While I am certainly no expert on US government shutdows, furloughs or whatever
they may be called (being a resident of Mike Harris's Ontario and a sufferer of
the 'common sense revolution'), I think you missed the point. The national
institutions are not threatening to shut down or, as you seem to imply, crying
wolf. They are shut down during one of the busiest times for museums
everywhere. The Christmas/Holiday season brings in tourists from all over the
place to galleries and museums everywhere. Being forced to close during this
time can put not just a serious dent in an institution's budget but an
extremely damaging one.  As Felicia Pickering stated it is extremely
unfortunate that the government fails to recognize this. While they argue back
and forth, federally funded institutions are losing a lot of money, money which
would go not just to operations but also to help cover programming costs and
borrowing costs for exhibits. And it is very clear that in times like this,
whle an institution may try, there is very little point in asking the
government for increased funding because it simply isn't there. So they lose
twice, and the public does not get to see what they have already paid for.