One of the oddities of a federal shutdown is that official lines of congressional communication disappear, or are severely restricted.

If a constituent should call to register an opinion, for or against, on the shutdown, there’s often no one to pick up the telephone. The same goes for email.

Some workarounds are already popping up. A press release from U.S. Rep. Tom Price, R-Roswell, arrived this morning, assuring us that he was doing his very best to keep national parks open and veterans served. It was sent by a private firm he’s apparently hired.

Likewise, in a notice sent from his U.S. Senate campaign account, U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Marietta, announced that he would opt out of federal health care coverage provided under the Affordable Care Act.

Gingrey said he would shun benefits from the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, amid controversy over the employer subsidies granted to members of Congress and their staffs as they are forced to enter the Obamacare exchanges.,

Gingrey is one of those trying to strip those subsidies. House Republicans did attach that provision to one of their failed shutdown ping-pong shots, though it’s still a long-shot from becoming law.

In the meantime, Gingrey is bailing.

"I will be personally seeking alternatives for my family's health care coverage, just like the rest of Americans affected by Obamacare,” Gingrey said in a statement. “In the meantime, I will do everything in my power to fight this terrible piece of legislation."

He has until Jan. 1 to find new health care coverage for himself and his wife. Among the possibilities for the 71-year-old Gingrey, a spokeswoman confirmed, is another federal government program: Medicare.

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Speaking of Obamacare and irony: Above is a video clip from Lori Geary of Channel 2 Action News, on a $45 million annual hit that Grady Memorial Hospital will take under the Affordable Care Act.

The hospital is caught in a pinch. Federal subsidies for hospitals that handle a boatload of indigent patients was cut under the ACA, with the expectation that the expansion of Medicaid rolls by the various states would pick up the slack.

But Georgia has refused to expand its Medicaid operation, and so Grady will be required to reduce its footprint.

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Though the U.S. Senate refused to appoint conferees to match the House’s attempt to resolve the government shutdown through the oft-discarded negotiation between the chambers, they did appoint negotiators for the Farm Bill.

Among them is Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., a former chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, who will be carrying the concerns of Southern peanut farmers at a time when they feel shafted by Midwestern interests.

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State Sen. Don Balfour, R-Snellville, whom a Fulton County grand jury indicted last week for misuse of his legislative expense account, has picked up his first primary opponent. From the Gwinnett Post:

On Tuesday, Lawrenceville Councilman P.K. Martin announced he would seek Balfour’s District 9 seat, which covers much of Lawrenceville and Snellville.

“After a lot of thought, prayer and encouragement from people all over the district, I am excited to announce my campaign for state Senate,” Martin said in a press release. “I am running because we need an ethical, conservative leader in the Senate who will make us proud and work hard to deliver conservative reforms to improve this district and our state.”

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Our friend Joe McCutchen of Elijay is in full rebellion. He’s already supporting Dalton Mayor David Pennington over incumbent Gov. Nathan Deal in next year’s GOP primary. This morning, he sent out this note:

Enjoyed seeing Sam Snider at Gilmer Republican Party meeting last night.  Sam is a very fine person and an outstanding leader. Coaching the wrestling team to 11 state championships shows what a great leader he is. Sam, good luck to you, you will be a taxpayer champion when you are elected.

Snider is mounting a GOP primary challenge to House Speaker David Ralston of Blue Ridge.

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Here’s a new twist in the old Georgia fight between trial lawyers and the medical community: An organization called the 60 Plus Association, a group that defines itself as a conservative alternative to the AARP, is asking Republican state lawmakers to foreswear campaign contributions from trial lawyers or their political action committees.

From the group's letter:

“[W]e are asking you to sign the enclosed public pledge we are sending legislators by Oct. 20, 2013, affirming your opposition to the policy goals of the trial lawyers and any future contributions from their PAC. After accumulating and reviewing all petitions, 60 Plus plans on holding all Georgia legislators accountable by publicizing the results.”

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On Tuesday, our AJC colleague Mark Niesse noted this twist in a search firm’s hunt for a new Atlanta Public Schools superintendent:

Money for BoardWalk Consulting’s contract will flow from the unidentified benefactors to Atlanta Public Schools, and the school system will then pay the firm, said Howard Grant, who handles the school board’s administration as its executive director. The money has been raised, and the identity of the group or individuals giving it will be known once invoices are filed, he said.

State Sen. Vincent Fort, R-Atlanta, isn’t satisfied with that timetable. He’s filed a demand, under the auspices of the state Open Records Act, for immediate disclosure of name of the private underwriter – and the dollar figures involved.

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We all know that a movie can be so bad that it’s good. “Plan 9 From Outer Space,” for instance. Likewise, in writing, a metaphor can be so overwrought that it becomes a wonder in itself. Here’s the lede of an editorial in the Rome News-Tribune, describing a budget fight on the Floyd County Commission:

The sheriff fired both barrels of an oratorical shotgun at the county commissioners and it appeared to go right over their heads. Such aim might have been deliberate ... and a warning shot.

It is unusual to hear a sheriff being this blunt, but then Tim Burkhalter is that rare sheriff who remains highly popular both among his deputies and, more important, the citizens whom he serves.

When it comes to budgetary matters, for decades now Floyd sheriffs have complained about being shortchanged by commissioners when it comes time to distribute taxes. They have all been right to some degree, but now the cumulative effect of this has reached the point where this sheriff might well lower his shotgun, replace the rhetorical rock salt with bear-hunting slugs — and he does possess such ammunition —  and aim it straight at the gut of the commission.

Literature. That’s what it is. Literature.