pay, frankly, I really don't. I'm sick and tired of a massive, bloated federal bureaucracy living on our backs, and taking money out of us, a lot more money than most of us earn in the private sector, then getting a furlough, and then getting their money back at the end of it. Sorry, I'm not for that. I want to punish these people. Sorry to say that, but that's what I want to do.

After co-host Amy Jacobson responded that “it's not the federal employees' fault” and that she hates to see them victimized by a political fight, Varney complained that in “the big picture” he is “getting screwed” by government workers who are “living large”:

JACOBSON: But it's not their fault. It's not the federal employees' fault. I mean, that's what I'm sick of, I hate and it makes me anxious, to see people who are victimized because of a political fight.

VARNEY: I take your point Amy, it is not directly their fault, but I'm looking at the big picture here. I'm getting screwed. Here I am, a private citizen, paying an inordinate amount of money in tax. I've got a slow economy because it's all government, all the time. And these people are living on our backs, regulating us, telling us what to do, taxing us, taking our money, and living large. This is my chance to say “hey, I'm fed up with this and I don't miss you when you're on furlough.” Sorry if that's a harsh tone, but that's the way I feel.

Varney's vengeful tone is nothing new. His attacks on the poor and recipients of government benefits are a common theme in his reporting.

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