"...the standoff with Democrats continues."
Nonsense! The Republicans wouldn't give him his wall other. They had two years to do it and didn't.
This is a standoff between Trump and reality.
How did this become an "emergency" on the day Democrats took over the house, but wasn't an emergency on October?
37
“If the shutdown leads to a loss of talent for the federal government, it could be harder for it to compete for new hires in a labor market this tight.” Maybe draining Our Republic of talented employees is exactly the point of Trump's shut down?
The wall lies only one possible reason for this shut down. There are other reasons Trump may want to shut down the government.
It may just be the general Republican attack on government?
Maybe Mueller sent evidence of tax fraud to be IRS, FEC,
Maybe Putin asked him to do it?
There is nothing Trump won't lie about and no part of government he won't blow up. Don't take anything he does at face value.
11
Trump is the problem — not congressional Democrats — along with the feckless congressional Republicans who simply cannot govern, only bow to the incompetent narcissist-in-chief. The government shutdown and any economic consequences, and there will be many, are all the result of Trumpian failure to accept responsibility for actual governance.
Trump has spent his life avoiding being held responsible for his behavior and his lying. But as president he's unable to control and avoid being held accountable by many. Not Republicans, mind you, who may approve of him by 90 percent but only represent less than a third of voters. Trump will find himself unable to avoid the inevitable — not by being impeached, but by not being reelected. There are not enough supporters to save him for this well-deserved fate.
Eclectic Pragmatism — http://eclectic-pragmatist.tumblr.com/
Eclectic Pragmatist — https://medium.com/eclectic-pragmatism
8
White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett has assured the American public that those furloughed are essentially "on vacation" right now, without having to use up their actual vacation days, and having the expectation of paychecks, eventually. This type of thinking could find this guy .... running for President! Reality is obviously not one of his touchstones, and not many people - other than Trump - have the sheer gall to make a statement as stupid as this one. “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt” (Maurice Switzer). It's great to be a Republican!
7
Mr. Trump...faces other economic headwinds, including slowing global growth, a trade war with China and the waning effects of a $1.5 trillion tax cut.
"Headwinds" of his own creation.
Trump’s economists doubled projections of how much economic growth is being lost each week the standoff with Democrats continues
It's not a "standoff" with Democrats: it's a wannabe dictator trying to grab power from the branch of government that legally controls spending. He proposed a wall, they turned him down. The majority of Americans don't want it either.
12
The shutdown is not the product of one person. The Democrat's leadership have said, "Not one penny." Now they say if Trump reopens the government, they might negotiate. That goes no where. If they want to negotiate, why not now? Well, this week they are more intent on the Great Lawyer Cohen production. This is the lawyer who secretly taped a client, reported to have lied to the government and threw out client privilege. The government is not completely shut down. There parts that are classified essential. A resent op-ed implied we will be eating smelly contaminated food. The FDA hasn't closed down. The wall was one of Trumps campaign promises and as we have seen, he has tried to keep those promises. There are other ways to secure borders such as the one between Pakistan and India. Money could be allocated for a wall in the most problematic areas and other money for development and use of alternatives in other areas. the Democrats are use to the Republicans caving. They always do. But this pen is in Trump's hand and that changes everything.
It is not only unpaid government contractors who won't recover when the shutdown is over. The ripples go throughout the economy, as restaurants and other industries are taking a hit. You can't make up dinners and lunches missed. You can't squeeze in more hair and manicure appointments. Entertainment opportunities are coming and going, and you can't get them back. People who are sitting idle can't work double time once the government reopens and people are hiring again. The businesses that have seen steep falls in patronage will not make up that lost revenue.
7
The only thing that makes sense is that the Republicans who stand by idly while Trump manages them is because they're equally corrupt ("honor among thieves"); Trump has blackmailed them or threatened them in some way. To me, it's the only reason they would abide his monstrous behavior. Before he ruins our country or declares war, we need him out of office as soon as possible. Please.
12
"While Vice President Mike Pence previously played down the shutdown’s effects amid a “roaring” economy, White House officials are now cautioning Mr. Trump about the toll it could take on a sustained economic expansion."
The Evangelical whisperer doesn't know what he is talking about per usual.
9
@Jacquie: Pence just repeats what he believes God tells him to say through a sub-ethereal communications link that almost instantaneously spans a 27 billion year round trip.
1
What part of "Art of the Deal" teaches you to wait to negotiate until you have an enemy at the table?
4
@Kim R: The art of Trump's steal is being so obnoxious that people will pay to get him to bother someone else.
2
I wonder if Vlad really does have the Kompromat! From afar, Donald does appear to be inflicting more damage to the US, both politically and financially than any past Russian or Soviet leader ever managed to achieved. Divide and rule!
4
Trump doesn't even need to know what Putin's kompromat is to feel vulnerable.
1
With Trump as president, it does not matter to him if the whole system collapses cause Trump will still be saying that this is the BEST economy ever. The 35% will still be believing him.
4
Recession/depression here we come.
Consider how complex and fragile our economy is.Suspect it will take little to unbalance it. AND if all the safeguards to prevent another 1929 style crash and subsequent depression are government, and the government has been destroyed, what is likely to happen?
Big Ooops?
@smarty's mom: It is amazing to me that a multiple bankrupt like Trump evidently doesn't know how liquidity crises happen.
4
For the people who say TSA and air traffic controllers should call in sick en masse, something similar happened in 1981 when President Reagan fired 11,000 striking controllers. They covered the gaps with military personnel. The same would happen now, at least for the major hubs. I agree it would add pressure but there would be work arounds.
1
In addition to federal employees there are 2-3 times as many federal contractors out of work. I think most if not all of them are not paid, and won’t likely get back pay and probably lack the better benefits of public employees. Why are we not hearing more about them?
8
If the President is not working, how will we know? Federal workers are not professional Tweeters. Most Federal workers are not paid for lying unless they work for President Trump. What’s next will state Government employees be furloughed until some Governor gets funding for a pet project?
Opening the government will not magically get all the backlogs done. Sending federal employees back to work will not remove their anger or feelings of being unappreciated.
The cost of shutting down the federal government cannot be measured in dollars alone.
5
Yeah, great, let his staffer drive for Uber. It will give the staffer a chance to see how very little that pays.
2
@David Martin: The hack business has always been an exploitation racket when unregulated, even when it was horse-propelled.
3
Another great deal put together by Trump— most federal workers will not be working for 5-6 weeks— they task go undone. But they will receive back pay which is fair enough. So we the tax payer will be for services for 12 months but only receiving the services for maybe 9.5-10.5 month. That is equal to a TAX increase of 8-14% based on the services provided. Great deal ! Shows 2 things. 1. Trump has no concern for the working men and women of the country and 2. He is terrible at arithmetic unfit to be president
1
Treason is defined in the United States as "giving aid and comfort" to an enemy. In causing and continuing the shutdown, Trump is engaging in yet another treasonous act. If his assignment as president was defined as harming the country as much as possible, thereby aiding Russia, it's hard to imagine him doing a better job, or being more clearly treasonous.
Ironically, A couple of centuries ago in England, my statement above, criticizing the "royalty," would have been treasonous.
1
I have to say, as twisted up in knots as the Brits are right now, at least the Parliament can manage to hold a vote on Brexit and one on confidence in the government. This shows a faith in democracy and its process that is sorely lacking in the US Senate. Mitch McConnell won't trust the senators -- nor the citizens they represent -- to express their will in an open, democratic process. McConnell is just as much of an autocrat as Trump. Maybe even more so. He's the one blocking democracy; Trump is just a petulant child whining to get an extra piece of candy.
5
Why should Trump think he should control the legislative process? Legislation- and government funding- is the duty of the legislature. Trump's duty is to execute the laws, not make them. The Senate needs to vote on the House bill which was passed unanimously in the previous Senate and send it to Trump. If he vetoes it, they could override it, based on their previous unanimous approval even with a few new members in the current Congress.
The Trump Monument (Wall) is a separate bill and does not need to be part of the funding for anything other than Homeland Security funding.
9
@Jao
Yes, WE know that, but Trump is a narcissistic sociopath who would be emperor. He sees himself as an autocrat (like Putin), answerable to no one. Senate, SCOTUS - irrelevant to HIS rule.
Trump has done more to destroy America than Putin could ever have dreamed. "Treason" does not even begin to describe his actions.
6
Donald, Nancy and Chuck, along with their fellow Dems and Reps are equally responsible for the shutdown. My gratitude extends to one and all. As a Voluntarist (http://voluntaryist.com/), I look forward to the demise of the always-violent nation state and the inception of true self-government. I see this shutdown as hastening the day of this nation's demise, and I am grateful. Certainly a large number of Americans are feeling no pain and perhaps some relief from the shutdown. Some of these folks may decide a voluntary system would be more productive and safe from the quicksand of unpredictable rulers.
2
@Ned Netterville: You'll obvious take a shutdown however you can get it. Personally I will never vote for anyone who promotes the interruption of public services for any reason, much less to extort and to bully.
4
The Democrats should make the following offer to Trump: we will match, dollar for dollar, any amount the Mexican government puts up for building the wall.
15
The country doesn’t matter. The economy doesn’t matter. Our future doesn’t matter. The lives of thousands of federal workers don’t matter.
Nothing matters but Trump’s vanity project, and his bruised toddler ego.
America is dead. Destroyed by a raging baby, and his feckless, complicit Republican enablers. I can’t turn on the TV without seeing our leaders daily doing the treasonous and the unthinkable.
How do we recover from all this damage? Even if it ended tomorrow, scars will be left that will take decades to heal.
God help us!
11
I agree with all that, but there will be any help from God.
@GWBear: I'm amazed that more religious people aren't suspicious that their God is insulted by the pretense that it is responsible for the state of this ape-run zoo, and sending down harsh weather to display its displeasure.
While the House has passed several bills that are congruent with bills passed in Senate, McConell refuses to brings them to the floor. Why isn’t more pressure exerted on the Senate majority leader. He is as much of a roadblock as trump. It seems that Pelosi and the House is doing its job while the Senate is not. Put pressure on McConnell. He a major problem
9
"Mr. Hassett said… much of the damage should be repaired once the shutdown ends and workers get back pay."
Mr. Hassett is, of course, wrong. When the Federal Government pays a fortune for work not completed, there is always real damage. These workers should get back pay, but then they will need to be paid again to complete the work they have missed. Some or this work had to be completed on schedule, so there will also be real damage from the delay. For example, there have already been reports about how the failure to update hurricane models on time will make predictions less accurate than they could have been in the next hurricane season, leading to unnecessary damage.
4
Imagine this: you are sitting in a airliner flying into the incredibly congested airspace around JFK, LGA, EWR and several smaller airports. The person on the ground directing all this traffic is not getting paid and worrying how his kids will be fed.
8
Major transportation project schedules are slipping because US Fish is furloughed and can’t sign off on permits.
Dear NYT, please keep shutdown human interest stories front and center! Opinions are most readily formed or changed by stories about people we can relate to. Facts about economic growth don’t resonate with most readers in the same way a story about a hardworking federal employee in desperate straights can. It is also crucial to emphasize that those being harmed belong to both parties.
5
If you were wondering how trump would destroy the economy and cause a recession, now you know.
15
I'm confused. How exactly is human suffering and economic discord supposed to eventually lead to Trump getting his wall funded? Is this sick strategy based on his belief that a progressive increase in federal workers pain will cause them to put sufficient pressure on those in congress against a wall so they will finally give in and fund the blasted thing? If I'm reading this accurately, it's shameful manipulation showing what we already know about this president. He will do anything to get what he wants and he's not friendly with empathy or compassion.
5
Hostage taking is a crime under ordinary circumstances in any civilized nation governed by laws.
How are the Trump's enablers allowing him to take 800,000 Federal workers and indirectly, the entire country hostage?
Putin has extraordinarily rosy cheeks these days and rumor has it that he is smiling and profusely even in his sleep lately.
7
All members of Congress, cabinet members, agency heads and the President/Vice President should go without a paycheck AND they should not be reimbursed for it.
It's only fair and the least that our "billionaire" (t)Rump in chief can do.
6
@AM Amen, brother or sister!
NYT: Are grocery stores finding people more fearful to buy certain foods now that there is an inadequate number of inspections? Poultry? Lettuce? Etc.
4
@Jean- It makes a difference when you have to eat to live. It will make a bigger difference when you or your kids get sick, even die, from eating contaminated or spoiled food. Why do you think we have an FDA in the first place? Read some Upton Sinclair to get an idea or how things were 100 years ago. It’s called history. And, I get it, who knows any history these days when ‘coding’ is the way to a good life? However, you might consider this, those who don’t learn from history are bound to repeat it. Better buy a bottle of ‘broad spectrum antibiotic’ next trip to the pharmacy, you may need them soon.
4
There was a lot of speculation weeks in advance of the government shut down, so it's puzzling why all who would be affected by a potential crises, and knowing how erratic the Congress and the President can be, wouldn't prepare to cover their needs, i.e., bank and/or private loans, family support, notifying creditors, temporary employment, adding food supplies etc.,etc..
1
We’ll never truly get anywhere on the budget impasse or the border security issue until we get past all of the political theatre. Illegal drugs pose a security and health concern which contributes significantly to the gross domestic product (the annual total value of goods produced and services provided). For this reason, I’m not convinced that the politicians are truly sold on drug interdiction efforts. NAFTA greatly opened the borders to allow drugs to flow freely into this country. In any case, $5.7 billion for a wall is a small ransom to pay in order to avoid the dire consequences associated with a prolonged government shutdown. These consequences encompass payment of government debt, funding of functions, and payments to contractors. Eventually it will affect the stock markets. The hurt will move beyond the current poster children, those suffering unpaid government workers and aid recipients. Perhaps this is too much to expect from our system of government. After all, we only need some combination of 536 people to agree (1 president, 100 senators and 435 congresspersons).
@NJJACK
85% of illegal drugs enter the US through our Ports of Entry (airports and shipping terminal). A lot are coming from China, not Mexico.
5
Exactly. That’s why drugs aren’t a real issue in the shutdown and just a basis for what essentially amounts to an insignificant ransom.
1
@NJJACK. You said it. It is a ransom payment. I don’t think we should pay ransom. That only leads to this type of behavior again and again.
3
It took Bush-Cheney a full eight years before America was losing 800,000 jobs per month in January 2009 when those crooks left office.
TrumPence did it in just two years.
Impressive.
The Party of Stupid always delivers.
25
For your consideration . . . Behind Mitch's silence is a grand political strategy to indirectly bring tRump and his loyal and unequivocally deplorable base to heel while not damaging his caucus' electability in 2020.
For this cat in farm country there is no other visible reason or explanation for Mitch-the political animal to sit this one out.
10
@FarmCat: However powerful the US presidency may be, the Constitution provides one political remedy that is prompt and effective to establish who is really boss: impeachment by Congress and conviction by the Senate, as representatives of the people.
I flirted with libertarianism half a life ago, but the more I got to know about it, the faker its advocates of liberty appeared to me to be.
2
I've seen a lot of indifference about the financial concerns of federal workers affected by the shutdown, as if somehow we deserve this for choosing public service. It's hard to appreciate the dedication of federal workers who undertake years of schooling (and student loans) to become experts and then, rather than taking actual cushy jobs in the private sector, choose a quiet life of public service where they do astounding work for little to no credit.
The system is imperfect, but I challenge you to find someone who doesn't benefit in some way from the thankless work of these public servants. Disagreements exist about the nature of our taxes, but, to some degree, the federal government works (you decide how well). Consider briefly some basic facets of our infrastructure that we rely on daily:
Do you eat food?
Do you travel on public roads or in planes?
Do you keep your money in a bank?
Do you use the internet?
Do you visit a doctor?
Do you rely on weather reports or use GPS?
Do you breathe air?
Do you buy things?
Do you receive mail?
Do you generally feel safe walking down the street?
Do you have some level of education?
If you answered yes to any of these, they are made possible (in some part or completely) by federal funding and employees who are experts in their field or who are experts in government. I promise you want them focused on their jobs and not whether they can buy gas to go to a job where they aren't paid so that the rest of us can be blissfully unaffected.
51
@one of 800,000+
Well said! My heart hurts for you over all this. You deserve better.
8
Isn't Hassett the goof that said the furlough is a good thing, because it is like paid vacation?
18
If he did, that’s not goofy, that is ignorant and cruel.
2
Two key orders of business today at the federal government:
* Withhold the pay of all congressional Republicans who have refused to collaborate with Democratic leaders toward compromise that can end the Shutdown -- and continue to hold that pay until the end.
* Though many class sizes throughout the U.S. are too large for teachers to effectively educate their students, an exception should be made immediately for preschools -- which is where Trump and the majority of congressional Republicans belong.
10
I've become to realize that our Quisling president is so sick of mind that he actually takes great pleasure in the torment and chaos he has, is and will continue to create. In some perverse way it fortifies he childlike ego that he is truly the ‘Great and Powerful Oz’, and not the total fool and fraud he really is.
13
@BS: The Great and Powerful Oz abhors publicity and secretly promotes happiness.
2
Let's recap trump's governing strategy, shall we:
- Immigration policy: Kidnap children and violate the 13th Amendment
- Foreign policy: Whisper secrets to Putin and friends; talk worthless garbage to Iran and N. Korea; turn tail and run from Syria.
- Domestic policy: Nothing positive, only regulatory roll backs.
30 to 40 percent of Americans thinks this is great.
We're getting our democracy "good and hard" now, aren't we?
God bless America.
13
@A. Jubatus: One is amazed at the presumption that God loves the fawning of sycophants. Everything I have ever read or heard about God is projection. One can see how Trump comes to be treated as The Almighty, who cannot live out one day without adulation.
1
@A. Jubatus: Giving other people traumas they'll remember for the rest of their lives seems to be some kind of sport for some people.
6
Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh must be proud of their handiwork. I would like to see those two overpaid blowhards walk into a room of federal employees and brag about how their influence has deprived the workers of several weeks worth of pay.
19
@catfriend: One's cred is only as weighty as the money dumped on one for one's insights in the US.
We don't need to be completely Trump-obsessed, but we do need to be Trump-concerned. While praising the intelligence of the American electorate, Trump secretly knows that they can be led around like bulls with nose rings - only instead of bullrings, he uses their beliefs and prejudices to lead them wherever he wants.
If DJT doesn't destroy our fragile democracy, he has published the blueprint and playbook for some other demagogue to do it later. If a democracy like America's is going to exist, there will have to be a paradigm shift in human thought throughout the world.
In the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer based on a linguistic "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof as to how we trick the mind with our ridiculous beliefs about what is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for destruction. These minds see the survival of a particular belief as more important than the survival of all. When we understand this, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
3
@RLB: Trump exploited the fatal flaws of a system still organized around liberty to enslave. The Electoral College is a systematic voter-nullification scheme that discourages even learning about and following public policy.
11
Trump supporters were hailing the administration's record of economic growth this time last year, not letting on that it was just due to the policies put into place by the Obama Administration a decade ago.
Now that the Trump administration has had two years to screw things up royally, look what's happening: rosy predictions of four percent growth as far as the eye can see are now replaced by the harsh reality of an economy beginning to stall out and perhaps moving into recession, just in time for the 2020 elections.
And it's all due to Trump's benighted leadership. The partial closure of the government is only the latest outrage, which all by itself could kill off economic growth for this year.
What can we expect between now and next year? The mind boggles.
10
@James: Trump charged over $1 trillion to the national debt to goose the statistics.
4
@James...President Obama is certainly the greatest president of the 21st Century. His unparalleled stewardship steered us out of the Great Recession. His foreign policies mad the US and the world safer. His wisdom in alerting us to the "humanitarian crisis" on our southern border galvanized patriotic Americans to action. Thanks, Obama...The abominable Trump has frittered away the great gains of BHO. Democrats Pelosi and Schumer are right to stand shoulder to shoulder in defiance of Trump's attempts to undue 44's legacy regarding illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking, deportation and gang infiltration on our southern border.
16
I can't wait to see what Russia has on the Republicans. If they're willing to risk this and the longevity of their dying, unpatriotic party for it, it must be BAD
22
Well done, Mr. President!
I used to wonder how someone so stupid made so much money.
Now, I see how someone (Trump) who inherited 450 million bucks from his daddy still ended up declaring bankruptcy a bazillion times.
The sad thing, folks, is that he's running our country into the ground the way he bankrupted all his companies.
36
Make no mistake about it. This is trump's shutdown. He threatened it, he told the Democrats that he would claim it. That the shutdown would be his and his alone. These statements were said on prime time television. Kevin Hassett, trump's appointee to the White House Council of Economic Advisors is dead wrong. He should be advising trump to open the government. Not blaming the Democrats or federal employees who are suffering from this willful decision. What selfish, selfish people who now run and staff this White House.
20
Trump and McConnell are, in essence, holding the nation hostage. This is akin to a terrorist situation by their definition. And is it not US policy to refuse to negotiate with terrorists? I urge Pelosi and everyone else not to capitulate.
I also agree with another comment that it's time to stop paychecks to congress, and shut off water, heat and electricity to the White House. If Trump can't tweet in the dark on his freezing golden toilet, that might be a catalyst for him. And Hassett can start driving for Uber.
21
@KLee
I think you hit the nail on the head. These people representing America in Congress do not know what it is like to go without a paycheck.
Trump is was especially over privileged all of his life, and he believes that he is entitled to everything he wants.
2
This shutdown will last until hardcore, angry Trump voters feel enough personal pain to finally call their Republican senators demanding an end to this nonsense: so please people, don’t hold your breath - empathy is almost nonexistent on that side of the isle.
14
@MBG...There must not be any empathy at all on the other side of the aisle, because Schumer and Pelosi have the power to end the shutdown by sundown today. Schumer has voted for "border barriers" in the past, and Pelosi certainly has not called for anyone to "Tear down this wall" that was built years ago on the southern border of her state. Yeah, no empathy on the left side of the aisle, but certainly an aitch of a lot of hypocrisy.
2
@Albert Edmud
I don't think you get the essence of this. tRump promised to shut down the government and told the Dems on national television that he would not blame them, that this was his decision alone. So, who manufactured this shutdown because he didn't get his way? YOUR president.
3
@ Albert Edmond......You may be the archetypical proud Trump soldier: your president brags about his ability to shut down the government, but the true soldier is still compelled to blame the “other”. I think it’s interesting that your claimed address is “Earth”, but you think a silly wall will assuage your fears. As Trump might say, “sad”.
What political leverage? He still doesn’t get the Democrats won and he owns this political debacle.
16
Buried in this article is a statement on how the Senate refuses to take-up even one bill. Really? That is the real story. The partial shutdown is older than Nancy’s democratic majority. There was a bill or two that likely would have passed both chambers, had they had the vote!!! McConnell is on vacation!
15
I don' believe Trump really wants that wall. I believe he's using that as an excuse to damage the country – which he does in any way he can – and now it's by shutting it down. It's Trump himself who has to be shut down - or he'll keep finding new ways to hurt our nation and its people. How can this not be clear to everyone?
17
NY York Times, start putting Mitch McConnell and his despicable blackmail on the front page, every day! It is clear that this whole mess could have been resolved days ago if Mitch and his Republican henchman had allowed votes to end the shut-down in the Senate. Enough already, call him out, and not just somewhere buried in your reporting!
19
@DT
Excellent commentary!!!...the real obstacle and puppeteer is McConnell...trump is merely a pathogenic diversion ,it is and always has been McConnell and his cabal ( who plotted during Obama's presidency from day one) to deconstruct American democracy.
10
Could this be more purging of suspected "deep staters" by this paranoid administration?
2
...so the Party that is against "Big Government" is OK with the President ordering people to work without paying them in a timely manner?
12
MY family's farm is for sale- has had a ready, willing and qualified buyer to continue our 180 year history- however- neither the family farmer nor the buyer can do it---- the farm loan agency is shut down. No loans for the purchase, no paperwork enabling the sale, no money for salaries, no money for euqioptment and fertilizer and utilities.
All the the family farm 'stuff' is at severe risk
10
Go right on ahead and blame the Democrats. Anyone with access to the internet or a TV saw the president say he would take responsibility. There's no covering that up.
18
Trump didn't pay his workers when they did contract work for him in his early days. I'm not sure why people thought he'd be different as president.
There are obvious patterns to this man. One is making people work for him without payment. The other is ruining every business he touches.
Nothing new here. He's running the government like he ran his businesses. That's why I predicted this from day one.
16
@Matt,
So did I. Looking at his business record I knew he was a disaster waiting to happen...and it has.
Gee....ordering workers back without pay? Sounds like slavery to me......
11
This shutdown is nothing more than a tantrum from the biggest baby of an ego the world currently knows. This has nothing to do with what's good for the country.
BTW, we're all immigrants, unless you're a Native American.
Stop the hypocrisy GOP, this is all on you!
11
Working without pay has a name: Slavery.
8
Hey Vlad, things are really getting hot here in Washington. I think we should cool things down a bit, and wait for the dust to clear. America can be destroyed at some other time. How are negotiations for motels going?
6
It needs to be understood that mainstream Republicans are perfectly fine with the government shutdown. Demonization of and disdain for public sector workers has been a normal mainstream idea among Republicans since at least the 1990s. If the shutdown goes on indefinitely and government workers quit in droves for the private sector, mission accomplished as far as most Republicans are concerned.
Donald Trump, while repulsive as always, is merely a symptom and not a cause. The real problem lies with those tens of millions of Americans--without question, the undisputed oddballs and weirdos of the world among people who live in advanced industrialized capitalist democracies--who are convinced that private sector entities, always cutting corners and prioritizing profits, would actually do a better job than public sector workers at managing air traffic safety and sewage treatment facilities.
I don't want to drink water containing visible or even microscopic particles of human waste. I have absolutely no doubt that a sleazy private sector entity would be content to have me drink such water if it meant more money for its bottom line.
The fact that anybody would entrust such essential services to a for-profit entity (and many Americans would readily do so, it seems, if it meant harming government workers and/or reducing their numbers in the U.S. workforce) makes me believe a dissolution of the USA in the 2020s may become necessary, because these are matters of life and death.
24
You are right and you have to look at Flint Michigan to see it. Tens of thousands, mostly black, adults and children poisoned by lead to save a few hundred thousand dollars.
9
@Jo ...The Environmental Protection Agency was mandated by Congress to protect the drinking water of all Americans. Flint was a failure of the EPA regulatory apparatus. Plain and simple. Get informed.
The markets respond well to stability and predictability. Why Trump can't figure out that causing chaos and uncertainty will have a negative effect on economy (his preferred metric of success) is lost on me.
13
@Patricia 6 bankruptcies
9
There is a way to join forces and show our contempt for The Con Don's shutdown.
The third annual "Women's March" is scheduled for this Saturday, January 19, in cities and towns across OUR United States of America and the world.
The link with information is below. Scroll down on the page to the "sister marches" to find a march near you. The media has not promoted the march - again - but it's one of the most important ways to show The Con Don our contempt for his shutdown of OUR government and his corruption. All people may participate - it's not for women only. Every government employee should take part.
Please, Good People, help get the word out and let's march in numbers never seen before.
NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL GOOD PEOPLE TO STAND UP FOR OUR COUNTRY.
https://actionnetwork.org/events/womensmarch2019
15
The TSA workers should stay at home! It appears the only way out of this mess is to force McConnell and the senate republicans to do their jobs. The only people who can hasten this process are the TSA workers. They should all stay home for 2 days and by the weekend this would end. The optics of slowed airport traffic and disruption of busy as usual, is the only thing that would scare both Trump and his party into action.
14
It's time for all rational people to stop spending & magnify the effects described here.
I've put off several big purchases - like a brake job for my truck, and a new piece of furniture I said I'd wait until after Christmas to buy.
If we all do this, the economic message to 45 and the Rs will be more likely to be heard and considered.
9
@J...Park your truck until you get the brakes fixed. We don't need another dangerous vehicle looking for innocent people to kill.
@J,
I agree in principle but putting off the break job worries me. Safety, yours and others is more important than messages.
Somethnig else Trump can "own". A recession.
13
The Coast Guard, which is both a branch of the military and a group that serves as first responders on the sea, is also not being paid. Approximately a third of all the states have a coastline. There is no excuse for this. There really is no excuse for the shutdown at all, but considering Trump shut down parts of the government because of what he called a national security crisis, the non-payment of the Coast Guard is an act of complete disregard for what the Coast Guard does. Please support your local food bank if you live on or near the coast, because they are the ones making sure our coastal first responders can eat.
9
@Mrs. Cat The Coast Guard isn't part of the military (I served 8 years Navy and worked with Coast Guard periodically). If it was, it would be getting paid still. Several years ago, it was restructured under Homeland Security. As far as benefits, pay structures, retirement, etc, it is treated the same as the military. It really needs to go back under the military branch so it receives equal treatment.
7
@James: The Coast Guard had always been part of the Treasury Department, previous to its transfer to DHS. It is considered a uniformed service.
@James Thank you for correction -I will pass this along to source of error.
2
This is what Trump does. He wrecks things. He's the best. He drove a few casinos into the ground...casinos!...hard to do, that.
Then there's the marriages, the businesses, contractors, NATO, the Kurds, the Allies. The list is endless.
19
@NYC Dweller It's not just the Democrats who oppose the wall. Over 2/3 of the border is private land. Texas ranchers, animal conservationists, and even the Catholic Church are poised to fight eminent domain. Even if the Dems allowed funding for a wall, it may never be built. Just ask yourself: Would you want the government to erect a wall cutting you property in half?
15
My proposal: Offer Trump an out -- that the configuration of border security will be left to the security professionals with the Border Patrol, Homeland Security, ICE, The State Department, etc. Let them decide the best technologies to secure ALL of our borders and entry points.
If Trump can't agree to that, perhaps it will demonstrate to a few more Republicans that Trump is not fit to be POTUS.
4
This shutdown and all collateral damage belongs to DJT and the GOP.
DJT told us he was going to do it.
The GOP which controls the WH and the senate could end this by COB today. Today!
But they were, are and will always be - incompetent!!
mcconnell, ryan, meadows, nunez, cornyn, graham ... the full lineup of GOP leadership owns every day and every wasted dollar of this fiasco!
This should make the vote in 2020 a bit easier.
When given the chance (for two years) to lead, they shutdown the government.
In hindsight this shutdown makes all of DJT bankruptcies makes sense!
13
Disgusting way to treat our fellow citizens. US Marshals, federal correction officers , working everyday such as the chapo trial and not getting paid for it . Absolutely a crime in every sense of the word.
11
Trump doesn’t care. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is relishing the fact that it’s the longest government shutdown is US history, ie, under his presidency. He feels no effects and has zero empathy for workers who are directly affected and the people and businesses who are indirectly affected.
I would not be surprised that he relishes the moment that it will be over. He will take full credit for opening the government and whatever deal he makes to reopen it. It’s all an ego trip for him. Not to mention a distraction from Mueller’s investigation.
He is presently destroying national security (& image of) with the furlough of experienced and dedicated Federal workers.
I am sending money to my brother—one of the unpaid Federal employees who lives across the country—so he can pay his bills. This affects what I can spend in my own community. I can’t imagine that I’m the only person doing this.
This nonsensical shutdown affects everyone. I feel like I am not living in America but some horrible, alternate universe.
9
@Emlo37...Is your brother going to repay you when he receives all of his back pay?
Dictator trump has already proved he can get his way by hurting everyone else. He has also proved this is the only way he knows how to get his way, lie, cheat, withhold pay to workers and contractors and destroy the good economic course Obama put us on and kept us on until trump. He of course took the credit before he put any new policies in place. Obama had us on and kept us on a strong economic course. Trump is really good at tantrums and tearing apart the work that people who do know "The Art of the Deal" made before him.
6
@Deborah Harris...For sure. Obama had us on a good, strong course when he declared a "humanitarian crisis" on the southern border in 2014 [check the YouTube video]. He also instituted mass deportation of illegal immigrants. And, of course, the Border Fence Act of 2006 [which he voted for] barriers were completed early in his first term. Unfortunately, Obama's immigration policies have been snubbed by his own party. But, let's blame Trump anyway.
Just wonderin': Do Democrats think the damage to the U.S. economy is more or less than $5.7 billion?
2
@rcrigazio You should ask Republicans (and Putin) the same question.
3
This shutdown of Trump's is an incredibly ill-advised action for him to take. It's beyond the point of being just a political stunt. Real people are getting hurt by it, and for what reason? It's a stupid Apprentice-style brinksmanship charade from the President.
Democrats need to keep in mind that the $5.7 billion Trump wants is a fiction. There is no plan in place to define what that money would be used for. And it's not enough to build much of a wall. Estimates have run to $50 billion or more to build the entirety of the wall Trump envisions. So, the $5.7 billion only the first of a long string of installments he will ask for.
The time to stop this insanity is now. Appeasing Trump by giving into him will only encourage more and more of his inane behavior.
The shutdown is a clear example of Trump's instability and lack of fitness for the office he holds. It has nothing to do with border security. It only serves to feed Trump's demented, all-consuming ego and self-professed bigotry.
11
The Democratic House must hang in there as much as it pains me to say it.
With each passing day DJT is closer to caving- again!
DJT is weak!
Always has been if you know anything about his history.
I support a walkout of all TSA agents in an effort to bring our national aviation to its knees.
That event will lay squarely on the door steps of DJT and mcconnell.
And both will cave- again!
Vote 2020
7
Putin may have unwittingly created a monster by supporting Trump's election. If Trump's shutdown pushes the US back into a recession, does he really think that Russia -- and the rest of the world -- will be immune to the ripple effects?
4
To all Trump/Republican supporters:
How's that MAGA workin' for you?
I know it's really hard to swallow, that you were taken by a snake oil swindler and his cronies, but life won't get better until you first admit your problem. And your problem is that you've been swallowing the empty promises of liars whose only agenda is to help siphon money from your pockets to themselves and their wealthy donors. As long as you keep supporting them, you'll keep getting poorer.
Let me bumper sticker it for you"
MAWA: Make America Work Again!
10
Thanks to these reporters for noting the material consequences of our idiotic politics. Trump won't compromise because he doesn't know how; Democrats won't bend because they refuse to accept loutish bullying settle political disagreements.
But we can see already how this mess will end--as various groups of workers are being called back for duties that turn out to be more essential than Trump's advisors imagined. Once a number of these groups are back, working without pay, the pressure to pay them will be undeniable.
So, this is how the shutdown ends; not with a bang or with compromise, but with a gradual surrender to pragmatic needs.
2
Look at what happened in Illinois with Gov Rauner and Speaker Madigan. These two millionaires dug in and refused to pass a budget in Illinois for three years. Only passed a budget during a re-election year. Voters were outraged that they were even running for re-election after not doing anything for three years.
Take a clue, this impasse is planned and deliberate.
Let me ask if the press could begin asking: Tax dollars are coming in right? Via withholdings etc? And nothing is going out, right? No workers are paid. So has a private bank been given the contracts to earn overnight income on all the surplus collections? Who got the contract? Who is earning money on overnights on this huge backlog of cash piling up in the treasury? Hello my Mnuchin?
6
Let's revisit the wall and try to find an end to the impasse.
There has to be a middle ground between the Donald's "We absolutely need a wall to secure the country" and the Democrats "Thou shall have no wall".
It is fairly obvious that the wall can not be the perfect solution. There are always ways to bypass it, but is it completely useless? IMHO, the wall is a bit like those clubs that people used to attach to their cars to stop a thief. Not perfect, but it could redirect a possible thief to a different target.
Everybody has agreed in the past to build physical barriers along some sections of the southern border, so there seems to be some agreement that physical barriers are useful in some places and circumstances.
Nobody knows what the best solution is, so why not reach a compromise to reopen the government in exchange for a firm commitment to follow the recommendations of an impartial commission to be formed now? This commission should be able to deliver a report in a month or so.
2
These immigrants come to the U.S. primarily to escape problems in their native countries (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama) which includes a stagnant economy, high levels of crime, political corruption and widespread drug use. There is a legal way to request a green card to enter the U.S., however unlawful mobs entry is not allowed. Shame and disgrace of all these central American countries and their governments who fail to feed their people, to give them medical care, good housing, and jobs. These central American countries and their governments are the ones at fault.
Sorry that your country does not love you anymore. To find true love you need to find and walk on God’s Holy road which will one day open the gate to His Kingdom in Heaven. The road you are currently walking is man made and will only bring you tears and despair, darkness and regrets.
2
Trump is in essence forcing hundreds of thousands of workers to participate in a strike, a strike they did not support, and did not vote for in order to get concessions from Congress. If these workers had voted to strike, the President would no doubt be ordering the to be fired. Shameful!
4
Trump “negotiates” by threatening people and then, if they do not give in, by taking something from them. He does not know enough about government to negotiate in substance or deal with information contrary to what he has made up to justify what he wants. That people support him still is a mystery.
5
Trump shut the Govt down; started a trade war; gave the 1% billions in free money; and attacked the FED.With these stellar economic policies; what could go wrong? Everything. Ray Sipe
9
This hysterical republican party and its shutdown brings to mind the McCarthy/Welch discourse during the House Un-American Activities hearings of the 50s. We the people are asking the GOP, have you no shame? We know Trump does not, but how about McConnell? What in the world is he doing for his paycheck?
5
Mr Hassett needs to be talking to his boss and to McConnell, since they're the ones blocking progress. The House has passed a spending bill, and is waiting for the Senate to take some action. The Republicans need to get down from their high horses and do some work for a change!
4
It's up to the Republicans to end Trump's tantrum. Democrats have offered to negotiate border security. The wall is not the best way to secure the border, and if the Democrats give in now the will have squandered the advantage the gained in last year's election.
28
Traitorous Trump works for Putin and his goal is to destroy the US. Trump is doing an exemplary job. Get ready for the stock market to tumble once again.
17
Everything Trump has done so far that looks suspicious as related to Russia and Putin, pales in comparison to his desire the pull out of NATO. Unbelievable.
The reasons I can think of for this:
1. Trump is just stupid. He is clueless.
2. Trump wants to please Putin and that is all that matters. This is the jackpot for Putin.
3. Trump deliberately wants to destabilize the western worlds most stabilizing influence, NATO.
4. Trump has been given a prize from Putin that outweighs everything else, if he does this.
So whatever the reason, it is all treasonous for Trump. Clear as day, no doubt whatsoever, he wants to destabilize the western world and undermine Americas influence over this strength and stability. Or else he is really a moron. Take your pick. TREASON in capital letters, either way.
3
Trump recently tweeted that most furloughed Federal employees were Democrats. If that wasn't true then, perhaps it is by now.
35
For the sake of 100's of THOUSANDS of federal employees NYT is willing to risk the lives of 100's of MILLIONS of American Citizens???
What surprises me are the amount of people who are not financially solvent in this country. These employees do not have 3 - 6 months of living expenses set aside where they can weather the shutdown... It is not like they are losing this money... They will get back pay...
Hmmmm speaks volumes about people living beyond their means and keeping up with the Jones'...
2
@Joe Banks: Most of the world operates on the "just in time" system now. Where have you been?
3
@Joe Banks: To say that funding effective border security that doesn't include a huge concrete wall is "risking the lives of hundreds of millions of American citizens" is ridiculous hyperbole. It's not even clear that the wall would prevent any deaths at all, and certainly not a large number. There are much more cost effective ways to protect our citizens.
4
@Joe Banks read the actual facts, here and elsewhere, about how the border with Mexico is NOT A CRISIS ZONE. It is not where the terrorists come from. It is not how the terrorists enter. As for rapists and murderers, look no further than our own home-grown monsters, such as the evil man in Wisconsin, white as the driven snow, who kidnapped a girl and murdered her parents. We do not have a flood of criminals crossing the border.
6
Of the 800,000 federal employees functioning without their paycheck, one has to wonder how many of them voted for Trump.
12
@Hazelfern: One grows numb from reading the accounts of burdensome government employing complainants here.
Who benefits from a broken economy?
Anyone who wants to slow down investment in technologies that are fast replacing their business model.
Koch brothers and their ilk would benefit if dirty fossil fuels survive another day. Is it possible coal-loving Trump is trying to disrupt the transition to clean renewable energy?
All Trump's friends from Putin, to the Koch brothers, and to the Mohammed Bin Salman, are watching with dread the daily dismantling of the fossil fuel economy.
12
@Eli...So is the guy who owns Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. All of those unit trains carrying dirty Wyoming coal and dirty Bakken crude to fuel the dirty coal fired electrical plants and to feed the petroleum refineries that are destroying the planet..
Maybe Pelosi should try to negotiate and end to the shutdown with Vladimir Putin.
He seems to be the only one Trump listens to now.
21
It was entirely predictable that Trump as president would produce an over-hyped but shoddy product, abuse and/or fail to pay his employees, become indebted to foreign interests, and then run the whole enterprise into the ground. He did with all of his previous businesses, so why would it end any differently when the government of the United States was entrusted to him? The only difference is that this time is that there is no Big Daddy or bankruptcy court to bail him out. He is the one who will be fired in 2020 by the voters. He is already starting about 800,000 votes behind the competition after converting any furloughed federal workers who were Republicans into Democratic voters.
25
Is Donald Trump and the Republicans trying destroy the economic system and the government infrastructure in this country?
11
@Chico: Yes. They insist that government impedes God's distribution of manna from Heaven to the US.
2
They'll get paid. It's basically free paid time off in the end. The federal government is too big. That it affects the national economy shows we really need to make some long overdue cuts.
3
@d
But while they're not being paid, how do they pay their bills? It's easy to say they should have saved for emergencies, but it's not as easy as it sounds. Check the cost of living v. wages for working families.
Many people agree that the government is too big but don't agree on where to cut.
And remember, all those government employees spend their wages on goods and services provided by regular, private, capitalistic businesses, and they pay taxes -- so when they don't have money to spend, there's that much less money for everyone.
12
@d We are a consumer driven economy. When 800,000 people don't get paid, that's a lot of grocery shopping, trips to Home Depot, home purchases, auto purchases, etc. that slow the economy more than just those workers paychecks.
6
@d: You folks really do have to learn the hard way. When half the population can't meet a sudden $500 expense out of pocket, a liquidity crisis is very easy to ignite.
1
This really is embarrassing, especially if you live outside the US political bubble. People ask me where I’m from, I say New York. Even that’s not fending off a laugh nowadays. And it’s not a left/right thing, I have some hyper-conservative friends here and they think Trump’s an idiot. I say that in the US and it’s only because I’m a left-wing liberal.
4
yes, indeed, this is the same kevin hassett who said furloughed employees were lucky to get a vacation.
7
China and America’s non-existent national borders are the main problems. China just killed its first Nobel Peace Prize winner. Germany did the same in 1935. China is the trade partner you want so badly to enrich. Wake up. And yet maybe we can learn something from China. They have a Wall. China has 0 immigration. “There have been millions and millions of Chinese-Americans but zero American-Chinese. Not 1.”, says Chinese author and Harvard graduate Eric Liu. For all his other follies, Trump is right on these issues. At this rate, however, Americans will cave and USA will look like just another 3rd world country.
2
@ABC
The wall you're talking about, the Great Wall of China did not keep out the Mongols. Walls as fortifications lost their importance after gunpower and cannons were introduced in the 15th and 16th centuries. Cannons could blow huge holes in walls, negating their security and ability to keep anyone out. I'm not sure what you trying to say about Nobel prize winners and the Chinese population. America is a country of immigrants, China doesn't have that history of immigration. Xenophobia is ugly, and your contention that a wall will magically solve that problem is as you say a folly. Third world country, well if we keep up with Trump hysteria and fake crisis, then yes, it could happen to the United States.
5
@ABC How many Americans want to immigrate to Turkey, Iran, North Korea, Syria? Just as many as want to be Chinese immigrants. There is a reason people want to come to America. At least there used to be.
2
@Regina Boe
The Nazis killed their Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1935. Chinese recently did the same. Buying from China makes as much sense as enriching Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan with trade. 30 minutes after Pearl Harbor attack, Japan invaded nations bordering the South Asia Sea. Chinese have simply blockaded it, rendering TPP useless. Chinese island building and military expansion is paid for by the American consumer. The Great Wall is not merely a physical structure but rather is carried around in the head of every Chinese person all the time. What is the refrain of the Chinese National anthem? Do you know? It is “build a new wall”. China is the greatest danger. And the USA’s borders are a joke. I voted against Trump and for Hillary, but on these 2 issues, he is right. I’ve live most of my life in sanctuary cities in USA or in China.
2
Trump looks down on us all from the perspective of a guy whose allowance was $200,000 per year when he was 2 years old.
10
Sobering report by Jim Tankersley and all. Yes, this is the way it works:
"Mr. Hassett said on Tuesday that a prospective new hire had told the council that he might turn down the job he had been offered out of graduate school because the government is unable to bring him onto the payroll."
Trump seems to want to leverage the economy to get the funding for his ridiculous wall. Trump is no leader, but he is the hero to his poorly educated base. It is they who put him in office. It is they who will suffer the consequences of their action.
11
@Charles: Nihilism begs for shared misery. These are the people mobilized by Trump.
5
@Charles...Perhaps you could help, Charles. As one of the poorly educated base, I now want to seek redemption for my support of the Evil One. In short, I want to become highly educated like y'all. If I finished grade school, would that make me highly educated like youse guys? It would be a far reach, but I might even be able to get some high schooling or even a GED. Would that be enough? One other thing. When the horse kicked me in the head when I was six, the doctor told ma and pa that I was left with a -3s brain. Is that kind of brain good enough to be highly educated like y'all? I sure hope so, because I really want to become a liberal so I can vote for a winner in 2020. If not, I'll try to get a -4s brain somewhere. Oh, one other thing. My cousin also wants to get highly educated. She wants our six kids to get a high education, too. I hope you can help us, Charles. Shucks, I already feel like one of you! Thanks so much.
"Mr. Hassett, attempting to illustrate the pain caused by the shutdown, said on Tuesday that one of his furloughed staff members had begun driving for Uber to make ends meet."
Wait a minute. Isn't your aide enjoying the vacation which he will be paid for later? Mr, Hassett? Mr, Hassett? Anyone? Anyone?
And didn't your boss say that your aide and others "will make adjustments." And they and he support him? Isn't this the kind of adjustment POTUS said they would make? Mr, Hassett? Mr, Hassett? Anyone? Anyone?
And when is the DOW going to it 36,000? Mr, Hassett? Mr, Hassett? Anyone? Anyone?
So which is it you charlatan?
Is there pain or not?
Is there economic distress or not?
And who said "I will be the one to shut it down?"
10
You forgot also to remind mr. hassert that government workers are all Democrats, so no harm, right.
4
How dare that man in the White House call "tens of thousands of employees back to work, without pay." Without pay! So some very real impacts of the shutdown do not happen and make it seem less horrendous. What hubris..... demanding a shutdown but some people must work without pay. Outrageous. (HINT to Trump: Pay these people!!!)
17
@Judy And what happens when these people, forced to work without pay, become unable to pay for the gas to drive themselves to work, or pay for child care, or feed themselves, or are evicted? It may be illegal for federal workers to strike, but if they can’t even afford to get to work in the first place, what’s the alternative?
1
Slowing down the FBI investigation and destroying the economic health of this country and it’s people. Are you still wondering who trump is working for?
17
Democrats are supporting the budget on all but one point: a silly, ineffective wall. If we have such money to throw around, why not help the sick and uninsured with it? It would be a sounder investment.
And tell me, who are the ones refusing bipartisan cooperation and action? It's pretty clear to most that the Republicans and their supporters are the ones refusing compromise.
The message was sent during the midterm elections and has gone unheeded. The time to take action will be in the next election: save our nation and vote Democrats for office.
9
Can't wait till he starts throwing paper towels at us.
17
All the numbers are running against Trump. He's losing support among his critical white-no-college cohort. Congress does not want an emergency declaration; the majority of Americans are against it.
Trump is being forced to call more furloughed workers back without pay; basically blowing a hole in his whole shutdown. This is an admission that he can't afford to inflict real damage and there are real risks -- imagine we have an airliner collision for instance.
Trump is badly damaging his support among Republicans in Congress; they didn't want Trump's wall, don't want to be in this fight now. That's almost suicidal given that they are the only thing keeping him from impeachment and removal right now.
At some point Republicans need to ask themselves "where do we go from here?" The long economic expansion cannot last forever and the odds that it lasts to 2020 now look very low. Trump will be an electoral disaster in 2020 if the economy is poor. At some point, when do they start to think about saving their own skins?
7
@Lee Harrison: Trump is president because the US never reorganized itself out of the compromises it made to establish liberty to enslave.
1
They don’t care. The ultimate goal is to destroy the government. That is what deconstruction. The robber barons will buy up the broken pieces for pennies.
5
Let's remember Trump's own words: "It's going to be a 30-foot-high-cement wall. It's going to be beautiful, and Mexico will pay for it. They may even put my name on it. "Ah, but it's so much more than a wall. It's so much more than a campaign promise. It's a message: "We don't want your kind."
This is the end product you get after you digest fear and hate. It's a symbol, much like the burning cross and the Confederate flag. The Civil War will never be over as long as politicians like Trump metastasize the malignancy of racism to get elected.
15
The Republican Party is standing in total support of Trump’s ego over the good of the country.
But make no mistake, they and their donors are profiting handsomely while the country suffers.
In the end, it’s all about the money.
12
Let’s even the playing field right now, and have every member of Congress stop taking a pay check effective immediately.
To the wealthier members it won’t make much of an impression, but can someone in the federal government please make a principled stand for once?
11
Can we have that "NO CONFIDENCE" thingy like the U.K.?
Plus they have lots more fun in Parliament then we have in Congress.
15
Our President said plainly on national T.V. that he would be "proud to shut down the government" over his proposed "wall".
Pride cometh before a fall.
Unfortunately we elected an impulsive, poorly educated, egocentric who lacks the critical thinking ability to foresee the consequences of his childish behavior.
14
Who is Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell and the rest of the dysfunctional Republican's going to point the finger at for keeping the Government Shutdown when people start losing their homes due to foreclosures or people die due to lack money for medications or hospital care?
We all know Donald Trump has no conscience, most narcissist don't, but I would truly like to think some of the Republicans in the Congress do have some compassion for this needless pain being inflicted over nonsense and Donald Trump's ego.
11
@Chico Yes, all those Christians among Republicans sure gives Jesus a bad name.
1
NASDAQ up 6%. There is no economic damage by the lack of government check cashers.
And after 30 days the Executive branch can begin RIFs
2
Gee Grabski, I guess if the NASDAQ is up everything is fine then. Thanks for letting us know...
4
@Grabski the first people rif'ed will be the secret service. i like the way this is going.
2
Donald Trump has proven by his actions that not only is he unfit to be in the Whitehouse, he's incompetent and doesn't know what he is doing.
The longer this childish Trump-McConnell Republican Shutdown continues, I get a bad feeling that this is the same misguided stubbornness that drove 4 businesses into bankruptcy, oversaw the failure of Trump University, Trump Foundation, Trump Steak, Trump Winery, etc. it really scares me that this idiot won't be satisfied until he destroys our government and economy.
It is irresponsible for Mitch McConnell and the Republican's to continue to support this madness, it is dysfunctional and risk doing long term damage to our institutions, Military and the lives of everyday hard working people, elderly, children and citizens of every strip.
17
Is this part of the Republican plan to reduce government? Make federal workers 'choose' to leave their jobs and then never refill their empty positions? That's one (ridiculous) way to reduce government spending.
65
And get us used to the idea of working for nothing.
15
@D
Or, this is how Trump plans to make good on his promise to "drain the swamp" because he certainly didn't make any headway on that with his various Cabinet appointments.
10
Time for the Dems to step up and allow the wall to be built
1
@NYC Dweller Time for the president to step down and forget about a white elephant of a wall.
28
How come Trump and the GOP Congress didn’t take care of this during the last two years when they were in complete control? Because it is an entirely bogus boondoggle, that’s why. Trump is trying to distract everyone, and the GOP is accommodating him.
17
@NYC Dweller --
In case you haven't looked, the Democrats went "Beep, Beep" and disappeared off over the horizon, leaving Mr. Stable Genius, aka Wile E. Coyote, sitting on his own bomb.
It's pretty amazing that Nancy Pelosi's approval rating is going up like a rocket and Trump's is tanking, particularly among his critical white-no-college cohort. When I was a kid the usual retort about the kind of stupidity Trump is exhibiting was "smooth move, x-lax."
I get to munch popcorn and watch the Republicans decide who throws themselves on the hand-grenade. Trump pulled the pin, doncha think he should?
10
And to think that Trump complained about how much the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike hurt the Economy! How badly is Trump's current behavior going to affect us? Trump will have to close all our borders, not just the one with Mexico, to keep all the wealth from flowing overseas.
7
The FBI especially under Hoover was highly suspect, sending notes to MLK recommending suicide for example. That being said. Trump is a foreign asset to Russia simply by his policies. Contemplating leaving Nato a largely American entity largely fighting in Afghanistan, the government shutdown, the exists from Syria and exiting in part Afghanistan serves Russian interests. One can say that with the shutdown Trump has his enablers, the democrats who block the government over a inconsequential wall and McConnell who requires vote in the senate to be inconsequential (no chance of veto, no chance to see Republican votes). Perhaps by weakening the U.S. one could say Congress, McConnell, and the democrats are working for Russia. This is in all probability without even trying. Russia needs only the current government folly; it does a far better job than official agents.
5
It is a complete waste of time to negotiate with abject phonies who have utterly forgotten that they promised to offer up single-issue bills to take logrolling out of negotiation of complex issues. Show me a US "conservative", and I will show you a fake.
10
There is something to be said about Trump's shutdown and the GOP's enthusiastic support of it. The memory of it will be branded hotly and indelibly in the minds of the 60% of the country who now despise both of them when November 2020 gets here.
13
This upcoming weekend, my nephew is visiting from out of state. I had planned to take him to a Broadway show, out to dinner, spend a day in the city. As a federal employee, I'm too scared to spend the $500 or so that kind of day would require. This is just one small example of how the shutdown is affecting the economy.
71
@Rls. So get a bar tending job. Shovel snow for cash. Drive an Uber
1
@Grabski I still have to go to work and I have small children at home. But thanks for the advice.
27
@Grabski
theres....no snow... on the ground...in NYC.... right now...
Sigh.
11
This shutdown has to impact the economy. I know in our own house, my husband and I have decided not to take a short vacation because we don't want to book flights when TSA and air traffic controllers aren't being paid. That's just us. I have a client who is retired, has a rental tenant who can't pay February rent due to being a govt employee. The client can get along without the rent, but he will be cutting expenses.
I know who is to blame. Donald Trump. After all, he said he was going to own the shutdown.
82
@Cyclopsina: This is how liquidity crises develop. They are nuclear chain reactions of people becoming unable to meet their scheduled payments.
When will the US kick Putun's saboteur out of Washington?
17
@Steve Bolger:
"When will the US kick Putun's saboteur out of Washington?"
It should have been done long ago. I wish I could be sure that Donald Trump would be held accountable.
13
What started as the Trump Shutdown (over Donald Trump's non-negotiable demand to fund an ineffective vanity monument to himself) has since evolved into the McConnell Shutdown.
Trump will remain Trump. The innate nature that blocks him from feeling either shame or empathy means he simply doesn't care about the direct damage he's causing to 800,000 people (including 40,000 active-duty military working without pay), the nation as a whole and, incidentally, to the GOP (that last, perhaps more importantly to McConnell).
But a 2/3rds majority of the House and of the Senate can end the shutdown no matter the feelings of our feckless President. I count 12 Republican Senators who are already publicly stating they favor action immediately to reopen government while continuing to negotiate effective border security. Only 20 GOP Senators are needed to override a veto—it's likely those votes already exist (in both the House and Senate).
Unless and until Senator McConnell leaves his underground bunker and reclaims the position of Senate Majority Leader from Individual-1, he is acknowledging that Trump can proudly flaunt his new title—President, and Senate Leader—and we are justified in referring to this as The McConnell Shutdown.
20
And what ever happened to Deuteronomy 24:15? "You must pay your worker's wages on the same day, before the sun sets, for he is needy and urgently depends on it."
12
The King James version reads:
At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee.
2
@Gary Mark Our current Republicans seem to have forgotten their Bibles.
Christians only read the parts of the Bible they like, mostly the fire and brimstone part.
2
Donald Trump will do anything to get his way; no matter how much his actions hurt the country and even hurt those who still support him. Now we will see how badly the Republicans in this Congress will compromise themselves to assure the votes of the diehard Trump supporters. I suspect that even if the Mueller investigation finds evidence that Trump did "collude" with Russians to win the 2016 election his supporter would still stick with him. What an embarrassment for America! The Republicans in the Senate under McConnell's leadership could prevent the harm this shutdown is doing in one day. Do they have the courage to do what is necessary?
12
If employees can't walk off the job, maybe they can just make people wait, just like they are waiting for their paychecks?
One flight departure per five minutes at JFK or EWR would be a good start.
2
They could just copy the slow work habits that other government employees have been doing for decades at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
2
All of this pointless pain inflicted on ordinary working men and women so Trump can claim he got $5.7 billion to build an imaginary wall. Why is Trump fixated on this particular number? There's hundreds of millions of dollars already appropriated for "the wall" that has not even been spent yet. And what's the plan for the wall anyway? Where is it going to be built? What are the specifications? Concrete or steel slats? Do we have RFPs in from contractors as to how much they will charge? This is all completely bogus. Trump's demand for money is akin to someone going to the bank and asking for a million dollars to buy a house, without having any idea of the house's cost - or even what neighborhood it will be in or how many bedrooms and bathrooms it will have. Nancy Pelosi is right to keep the House standing firm against this until there's something more than his own ego driving Trump's demands. I've never been so ashamed and disgusted by the government - especially the Senate. I can't decide who's worse - Trump or McConnell.
18
@Janet McConnell is worse, but just barely.
4
The GOP continues their failure to put a bill before Trump to open the government so he can approve or veto. The Senate can then override his veto and open the government. The GOP continues to accommodate Trump's bad policy decisions. Mitch McConnell is a total failure as Majority Leader since he does not lead in any way.
12
“Shutdown’s Economic Damage Starts to Pile Up, Threatening an End to Growth” What nonsense!
Sure, the shutdown hurts Federal Government Workers and some private contractors but not the US economy overall. Just do the math.
800,000 paychecks not being spent should have an effect.
2
@Sam Freeman
Sam, if you read it, that's kinda the point of the article.
Second paragraph states that The [President's] Council of Economic Advisors has been 'doing the math' and judges "...that the shutdown...is beginning to have real economic consequences" to the economy as a whole, and that these consequences will only compound as the shutdown continues.
7
@Sam Freeman when people can't pay their bills, the people they owe can't pay their bills. if the shutdown goes on too much longer, this could get rolling and become a major liquidity crisis, in which nobody has any money. you know what happens then, right?
2
Ask yourself, Who does this describe?
The symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder include: grandiose sense of importance, preoccupation with unlimited success, belief that one is special and unique, exploitative of others, lack of empathy, arrogance, and jealousy of others.
The narcissist never backs down. He considers it a failing and that is not possible in his black and white world.
When watching Trump, this explains a lot of his behavior.
14
We already were seeing a world slowdown which was threatening our desperately needed growth rate to cover the foolish and unnecessary corporate tax giveaway,
Likely this "winning" shutdown using a phony national security threat as it's argument will ensure a recession by end of year and certainly 2020.
The irony for Trump may well be that he set up the conditions to ruin our economy and thus end his presidency. The emperor self destructs: PERFECT!!!
3
Economic growth stunted by government shutdown? Only way, it seems, to change the open-borders uber alles DNC Politburo thesis.
No secure borders, no country, no need to collect taxes to pay federal workers.
1
Shutdown? How about extending the shutdown to Congress, the Executive Office, and Supreme Court? Take them off the payroll and since they would be off payroll, suspend the health benefits. How long might THAT last?
5
FAA and TSA workers need to walk out en masse until their pay is restored. Shut down the entire air system. Let Trump and McConnell own that....
107
@Wild Ox -- remember the PATCO strike?
4
My 95 year old mother-in-law is talking about moving to Canada. She doesn't want to pay taxes to support a congress that allows this "shutdown" to continue to hurt people. "Tell congress to stop it" she yells. I'm passing this message along for her.
52
@skm have you told her trump owns this?
14
@skm
Interesting that she blames “Congress.” She must have voted for Trump?
9
@Oliver
She did not vote for Trump. She says if the president is hurting people, congress must stop him.
22
Trump's shut down is going beyond a nuisance and becoming really painful to people. This isn't something that Trump would normally concern himself about. Mitch McConnell continues to refuse to make any serious effort to end this travesty. Trump once said he could keep the gov't shut down for years. This is the Trump that needs to be defeated. Not the baloney story that Trump is a Russian agent.
4
Imagine it. The GOP Prez who promised his hapless supporters to make America great again sends our once proud country into a spiraling recession this Quarter 1 2019. The orange maniac and his supporting cast -- including McConnell and his GOP coterie -- are totally ignorant of what they are doing and all of them should be removed from their positions and sent out to pasture. Oh, but the pastures are bare because farmers had no federal data showing what crops could reap the best rewards. And the water supply to the pastures has been so polluted due to weakened EPA regs that the pathetic bunch of nitwits will likely suffer poisonous effects. What dolts. Along with the dolts who voted for the creature. PASS NANCY's BILL to end the shutdown NOW.
17
@Robert
I largely agree but McConnell and his GOP coterie are 100% aware of what they are doing. This is the GOP that wanted to shrink the government until they could drown it in a bathtub. Why don't people understand that, just like the Nazis, they told us exactly what they were going to do and they ARE doing it.
8
The House needs to stand firm against Trump simply because if they fold on this one, there will be more. Every time he wants something to make him look tough he will shut down the government and run his mouth until he gets what he wants. That’s what bullies do.
Linking the running of the government to his stupid wall promise is what lowlife like him do when their main argument is weak and ludicrous.
17
It is clearly obvious that Mitch McConnell cannot or is afraid to conduct his duties as a public servant for the good of the American Citizens and should step down.
It seems Mitch McConnell finds it more in his own personal interest of his wife's position in the Trump administration by staying in good graces with Donald Trump rather than do what is right for the regular working people of this country.
This Trump-McConnell Republican Government Shutdown is proving that the Republicans in Congress don't know how to legislation or govern, they only know how to do one thing, and that is OBSTRUCT and ruin regular peoples lives.
This is a disgraceful and unforgiveable conduct by Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell and the Republican Congress, all the more reason to vote straight Democrat in 2020!
16
I think Trump might get a bonus from Putin for every day this shutdown drags on.
12
So very very tired of all the whining by the Federal workers, especially those who have been in their jobs for years. Whatever happened to that old (and wise) adage that one should have at least 4-6 months in savings in case of a set-back? It isn't even a month yet.....
And the picture of the federal worker receiving free food----really? Is he that desperate not to have some rice and canned beans and other non-perishables stashed away for a rainy day?
Much of the whining reminds me of the Federal Air Traffic Controllers Strike, which Ronald Reagan promptly nipped in the bud. The airline system slowed for a bit yet was not crippled, and the world kept right on turning.
@Samantha Jane Bristol are you seriously blaming the victims of this? does this somehow make you feel better about supporting the man who is victimizing them?
13
@Samantha Jane Bristol: an average TSA inspector earns $40k per year, or about $2500 per month takehome. In many cities apartments rent for $2k per month. This leaves $500 for all other expenses and feeding the kids. Perhaps you need to step out of whatever bubble you live in and understand the very real challenges of the lower 60% of our economy.
2
They're not getting paid for jobs they still hold. They have every right to whine.
1
It used to be that holding people hostage was a crime. I understand that there are disagreements concerning the wall but that can be debated separately. The House has sent up bills that would reopen most of the government and provide the funds for Homeland Security to function while debate takes place on border security. Mitch McConnell is holding up these bills in the Senate saying that there is no sense in moving them through even though he knows they have sufficient support to pass, only because the President will not sign them. He is an accomplice in this hostage taking. Trump, Pence and McConnell are accomplices in this crime against the American people. People's livelihood, health and security are in danger and the nation's economy is becoming affected. I hope we are able to at least demand their resignations. They are not leading, they are imposing their individual biases and interests over that of the American People.
14
Trump and McConnell have constructed this false crisis. They both think they are stable geniuses, but the American people will see through them.
Why didn't the Republicans fund his stupid wall during the 2 years they had complete control of the House, Senate and Presidency? Because they were saving it as a tactic. Because that's how modern Republicans govern: lies, propaganda, and partisan theatrics.
14
Trump doesn't care about the people or America as long he delivers for Putin.
McConnell doesn't care about the people or America as long he delivers for Trump.
Vladimir Putin certainly doesn't care, because he is winning.
The only losers are the American people.
6
Trump is a liar and quite harmful to the United States of America. He is responsible for the government shutdown. He started it and he is the one who can end it.
The Dems treat Trump as the un-American that he is.
Making government workers work while not getting paid is the new slavery and I thought that slavery was outlawed in the USA.
6
i would also encourage coverage of those impacted economically by this totally unnecessary charade.
Stop focusing on the isolated folks in rural areas that an atom bomb dropped in their laps wouldn't change their ill informed and willful ignorance. "Colored" people of any stripe represent a world they cannot and will never see.They will not change.
and who cares? time to stop the pandering to those who willfully hurt our country with their avowed and willful ignorance. if they want to lose their homes and businesses, I am certain that djt and the gop will ride to their rescue and pay their mortagaes.
or
djt's advice to them will be sweet:
"go bankrupt. I've done it 6 times-t's greeeaaat!"
3
Someone forgot to tell the investors. The stock markets are rising for now. But the concern is an interesting contrast to that for the millions who permanently lost their jobs during the recession. No back pay was promised then. Instead the Democrats argued among themselves for nearly a year about whose special interests would be taken care of in Obamacare.
@Robert Winchester democrats supported extended unenployment benefits, put forward programs to ease the pressure on mortgages and produce more jobs and get people back to work. the republicans fought all these helps for ordinary people every step of the way.
8
The Friday, Jan. 11 edition of the NYT carried this story: "Some Empty Desks And Unpaid Bills, Even at the White House," citing a $16.5 quarterly water bill for the White House that would not be fully paid to DC Water. A spokesman for DC water, according to the article, said in an e-mail: "We are not turning off water to the White House." Let's ask what happened to tenants of Trump family properties who got behind on their rent? It's time to turn the water off at the White House. Nothing would focus POTUS's mind better on the consequences of the federal government's partial shutdown than not being able to flush his toilet.
12
If I didn’t have 1/12 of my annual federal salary, all at once, I’d be hurting. Especially considering American saving rates.
And this has to affect contractors as well!
I’d call in sick.
And considering The Donald’s past performance, there’s no guarantee that he’ll pay the furloughed employees. I suspect we’ll hear something like: take it out their accumulated annual leave.
5
Every time I think there might be a chance the Senate wakes up, breaks rank, and goes against Trump to end this farce, I recall the Garland appointment. That style of tactics is what politics has become.
The Democrats cannot budge or the House becomes powerless over the next two years. If they capitulate, every little detail will devolve into "fine, then we'll shut the government down." Also, they hold the high ground and they know it, and no tactician peaceably gives up the high ground. The Trump administration failed to obtain funding for a wall the prior two years; it's hard for Republicans to argue they are doing this on principle when apparently it wasn't principled enough from 2016-2018.
Trump refuses to budge because that's who he is. 2020 cannot come fast enough.
Republicans have shown in the past they won't back down, and it has worked well for their position - two SCOTUS justices and a dramatic shift of the Court. Why would they change now?
In short, under normal negotiation circumstances, the three players should not move from their position.
But what about an emergency? Will this end when the economy collapses or when TSA strikes or when the farmers in my neck of the woods start filing for bankruptcy en masse? Sure, there'll be a vote and back patting and hand shakes and hallelujahs.
And not a soul in America should trust the federal government again.
Fix this now, Congress. Fix your culture of brinksmanship. Stop pushing us to the edge.
9
These are the best days in the life of Vladimir Putin.
Congratulations, Trump voters. You own this.
10
Like Germany in the early 1930's, it all starts in dribs and drabs. Trump says he will "never back down" on building the spite-fence he calls a wall. If he gets away with this extortion, he will try it again and again on other issues until his narcissistic whims become a substitute for a functioning legislature and the rule of law.
Before long we will find ourselves the helpless and hapless citizens of a modern dictatorship based on the tactics of virtual-reality TV, the malevolent manipulations of Mitch McConnell, and the Goering-like machinations of John Bolton.
All sound too exaggerated to take seriously? Hysterical? Impossible?
There is an instructive line in the powerful 1961 film about the post-war trial of Nazi judges, "Judgment at Nuremberg."
An elderly German couple is working as servants in the Nuremberg house in which the chief American judge of the Nuremberg trials (played by Spencer Tracy) is staying. They are the self-proclaimed "little people," who say that they did not know the truth about Hitler's madness.
"And even if we did know," they say, "what could we have done about it?"
We need to dis-empower Trump and Pence now, while we still can.
8
So, now we're hearing about some of Trump's 'base' starting to feel the pinch of Trump's spiteful 'partial shutdown'. Well, I hope they get it, just how foolish they were to vote for this lying, selfish, baboon.
Listen up. Those you refer to as'elites, andI I'm one of them, well, we don't look down our noses at you. That attitude is spin those you follow and believe in use to exploit your present conditions, what you have been conditioned to cal 'Fake Nerws'.
We know who you are, many of us standing, working, living amongst you for periods of time, some of us still there. Well we are in many way, if not most, the curious. We dig deep to get t a clear understanding of the issues, fleshing out the facts, understanding there's bias out there you have to get bast, but seeking the truth.
Way too many of you are the 'incurious', just lazily lapping up what you need to hear to reinforce your prejudices, your ignorant decision making processes.
But we get it, and understand your being raised to act like that. But folks, as the saying goes, 'first time blames on you, second time, blames on me'. We do get it, are empathetic-but to a degree.
When we're in situations like this, when the other side is playing hard ball, you defend yourself, your family and friends. You don't come to the knife fight with a spatula. You dig in and do what must be done to survive.
So, face it. Be the adult in the room. You got took. So, take the pain, but change.
8
Tax day is April 15th. With form 4868, it's possible to extend that date until October 15th. As long as the government is shut down, I intend to save some work for the skeleton crew that remains, by not filing. And if the government is still shut down on October 15th, and Trump and McConnel still hold the reins, isn't that Taxation without Representation? I want my representatives to decide on funding the government...Not the two oligarchs at the top. They are NOT the ones who fund the government. WE are, and why should I pay taxes for a non-government?
50
@Barbara FYI, an extension to file isn't an extension to pay. Penalties and interest apply. I see people conflating the two a lot, so please make sure that if you file late, you made the proper payments or that you're due a refund!
9
Piling up like the "hamberders" (h/t CNN's Jeanne Moos) on the Resolute Desk!
2
Everyday this Trump-McConnell Government Shutdown continues, it proves that not only is Donald Trump totally incompetent, but that Mitch McConnell and the Republican's who are supporting this completely Dysfunctional approach to legislation and governing DO NOT belong in any leadership positions.
It is obvious that the Republican's don't know how to govern and legislate, but they damn well know how to obstruct and ruin the lives of average working Americans.
Mitch McConnell it's time to stick your head outside your shell and pass the bills to reopen government.
12
This is what Americans get for putting Republicans in office. They have finally realized their dream of small (and non-functioning) government. Question is, who benefits? It sure isn't American citizens.
13
Remember the 2016 campaign reports on how Donald Trump cheated small business contractors who worked on his job sites out of money? We should not be surprised then that he is now "proud" to hold hostage the paychecks of average federal workers. Or without compunction pass an executive order denying federal workers a 1.9% pay raise this past January?! A leopard does not change his spots.
15
THE DEMOCRATS HAVE HAD A SAY FOR ONLY 14 DAYS. Trump had 2 years to build his wall. Why can't anyone, with an inkling of ability at all to reason, see this???????????????
Why aren't they ASKING the question...Hey Trump why didn't you build it before now? Why didn't it pass before Jan 1st?
This shut down is LONGER than the Dems have been there.
In addition, trump won't give in because he has NO empathy towards the workers and their families that are being hurt. He loves you ONLY if you adore him and can shut it off the minute you disagree. Only if the shut down might make HIM look bad would he concede. He only cares about himself...remember he used be a Democrat.
11
Why doesn’t the Times address the fact that the shutdown hurts more than federal workers and contractors? Many private small businesses depend on serving National Park workers and visitors, other federal workers, and those businesses in turn help support their suppliers. The economic impact spreads dramatically. This impact on the economy via small business should be a part of the story.
98
The president is demanding protection money from American citizens to reopen the government. His approach to his own shutdown is extortion, saying in effect, "give me what I want, or else". He swore to preserve, protect and defend but he's been playing by his own rules since taking office.
His advisers should remind him "it's the economy, stupid", a try a common sense approach to end this shutdown. If his base means more to this president than the country's economic recovery, Americans are in serious trouble.
14
A man who consistently and religiously votes republican needs to sit down and have a meaningful discussion with his brain... and this isn’t a new phenomenon, been going on so long that awareness should have showed up long before now. it’s like hitting your head with a hammer every 10 minutes, every day.
5
Duh, most localities in VA see their own economic vitality pegged to descretionary spending of government workers and federal contractors. Once that’s all gone or pulled back, where will the money be coming from? Retirees’s RMD? Hah! Everything needs to be examined in the US economy. Now seems like a good time.
4
And so it would appear that Trump and his ilk have managed to prove that the lack of a border wall will threaten national security. Petulant lowbrows.
Zero tolerance.
Stop endangering children’s lives!
Build the wall.
2
“... Trump who has hitched his success to the economy”
Statements like these need context. Why won’t the nytimes report on these issues without imbuing every word with an underhanded jilt?
"[H]e acknowledged that the shutdown could permanently reduce growth expectations if businesses and markets begin to expect that Congress and the president will repeat the experience again and again."
Ya think? Why do you suppose House Democrats refuse to negotiate with this terrorist? To safeguard against this ever happening again (not to mention, the expenditure would be a useless waste of money).
As for the Uber driver: we all empathize and hope he returns to his regular job with pay tomorrow, but wasn't it this jerk Hassett who has been flouting "creative" freelance work and "free vacations" for federal employees?
8
DJT has taken the country hostage. He really doesn't care about his base as long as they believe his lies. As a fascist, what better way to tear down government institutions than cut off their funding in the name of something as silly as a border wall.
The problem is this has turned into a test of wills and both groups keep slamming the doors on a way out.
I feel sorry for working Americans who will eventually be forced to support this absolute waste of time.
7
"Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it," Donald J. Trump accepting the Republican presidential nomination.
You fixed it alright. Loser.
12
What Al Qaeda attempted to do on 9.11.2001, that is, to bring down our government, and stop the daily workings of businesses,
threaten the safety of travelers on land and sea and in the air, Donald Trump is on his way to accomplishing from the White House. Our own president threatens the economy in general, and the well-being of thousands workers. Some would call it treason.
8
trumps statement that he alone is responsible for the shutdown was as reliable as Mexico paying for the wall.
5
Not to excuse Trump's idiocy, but it seems economists agree the only way to keep the economy going is by the government spending more borrowed money with no end in sight, as debt,climbs to $22 trillion. Is anyone else bothered by this?
3
@Workingman I hear this argument often. However, there really is no other way. All currencies are fiat currencies. I have lived through tight money economies and free money economies. Tight money economies are no fun. Didn’t you hear your wonderful chief when asked what he would do when there was not enough money in the tax coffers and he replied, “Borrow more.” Borrowing and bankruptcy got him where he is today.
1
We are now on Chapter 10 of the Book on Trump. Turn the page to Chapter 11, his biggest, bestest and most favorite chapter in the universe
6
Putin is really turning up the heat, isn't he! He's not only pushing Trump to continue this disastrous government shut-down the road to perdition for our country, he's already tasting the victory of NATO's destruction in his mouth as he licks his chops thinking about the sitting duck countries in Eastern Europe without the boogeyman of the U.S. military's shadow hovering overhead. Putin can see that the jig will soon be up for Trump and has acted accordingly. The thought of sending the U.S. into the next recession, which Trump has already done his best to engender, is making Putin dizzy!
7
Seems to me the brainier or at least steadier members of the American family do not recommend this wall. As can be true in families, a kid who is tantrum-y and deficient when it comes to processing skills can hold the family hostage. Such kids can wear a family down. NOT THIS TIME. Shuttle this current menace off to a walled-in private setting. ASAP. There are good ones with immediate occupancy available in New Jersey and Florida and another sits shimmering in gold on 5th Avenue near a pleasant parkin my fair city. It's a good offer for this poor kid, since he could otherwise end up in jail (should he ever come of age.) He surely is an ill-mannered, naughty child who suffers from the always fatal combination of stupid while stubborn. Of course, a flaw in this is that Mike Pence thinks that just because he looks like God that he is God. DJT thinks he's, well, DJT, which he believes is self-evidently better than being God.
1
Trump doing what he does best. Firing people for any reason and bankrupting everything that he touches. Add to that list , spending other people’s money that he conned, in bankrupting his businesses.
6
And the number of hostages taken grows.
7
Curious how much the smiling Mr. Hassett is being paid to minimize the Gov't Shutdown's Impact on the employees involved as well as the US economy? Somehow I can't imagine him going without pay and deciding to drive an Uber...or perhaps hold a garage sale or dog sit to make money to pay his bills! How many side jobs would he have to take to pay his bills? Can't imagine he lives in a tiny house and rides a bike or electric scooter! The Swamp is alive and... Well ...attempting to delude us even further down the drain ! How there is any support left for this administration defies understanding ! The negativity is whittling support down slowly but surely.Often when you have an insect issue..you have to spray them a few times to stop the pesky bugs! Where's Ivanka's store,Steve Bannon,Corey Lewandowski,those in the administration who have resigned due to public outrage and protests Mr Price for example....all those fired??Where are all the spokespeople endorsing this chaotic President....etc.?? Hang in there America! Soon Michael Cohen will testify and Mr. Mueller will report! That should serve to be the Raid some of these Pests in Government and their supporters won't be able to survive!! Be careful..Vote Wisely.We don't want the pest infestation and the damage it can cause to return to trouble us ever again !!
2
It's one thing when Wimpy says, I will pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. It's quite another when the federal government compels people to work without pay and the promise that it will settle up sometime down the road. I can't put my finger on why, but I find it troubling.
3
@Ken Morris
Hamberders
1
This is what happens when you elect an immature, immoral, inexperienced, and uneducated man-child as President. Your first elected office should not be President of the United States-it is not an entry-level position. Driven by greed and fear, we allowed ourselves to elect someone based on what we wanted them to be instead of realizing what they really were. Controlled by greed and lust for power, our elected officials still think they can get what they want by appeasing Trump and his declining base. How much more of this can our country take? How long will it take for us to repair the damage? #trumpshutdown #fakepresident #realnews
6
Can the media do us all a favor and preface “government shutdown” with “trump- ordered “? Let’s call it what it is. This is not an “impasse “, so please quit with that.
10
Trump is holding federal workers hostage. Never negotiate with a terrorist, you never win.
5
Employment of government workers means the same to Donald Trump as the maids in his hotels, basically not much. That’s how he sees workers, that they belong to him, that they are his for his use.
Donald Trump sees no difference of this country than one of his businesses. He sees himself in charge of all that goes on. If employees go without pay, so be it. They “belong” to Donald Trump, his personal employees, his payroll, he feels.
He did not have to learn any difference in his first couple years because he had only Republicans at his fingertips, willing to put up with his wants and ideas.
Now, he is reminded, there are three branches of government, and one of the parts of the branches, the House of Representatives, is no longer his toy.
While government employees don’t have a way to pay their bills, feed their kids, run their cars, “the boss” doesn’t care. “The boss” wants more of his own business lines, construction, construction, construction. This time it’s not building more towers, it’s a wall. He even makes up lies and stories because he’s itching to get that “building” going, his contractors, the plans, the supplies. He thinks he’s the master.
While the real government workers, who are not employees of Donald Trump, but of our country, struggle, Donald even asks his slaves to work without getting paid! “Run the airlines safely, run the IRS, run the garbage collection, run the Coast Guard you slaves” sayeth Donald Trump, “the boss wants a wall, so get going!”
8
So much winning!!! Please spare us all this winning.
4
If the air traffic control people and TSA folks all called in sick...the gov't shutdown would end in 24 hours. Come ON people, take charge of your lives!
55
Not to worry: This is all part of Trump's Master Plan to Make America Great Again. Wake me when he's gone.
5
If the shutdown brings a recession
It will raise an important question
Was it worth the anguish
For people to languish
To stoke our president’s obsession?
4
What’s most telling about the shutdown is that the wall was the first “No” he received from the democrats. Specifically form Ms. Pelosi. His reaction is to scuttle the entire economic system. His has always been a take no prisoners mentality. It might work in a real estate deal, but when you have millions of everyday people suffering because of a King Baby’s temper tantrum it is downright scary and sad. 2020 can not come soon enough.
9
During the recession when people on the right were scaremongering about a zombie apocalypse, I figured they just played too many videogames. But now I wonder if this is really the goal. Even with natural disasters Trump always has some lame way of placing blame instead of just seeing to that aid is provided. And yet the government shutdown, along with all of the right-wing scaremongering, is only one side of this crisis, the other as everyone knows is Trump's inexplicable deference to Russia. Since the Democrats' control is limited to the House of Representatives, I hope everyone can contribute to a strategy to at least end shutdowns and protect NATO because there's too much that can't wait for a Dem victory in 2020.
4
A fairly large number of federal employees have to pass a security check, which includes that they are not deeply indebted.
If their credit rating sinks too low because of not being able to pay their credit card, they'll lose their security clearing and their jobs.
But maybe Trump can employ them in his hotels and golf courses as maids, janitors, caddies, golf course maintenance, etc., etc..
Oops, I forgot, Trump prefers illegals and seasonal employed foreigners, they work at cheaper rates.
4
Today's issue of The Scientist reports that China is growing cotton on the moon, and here we are, being held hostage over a dark-ages technology that is widely believed to be ineffective (Ask China how did their wall work against the Mongolians). Clearly they've moved on. . . The damage that's being done to our current and future economy through our daily decline in credibility on the world stage is adding up. Yes, Donald, all the world is still a stage, and you are making us a really poor player!
A dumb question, and maybe there is a labor lawyer out there who can explain it to me, but what is the legal basis in labor or contract law that allows the government to order someone to work without pay, without even a formal contractual commitment to reimburse them for their labor if and when funds finally become available?
Didn't we fight a Civil War about forcing people to work without being paid? Just wondering.
85
@John M - It's called the Anti-Deficiency Act that essentially state you (a Govt worker) cannot acquire services without Congressional appropriation under an existing authorization (you cannot obligate monies you don't have). I'm sure there are provisions that allow Federal workers to "work in anticipation of an appropriation" like now (only FEMA can normally do this during emergencies).
But when that appropriation occurs, the back-pay paychecks will be for about three pay periods and subject to tax levels coincident with a salary defined as 26x that back-pay check (based on two-week pay cycle). So if I make $52,000 and get $2,000/check, my back pay will be $6,000 (three pay periods), which is taxed like $6,000 x 26 or $156,000 salary. So a couple in the 15% bracket will pay 28% bracket rates, so has less take home than if paid normally. It'll come back in 2019 returns, but that doesn't help now.
Thanks Don and Mitch.
9
It's nonsense to say that this is a " shutdown". Government employees are working without pay and 50,000 more have been recalled to work, also without pay. It's Trump, McConnell and the R's demanding free labor to keep the government open - this way the public will still get services and the pain is endured by the employees while the customers receive services.
17
If the economy tanks over this, maybe we can call it the Limbaugh-Coulter recession.
11
@Michael We may as well. It's obvious the so-called president receives his orders from those right-wing crackpots. It's amazing that this is what the United States has come to. Thanks, Republicans.
1
At this point, I don't understand why this is not labeled as the Trump Shut Down by the media, as rightfully it should. Such intransigence over "the wall" should be placed squarely on the shoulders of Trump. Get the government open, then discuss border security. Could be done with the stroke of a pen.
As the private sector starts to feel the impact, when will we start calling a folly, well, a folly. So many are being hurt.
12
Let's be clear this shut down is not the fault of Democrats. Trump's GOP congress for the past two years has also refused to fund his "Folly" of a wall. He has grasped this opportunity with a new house leadership to shift the blame for his own actions. The House has passed with GOP support a number of bills to end the shut down right away. Mitch McConnell, one of Trumps puppets, is likely the only road block to a sufficient vote to over ride Trump and put America back to work so in reality, McConnell and the GOP are the road blocks, not Democrats.
Trump has many MANY flaws but one of the most aggravating is his perpetual habit of blaming everyone else for his own ignorant decisions.
Pres. Truman famously stated "The Buck Stops Here", Trump's answer is "pass the buck" to anyone he can. We have a POTUS who causes great damage, is either blind to that damage or who simply is more interested in what he wants than what is good for American. The GOP helped create this monster and they continue to feed it.
12
I also find it scary that someone with potential ties to Putin is doing things to bring down our economy. Where is the oversight when we need it?
14
@Lisa The Trump Shutdown is intended to make oversight more difficult. All Republicans are frightened by Dem-led investigations.
1
“To blunt the shutdown’s effects, the administration on Tuesday called tens of thousands of employees back to work, without pay, to process tax returns, ensure flight safety and inspect food and drugs”
Moronic…..the White House can’t have their cake and eat too. President Trump shut down the government and expects the Federal employees to work without pay while he is in temper tantrum mode. The President’s actions are obscene and it’s very disgusting how the majority of a complicit GOP remain silent.
This is all President Trump’s doing; the GOP and Trump supporters need to come to terms with that and fast to support the Federal employees and rest of the Nation with the opening of government. Trump created this mess and continues to blame the Democrats while using Federal workers, the people and the Nation as pawns. This is not a legitimate shut down of government when the administration expects Federal workers to work without pay; what’s legitimate is that Federal workers are not getting paid due to an abuse of Presidential power. Federal workers should not show up for work at all to give real meaning to the government shutdown; the Nation and the world will see how fast this President and GOP cave in and stop playing games.
8
The average length of federal service is 13.5 years. The notion that a shutdown of a few weeks will gut the federal work force is patently absurd.
@michjas How would you like to be working for free? I'll bet you wouldn't be quite so cavalier.
Mitch McConnell is stonewalling federal employees the way he did Merrick Garland in 2016. Does anyone see a pattern here?
13
Two things:
1) McConnell needs to present votes to the senate irregardless of whether or not he thinks Trump will sign them. A veto can be overturned with enough votes and more importantly, he is circumventing the separation of powers by allowing the executive branch to hold all the cards.
2) I think it was very wrong for Pelosi to draw a line in the sand about not giving a dollar for the wall. Note that Schumer did not do that - it left no wiggle room, was stupid, and showed no diplomatic skill - she also was playing to her base. As much as I despise what Trump is doing - she was not helpful. Both sides have been painted into a corner by her statement.. She COULD have agreed to discuss the wall if Trump would have re-opened the government. This is NOT serving her constituents.
1
Trump and McCoward own this shutdown and will reap the consequences. Welcome to the dustbin of history, GOP.
8
Why is the media trying to generate sympathy for federal workers living paycheck to paycheck when their average pay is well over 100000? They deserve a wake up call.
Source for that? Oh, that's right - you don't need one!
@Jay H Where did you get your information on average pay? From the library? From government records? Or the internet? Check your sources.
@Jay H. Average pay is closer to $50,000.
Congress needs to step forward, he will destroy all the good Obama has done . I cannot believe that Mitch McConnell does not take a vote ,why are these Republicans in congress standing with a POTUS who is destroying our country ?
3
As Jackie Kennedy said in a far different context: Let. Them. See.
1
Trump and his temper tantrums are going to tank this country.
Time for civility is over!
5
@mjbarr
Agree that Trump's temper tantrums now goes from the sublime to the ridiculous. When will all this madness end ?
The latest farce is when Mr. Trump invited "selected senators" to the white house for lunch to "discuss the showdown" The word was that he also "invited" several Democrats at the last minute. They were given no meeting agenda, and it became apparent that there were being invited just for "show" and did not attend. This is exactly what Trump wanted..since at the end of the luncheon, he along with the other Senators stated to the press that it clearly showed that the other Democrats were not interested in solving the deadlock ! Really ?
Trump's clumsy tactics remind me of an ostrich - when as danger approaches, buries his head in the sand. While this may give him temporary comfort, it also affords a passing lion a very nice lunch. I hope you all get my point.
1
Unlike the plutocrats that have shut the government down and pay armies of lawyers and accountants to evade taxes, each and every government employee is a tax payer. Indeed, look at the payroll taxes $200 million per day that is no longer going to the treasury.
Full faith and credit of the government? Under trump? Puhleeze!
3
What good is the Constitution without a funded government?
These elected officials have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution, and in my opinion they are now reducing its value with each passing day. Shameful.
1
We can see where this is heading Trump when the 1st Quarter 2019 GDP is released "Because of our beautiful tax plan, which was working as planned, we would have easily exceeded our projected 3% growth, except that the Democrats purposefully slowed the economy (by extending the shutdown) so I would look bad"
1
Call on the Senate Republicans to call President McConnell to negotiate budgets with the whole Congress. We simply need a veto proof coalition to agree to a responsible deal. Roll it up and roll it over if necessary. President McConnell is giving President DJT absolute power by abdicating his Senatorial duties. McConnell is not upholding his oath to follow the constitution. By refusing to bring any legislation forward that President Trump does not want, President McConnell thwarts the balance of power. Impeach President McConnell.
18
@Pat Welker: McConnell demonstrates the ugly fact that no elected politician in the US answers to the public as a whole.
1
@Pat Welker I could not agree with you more.
Trump likes the hand that he is playing in this government shutdown. But he made one tactical error: he shouldn’t have said he will own this shutdown. However, it will be interesting to see how long his supporters can go without a paycheck.
9
@Oliver: Trump treats this the same way he cheated people out of the properties he acquired: by reducing their value with his own obnoxious conduct.
1
Trump - always volatile, yet predictable - is doing exactly what he did in his real estate business - having employees work, but then never paying them. Why is anyone surprised?
The endgame, also predictable, is that he will stop the shutdown not when it hurts the country, but when it hurts him personally and politically.
23
Trump inherited a pretty good economy from Obama, though some segments of society were still feeling the strain from the Great Recession and the effects of automation and a changing world in general. He got a bump from business optimism for his win, and inertia kept the economy improving.
And then, almost from day one, he proceeded to do things to cripple the good economy he wants to take credit for. Not only short term stuff, but long term (those tax and spending bills, though perhaps the GOP is more to blame for those - trillions more in debt and deficit). Now this shutdown, for no real good reason other than that about 20% of the country is enough of a squeaky wheel to get and hold his attention. (Maybe less; exactly how many of his base are staunch followers of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and co., and how many of those REALLY want to make The Wall such a hill to die on?)
The party (supposedly) of small government is getting a taste of just how much the country depends on government. Necessary services of government, not even the things they say government shouldn't be involved in. It's not 800,000 people seriously affected; it's tens of millions.
This is what happens when you elect someone with the mentality of a ten year old to run your country. While he holds his breath until he turns blue, trying to force grownups to bend to his demand, millions of people suffocate.
14
Amazing that someone as 'experienced' as Pelosi is willing to allow this just to deny the President something he promised when he ran for election. Think the voters will blame Trump or Democrats in 2020? 5 Billion reasons why they blame democrats.
@GregP - Trump owns the "shutdown" which is not really closing the government since hundred of thousand government workers are not getting paid. ( a favorite ploy used previously by Trump to stick workers). BTW - Trump has not submitted any plans for the total cost of the wall which would include cost of land acquisition , materials and labor , cost overruns and how long construction would take. Typical Trump- no plans and lying.
7
@GregP
Don’t be ridiculous. Trump plainly and publicly asked that he be blamed for this shutdown.
7
@ GregP
Trump said he “owns the shutdown.” That will be an endless loop in campaign tv ads. And most Trump supporters knew the wall was a campaign gimmick anyway.
3
Honestly, I don't think the people will care about who the finger is pointed for the people who feel the immediate pain of this shutdown as well as the longterm potential damage that it will cause to the world economy. I believe gov't as a whole will be painted with the same brush. However, I do believe people will remember who resolves it.
3
“Congress needs to look at the harms that we’re talking about,” Mr. Hassett said, “and address them.” Really?! Well maybe. But Trump needs to look at the harms, recognize that he was not elected emperor, and address the harms, or Congress needs to address them by passing a budget that the members can agree upon and overriding a presidential veto if necessary. Stroking Trump's ego is NOT one of Congress's constitutional responsibilities.
4
I think it’s quite clear now WHY this shutdown is OK will millions of trump voters, most of whom have listened to decades of anti federal government propaganda from talk radio pundits and their ilk.
The GOP has been reducing funding to the agencies they hate, such as the IRS the EPA, years before trump showed up. They’ve tried to kill the federal beast many times over. They want States to call the shots on all issues. Oh but a huge military is just fine.
The GOP wants to end the New Deal and the welfare state. They are in no hurry to “fix” the federal system... they wish to kill it. We all know this to be so.
The vanity wall is just an excuse.
I believe that America will be better off when populist right wingers are shoved into a small corner politically just like they have been in California. I am confident 2020 will be that year since a recession is now imminent due to the GOP insanity.
7
It is so typical for Republicans to be playing the blame game to try to win points. But this isn't politics. It's a form of winner take all, or at least try to. How about making a real deal, give and take, we'll give you something if you give us something in return? But Republicans are so blinded by their ideology, that they are so in the right that you don't even need to talk to someone who maybe has another opinion, that they are blind to hurting other people (as long as they still get their paychecks), friend or foe, it doesn't matter. AOC was right, yet again, when she said the real solution to the shutdown is to stop the salaries of all of the government.
5
The Donald is not going to own this any more than he owns the government shutdown he instigated at Ann Coulter's behest. He's
Teflon Don, a walking, talking "accountability-free" zone made of bluster, lies, obfuscation, deceit and grift. Compared to him, Nixon was a patriot.
14
Maybe Trump, or Trumpism, is more clever than anybody expected. Here he delivers a double-whammy: chipping away at the economy while solidifying his fanatical base, soldiers marching in lockstep to destroy everything around them. Indeed, Trump may be successful in inflicting permanent damage to the U.S.
3
The people who are really suffering are the federal workers. Forced to work with no pay, slogging to work in the snow, rain, and cold. Who is paying their commuting costs and for their food? Who is cleaning the offices and heating the building? Who is stocking the toilet paper? Apparently the White House and Congress are not suffering- lunch at the White House, travel plans - no problem. Time for business leaders to step up and end this now! It’s just a gimmick and real people are suffering.
7
I hope all of the workers that are ordered to back to work (hey, what happened to the dream of small government?) sue the daylights out of Trump. Of course, we'll end up paying on both ends. Thanks, GOP voters. How do you like your man?
3
Washington DC alone is supposed to be losing about $10 million every day because of the temper-tantrum throwing little man-child in the Oval Office.
That includes tourist dollars because of closed museums, closed park, lowest ridership of Metro, etc., etc. etc.
It has hit the Northern Virginia area equally hard, as shown by the picture in Alexandria where federal workers can pick up free food.
Our Animal Welfare League is asking for donations of dog and cat food, and every government employee and unpaid government contractors can pick up food for their dogs for free.
A small family owned Greek restaurant in Arlington which was usually full for lunch because of the high number of government employees in Crystal City, now has the lowest business for lunch it ever had.
Now the spineless RepubliKons and Putin's puppet blame this human tragedy on Democrats, after the latter declared on camera that he'll gladly wear "the mantle" of the shutdown and won't blame it on Chuck and Nancy.
Did anyone of the learned commenters here ever hear of any other OECD country shutting down because the man or woman at their helm didn't get his/her candy?
7
The loss of paychecks for 800,000 workers erases at least 4 months of job growth, since Federal workers get paid, on the average, more than the average American.
If that were to happen suddenly to the economy, i.e., one monthly loss of 800,000 workers, the stock market would crash and there'd be a huge loss of confidence including reductions in consumer spending and layoffs of workers.
Some of those workers will eventually get paid; furloughed workers will not.
Yet our very own Stable Genius claims this could go on for "months or even years". He has shot himself in the foot and is taking clever aim at the other one so that the bone spurs will no longer be his biggest foot problem.
11
The White House doesn't need to relent. Mitch McConnell needs to bring the bills already passed by the House to a vote. The problem is, it would force Republican senators to choose between prolonging the current hostage situation, or opposing Individual-1. For Republican senators, it is a lose-lose vote.
For Republican senators who are up for re-election in 2020, a vote to re-open the government will guarantee a primary challenge from the right, while a vote to continue the shutdown will help their Democratic opponent in the general election. McConnell knows this very well. If he allows a vote it will further damage his chances of retaining his majority in the Senate.
14
Pretty obvious that Trump and the Republican Party are deliberately harming the U.S., probably at the behest of Putin.
Whether it is discouraging qualified people from wanting to work for the U.S. Government or undermining alliances and global institutions that are instruments of U.S. power, Trump and the Republicans are damaging national interests.
But what else can one expect from a political party that fundamentally rejects the very idea of "society" and the greater good?
33
Mitch McConnell is showing his hand - it's the same behavior as his blocking the Merritt Garland nomination - Not bringing the budgets passed by the House to the Senate Floor. This is how he plans to control the Dems for the next two years. It's unconstitutional and also seems to be unstoppable. My heart is breaking.
21
The rest of the Senate will have to deny Mitch what he wants in the way of judge confirmations. Then maybe we can get someplace.
1
Isn't extortion a crime? Isn't it time to call this situation what it obviously is? And isn't extortion easily categorized as a "high crime or misdemeanor?"
18
I think in a democracy the voters should have the right to disqualify the inactive and ineffective representatives so that the nightmare can be ended effectively.
It’s high time the constitution is amended suitably to end the nightmare on priority basis.
5
I own a business that employs 35 people which directly serves the air travel industry. For the first 15 days of January my business is down 12% year over year, which is highly unusual. There is no other explanation other than a decrease in air travel. For my business, this decrease in my top end gross revenue wipes out all of my profit puts me cash flow negative. I am just one relatively small business owner, but I am definitely being impacted. I also live in a "border state" and nobody I talk to is convinced a "wall" is a panacea for border security. In my own experience, almost everyone I talk to sees this solely as a political argument to appeal to Trump's base. Based on polling, my personal conversations seem to mirror the overall feeling - Trump and the Republicans are causing this shutdown and hurting business owners like me.
39
@David
They see it as a way to downsize the government by other ..
means... attrition.
3
AS USUAL. The Republicans inherited an excellent economy, and found a way to wreck it. And, AS USUAL, they have created a problem (the Trump shutdown) and then refuse to be part of a solution.
40
Excellent comment and I keep wishing more voters would learn and know that this is how they (the GOP) roll.
Well done, Vlad!
1
Hudsuckering the economy is a feature, not a bug. It's how you reward the have-mores - with a buying opportunity.
When every asset is marked down 20%, the people who've been piling up cash in anticipation of the Glorious Crash are the ones who pounce. Because who doesn't love a good sale?
4
Making Federal employees work without pay feels highly exploitative to me. I don't want to be part of exploiting fellow workers. Can we boycott? Can we avoid travel? Certainly no one has to go to a Nation Park.
There must be something we citizens can do to stop this exploitation.
12
I retired a year ago, after 43 years (and quite a few shutdowns) with the SSA. No surprise that the White House economists dropped the ball on this. They did not consider the ripple effect and consequences, including the co-dependancy of many aspects of our economic/social system. Only the best and the brightest, huh?
You ain't seen nothin' yet. Wait until fed up Feds at or nearing retirement age decide to put in their papers rather than live through this again. Then you will have an insurmountable loss of institutional knowledge, and no way to attract the best of the younger generation to Federal service. Essential services like the calculation and adjudication of Social Security claims, colleection of taxes, enforcement of health and safety regulations... I could go on and on.
Trump is turning the U.S. into a third world backwater.
29
@Retired Fed,
As a long time Fed I have heard this for years. We are going to have a retirement Tsunami, brain drain......it never happens. In fact with the changes to the Federal retirement program on January 1, 1984 employees will be staying longer and longer.
It's time for the Republicans to stop enabling Donald Trump as he wrecks the economy, ruins the lives of his own government employees (his hallmark), and many who depend on their services also to survive. That is, Republicans must put the "nation over party" and join with Democrats to pass a a veto-proof budget with no wall funding to end a petulant president's shutdown where he's holding the government hostage to a destructive demand. Republicans need to defend the Constitution not Trump.
13
A deal to end the shutdown that Democrats might accept - 1 element already known and 2 others that would surprise:
(1) a deal to save the Dreamers
(2) Trump to release 10 years of tax returns to the public
(3) Senate agrees to Censure Trump for racist tweets/proclamations. There are so many to count, but the Big 3 to condemn would be: painting immigrants as threats to the nation; moral ambiguity about Charlottesville; and personal attacks on President Obama and Elizabeth Warren. The Senate could forcefully separate itself from Trump’s worst behavior
Those elements would certainly be worth 5.6B. Trump could still claim he won on the wall. But Democrats could feel better about giving him a Pyrrhic victory. And on MLK day would be a great time to do it
2
How long? How many mistakes and lies? When will Trump's "base" realize they were sold the Brooklyn Bridge by someone that doesn't own it. Smooth, fast talking, wise guy. He did not "get rich" through his business dealings (as he said). He inherited his riches and convinced enough people in areas with high electoral college numbers that they can get rich by following his methods.
Can I get in on that? Uh oh, there goes my life's savings.
12
"the longer spending is depressed, the higher the risk that the businesses they run or patronize will fail, Mr. Shepherdson said." - but that doesn't matter is supply side economics right! So, Republicans are draining the government of experienced workers and speeding up the recession so that it happens right after Dems take the House. So, in late 2020, they can say "look at how incompetent the government is, and Dems started the Recession". They are also gearing for any kind of crisis they can generate, trying to get a "rally around the flag" to occur next year. Remember, this is the chaos that many on the right want to happen.
1
"[Mr. Hassett] acknowledged that the shutdown could permanently reduce growth expectations if businesses and markets begin to expect that Congress and the president will repeat the experience again and again."
This is the danger. Congress needs to force an end to the impasse and not in the president's favor- regardless of what it means for members political futures.
12
Trump has never held a real job, so why would any of us little people think he had a clue as to what we were all experiencing because of his temper tantrums?
19
Last month, there were daily articles about the stock market crash. The market has now rebounded, pretty much to pre-crash levels. Any article discussing the effects of the shutdown has to discuss the robust January market. The failure of this article to go there demonstrates the inconsistent treatment of market performance. We get exhaustive coverage of the crash whilei the rebound is ignored.
2
@michjas The S&P 500 pre-crash was about 2930. Take a look at it today. Is that what you call a rebound?
4
@michjas Say what? The market is nowhere near pre-crash levels.
3
@michjas the market tanking is news, i.e., a new development. I didn't see the NY Times ignoring the rebound, but it simply didn't emphasize it as much. Furthermore, the market isn't the economy. It's a part of the economy.
1
When a child sees the face of a man in moon, he or she may think there really is a man in the moon. The child thinks concretely. As the child grows into adulthood the child looks at the world with greater flexibility. Concrete thinking is replaced by flexible thought. Flexible thought involves seeking data, gathering information and different points of view, weighing all options, and then deciding on which path to take. President Trump's insistence on building the wall at all costs to the welfare of others is an instance of concrete thinking (literally and figuratively). - Many good CEOs during their careers and tenure seek a competent and trustworthy Executive Coach with whom they can discuss and learn how to become a better leader. I wish for the sake of the President and the County, Mr. Trump would seek such counsel and advice.
7
@Concrete Wall, Concrete Thinking - Yes, exactly - he has limited ability or interest for abstract thinking and problem solving. He is rigid in his views. I do not expect that he will seek an Executive Coach or any other advisor. He does not seem to have the maturity, cognitive profile, and general ability to think flexibly or even know what it is (he might see it as a weakness). He is thick as a brick, hard headed, and concrete for sure.
1
I think it is long past time for the people to take charge and show everyone in government exactly what a "shut down" really looks like by shutting down things like the nation's highways, railroads, airports, and harbors. A few days without those and I think everyone will want to talk.
8
The odd twist to this fiasco is that the furloughed workers are actually getting a free paid month vacation (although admittedly the timing of that pay makes things difficult for those without savings).
I wonder how many of Trump’s spiteful government haters actually realize this?
@Jeff G Its so cute you think that !
And NO it is not a paid vacation because they will never get any pay for that month off only those who are currently working without pay will get back pay.
The average lost wage for those hostages is now $5000 which they will never get. How are these "vacationers" supposed to pay rent, mortgages, car payments, feed families etc?
You really need to listen to adults and tune out FauxNews for a minute.
3
@Jeff G That is garbage and you know it. A vacation is something you plan for, set aside money for, etc. When you take a vacation, you understand you are not ignoring your other financial obligations, like, oh, say, RENT, FOOD, UTILITIES, GAS, MEDICINE. I dare you to walk up to a furloughed worker and ask, "And how are you enjoying your vacation?" BTW, this "vacation" was one of Hassett's talking points that, for unknown reasons, didn't make the article.
@Jeff G. It ain’t a paid vacation if your paycheck stops coming.
While stories such as this highlight the financial struggles of the unpaid fed workers, it's time to start asking questions/reporting stories pertaining to the emotional fallout and struggles of these workers.
Hopefully, these stories are in the making. If NYT needs a good one, email me.
8
@kabrown It is not being limited to Federal workers. Shut down has led to lay offs in state and private business as well. A friend who works for Florida highway dept was furloughed because states get tax dollars from highway and gas taxes and those are not coming on time.
Businesses who rely on income from many forms of federal spending are laying off. In towns with heavy reliance on federal agencies, local restaurants are laying off and reducing hours because their lunch trade from those federal facilities has dried up.
Farmers hurt by Trump's tariff war got a good farm bill...but now they cannot access those funds because of shutdown.
Veterans are being prevented from purchasing homes because they cannot get FHA mortgages approved.
The list goes on and continues to grow when the single largest employer in the nation has closed its doors and pulled it's economic power out of nationwide markets.
4
@kabrown Thanks for the comment. Our reporters are actually looking to hear stories just like yours. You can find a way to reach our reporters in the middle of this article where it says "We Want to Hear From You." And you can read about how the shutdown has affected other readers who have already contacted us here: https://nyti.ms/2Fuyckv
10
The way to end the shutdown is NOT to put the pressure on the Democrats, it's to put the pressure on the leaders who gave Trump his marching orders. Namely, Limbaugh, Coulter, Ingraham, Hannity, et al. Without their input this crisis would have never started, it's time to make this front page news!
35
@jmac Those are more of the Kremlin's puppets more interested in radical right power than preserving the integrity of our nation. The real block to ending shutdown now is Mitch McConnell who refused to let the Senate vote on bills ALREADY PASSED by Democrats and Republicans in the house.
That "Democrats did it" excuse does not hold water an more than Trump's brain holds a honest intent.
4
The attempt to blame Democrats for the economic damage is disingenuous at best. We need to hear Democrats saying loud and clear that shutting the government down is never acceptable. And Republicans need to be asked, "Do you truly support shutting government down." No negotiations with a "gun" pointed at your head. It's akin to negotiating with terrorists; it will just lead to further shutdowns. What's next? Will Trump default on the debt if he doesn't get his way on some other misguided, misinformed project or policy he wants?
27
The modern day Pied Piper forgot that a flute and sweet music alone are not enough to keep his followers hypnotized. He still needs a good economy to lead them into that mountain before it closes up on them all.
3
Putin’s puppets are doing a swell job of absolutely destroying America. If Americans are out protesting, you do not know it because the 'press' and cameras are ignoring the crowds. The fourth estate is also complicit.
Welcome to putin's slave economy via company tRump pence.
No single republican in office now will be re-elected next year.
6
Please list every member of the Executive, Cabinet, Senate & House who are taking their salaries....with amounts.
10
They don't do it for the paycheck. Their aides, however, would be in a world of hurt if they were forced into involuntary servitude. And they'd let their bosses hear about it.
1
@Lorem Ipsum.............better yet
..........if they don't "do it for the paycheck", they can donate their salaries to the workers who do need the money to pay basic bills.
I am not surprised to learn that economists have underestimated the effects of the shutdown on growth. For the most part, they have been looking at cash flow effects -- for example, the effect of failure to get paid on car buying. But government also produces what economists call "public goods." The shutdown offers an unfortunate but useful natural experiment for measuring the extent to which those public goods contribute to the economy. It is beginning to appear that they contribute significantly.
11
@Theodore Seto: They do not even understand that economic product is measured by movement of money.
2
@Steve Bolger More than mere movement, Wall street is build around moving money but the real movement that matters is in the purchase of goods and services by the masses. Wall street does not buy or sell "goods or service" they facilitate the investments of the wealthy (and pension funds etc). As long as the money movement is just from one billionaire's bank account to another's, not a dime is paying a mortgage or buying a car.
A strong financial market is not the same as a strong economy. A boom before the bust shows that the "real" economy is in failure mode already...then the bust confirms.
1
@Paul: Underneath all the speculation that bets on erratic public policy, financial markets represent rents and ownership of resources and means of production. To maintain demand as machines increasingly replace labor, ownership of financial assets needs to be more widespread.
It doesn't take an economist to figure out how the shutdown will impact 1st quarter GDP. Thank you Donald Trump!
8
Putin's covert agent sent to destroy America and her economy: Donald J. Trump. Co-conspirators: Paul Ryan (who managed to defeat the Continuing Resolution sent over from the Senate before Christmas) and Mitch McConnell, who now refuses to bring to the floor those selfsame bills previously passed unanimously to reopen the government. Emergency money to help the unemployed during a "contraction": none. The tax cut gave it all to the ultra wealthy and to large corporations with no strings attached. Vladi's very happy with Agent Donald, and is secretly awarding him the Order of Lenin.
45
The US economy is already slowing, due at least in part to Trump's recreational trade war with the world. Now he kicks it when it is down by forcing a government shutdown over a wall that makes no sense, just to fire up his base.
He claimed all of the credit when the economy was growing but assuming that he follows his usual style, the downturn will all be caused by someone else. Typical CEO games which enrich management at everyone else's expense but it is no way to run a large and complex economy.
The US is in dire need of some competent governance but outside of the House I see no evidence of that and pretty much nothing from the Senate, good or bad. What a pathetic mess the US has become.
19
Surprise, surprise. The biggest delusion in Republican economics is failure to understand that the multiplier effect of public employment is exactly the same as the multiplier effect of private employment, because everyone spends in the same ways to live their private lives. This misunderstanding explains why they underestimated the economic impact of the shutdown.
Republicanism is lock-step ignorance.
17
Kevin Hassett is correct. Congress absolutely needs to address the "harms" being done and "address them". Impeach a President who is actively working to destroy the United States.
12
Trump will not capitulate to democrat forces who seek open borders and the defactp destruction of our nation. A nation without borders is no nation at all. Kudos to POTUS who has been a profile in courage during the Pelosi Schumer shutdown. He will never give in because to do so will mean the end of America as we know it and his defeat at the polls in 2020. Open borders means an interminable influx of poor uneducated people who will naturally will migrate to the party of Santa Claus, the party of cradle to grave handouts. It will also mean an influx of rapists, murderers, drug mules and human traffickers, all people the democrats are willing to accept as a necessary political cost of replenishing their party for generations to come. The invasions at the southern border must cease. Thank you POTUS for your leadership on this issue.
2
Why then did the Republicans not address this emergency when they had complete control of the government, why wait until Democrats held the house? They had two years to get something passed, and remember the $25 Billion the president turned down? please don't insult my intelligence with your Republican talking points about a crisis that didn't really exist, total illegal border crossings are actually at their lowest since the 90s.
13
@Steve
You really ought to find a reliable source of information. Most of what you say is patently false. The southern border border is not open in any real sense of the word. The influx on the southern border peaked years ago, thanks to previous bipartisan funding for barriers at highly selected and strategic locations. Border crossing are at their lowest in almost two decades. Which is why it is not a crisis. Does America need more effective border security? Absolutely. Does it need a wall? No.
7
@Steve No political party wants open borders for immigration. Open borders is a trade policy, not an immigration policy, and one that Republicans supported before Trump’s flawed populist platform resonated with voters who know little about such things. I heard Mr. Christian Values, Mike Pence, purposely conflate the two concepts. So no wonder you’re confused.
4
It is not a government shutdown when an administration calls does not pay them. This just hides how important government is. We the people need to tell The POTUS and the senate to open up the government. The wall is an ineffective tool to fix a non crisis situation.
Ultimately I believe we the ordinary citizen need to support our neighbors and start by having a day with no work. Pick a date and everyone call in see what the 1 percent think of that. The average citizen does have power we just need to unite. Maybe then they will value how important a vibrant middle class is and how we are not insulated from the stupidity of a non working government.
8
One person who is surely enjoying this, and perhaps pushing for it to go on, is Putin. Between the shutdown and the Brexit mess, he must be feeling very good about himself.
10
Ordered to work without pay !! I thought "those days" were finally over . Shows how little the dirty two (Trump and McConnell) think of we the people.
Putin must be smirking even more.
15
@NLG
Conservative small government “values” on display.
6
@strangerq Conservatives never wanted small government, they just want to shift government to programs that make 2% of us much richer at the expense of the remaining 98%
You cannot equate a massive increase in national debt and an additional $2 Trillion added to our deficit by the GOP TaxSham with small government or economic responsibility.
Check my new cartoon on http://joethevoter.org ...its animated !
Okay, will someone please explain to me how this is making America great again?
20
Quoting this for emphasis:
"The House has passed several bills to fund parts of the government, including the Internal Revenue Service, that are not related to border security. Senate Republicans have declined to schedule votes on those bills."
And so the Trump-McConnell shutdown continues.
17
I have a suggestion. Offer Trump 6 billion for border security with the caveat that all the money is divided up amongst the border states to use as they feel is necessary to improve security. Some states may want more walls/fencing, some may want drones and ground penetrating radar, some may want better security at border crossings. This gives Trump a way out of his corner and still gets govt back in business and, by the way, improves border security. Once again, the Dems have to look beyond embarassing/crucifying Trump to the bigger picture of running our country. I also believe the voters will appreciate this at the next election.
5
@Rob Wagner
There is no reason to offer Trump anything on his $5.7 billion demand. It's a terrible idea to give in to his hostage-taking tactics. There is no border crisis. Illegal immigration is at its lowest point in decades. Trump is the one who tied his wall to the functioning of the government. The wall is pork. It is an unneeded give-away only for the benefit of Trump's political capital with his base. He is the one who has shut the government down. The American people do not want the wall. Repeat: The American people do not want the wall. Congress had bipartisan bills to fund government operations ready to pass. Only Trump stopped them from being passed. Trump's shutdown is hurting hundreds of thousands of individual citizens and will have an enormously costly effect on our economy. How much plainer could this be? It is time for mass protests against the president to force him to relent. It is time for a March to End the Shutdown.
2
@JeffW.
Jeff in theory you are correct. However your theory will not help people get paid or our govt to go back to functioning. Good Govt is and always will be based on Compromise. The amount of money is actually very small. If you have a pool of money that the states can spend as they feel is necessary then there will probably be very little in the way of new physical barriers ( which we already have at sections of the border) built. It can be technology to detect tunnels and improved tech at our ports and border crossings. Would you prefer to be part of the solution in peoples eyes or part of the problem. As this lingers on all of govt will be painted with the same brush and differences in percentages of polls will not be recorded in history.
@Rob Wagner
Misguided. Your impulse to offer Trump a way out of his madness - only makes his madness worse.
Your thinking is inadvertently a part of ‘why’ we are in this mess.
Trump has to be put a stop to, not reasoned with.
1
Fundamentally it seems to me that the GOP opposes government because government is a constraint to rapacious free enterprise. Every tax cut has the dual benefit for them of enriching the rich and impoverishing government thereby diminishing government power. The increasing frequency and severity of government shutdowns is a further erosion of government blunting the motivation of people to become public servants, and further projecting the view that you can't count on government. Mr Trump is simply escalating a trend that has long been present. And the entirety of the social climate is increasingly driven by very personalized interests at the highest levels of politics. The ways we work cooperatively with each other are increasingly under threat. And the idea that paying one's taxes is probably the most patriotically useful thing that most citizens do each year for their country sounds ever more like communist propaganda to the ears of the resolutely self-interested.
45
@Charles
Thank you for this excellent comment and for reminding us that paying taxes is something one should be proud of ; it’s good for you, for your family, friends and neighbors and for the country.
14
@Charles
Trump doesn’t oppose government.
He asking for more money for more government.
He opposes democracy, liberty and ethnic and racial minorities....as his wall is really a monument to his racism.
5
@Charles - I'm not a Republican nor a fan of Trump, but your vaguely Canadian, socialist view of government uber alles should be addressed. The presumption that government is the wellspring of all that is good and a "patriots" blood should be drained to water it's roots through unlimited taxation is nonsense. By virtue of a closed political system that trades between two parties, a virtually unlimited capacity to spend now and commit future generations to spending, the ability to enforce its monopoly position and 100% lack of accountability for fiscal, service or policy accountability, central government is highly, highly flawed. So, while you attribute all ills to Republicans and falsely characterize the motivation for reduction of the tax burden, you are nothing more than an apologist for bad government
1
Wasn't Trump quoted as saying that the government was saving lots of money because it wasn't working during the shutdown? He was apparently unaware that most of the salaries et. al would have to be paid retroactively once the shutdown was over, plus more money will have to be paid out to cover the damage the shutdown caused to the economy.
I've noticed for a long time that Trump's brand of Republican doesn't take government work seriously. Trump remarked that most government workers were Democrats, insinuating that these were patronage jobs. His minions in the Cabinet fought to get perks from their jobs, so he thinks all government workers are in it for the money. One Trumpist said recently that government workers are incompetents who couldn't make it in the private sector. Another recently said he hoped the shutdown proved how inessential the jobs were.
Trump doesn't have to go through a 3-hour security line that has been paralyzed by the TSA shutdown; he has a private jet. He doesn't care that museums are closed; he's too low-brow to ever go to one. He's not dependent on government loans or advice; he has flunkies for that. He has no incentive to stop the shutdown and that's why it's going on forever.
31
@Charlesbalpha Of course he is dependent on government loans and advice....Russian government that it.
1
McConnell can end this. He can pass a bill in the Senate that will end the shut down and he may have to change the filibuster rules to do it. Then if the GOP ever loses the Senate, the much needed change this country needs will happen.
13
When 800,000 Federal employees have maxed out their credit cards, they will be paying interest to the banks, instead of buying goods and services. That will harm manufacturers and retailers as well. Decreased production means increased unemployment. It also means decreased tax revenues. Decreased tax revenues means cutbacks in services and more layoffs, since the Federal government won't have the means to pay it's workers. Banks will have no one to lend money to. The risk of lending money during an economic contraction is great. That's just what happened in 1929 and lasted until the Federal government became the borrower. Now, the Federal government is essentially defaulting on its promise to pay the Federal workers for their services. What Trump's Shutdown is doing is the opposite of what got the US (and the world) out of the worst contraction in our history.
207
I hate to say it, but since Republican leadership is so lacking, I think the federal workers should shut down the economy. Essential workers, such as air traffic controllers and TSA should call a major sick-out or strike. Try an American economy with no air traffic. Until masses of people and businesses understand what Trump's decision means and force Mitch's hand, nothing is going to happen until tragedy starts happening. The people who voted for the Republican party and hate government so much should actually experience what it means to have no functioning federal government. When the government reopens a bill to continue funding essential functions of government, or a different way of budgeting so people's lives aren't pawns for the powerful needs to happen. Republicans need to lose big in 2020. By the way, Trump's way means less border security, not that the slogan king cares.
408
@Dr. Conde Yes, maybe this would work. I now feel as if I personally am exploiting unpaid workers. It feels bad.
18
@Dr. Conde
While I agree it would be best for the country if Federal workers went on strike they are not likely to do it because they fear retribution. My wife is a federal worker and she believes everyone who goes on strike will be tracked down and fired when the government reopens. She believes it will be done with maximum vindictiveness even if the process takes years. She believes the Patco strike has set an example that federal workers will never forget. The best thing Federal workers can do for themselves is retire or find another job. The attrition will eventually cripple air traffic and all of the other functions now being run by unpaid federal workers. As to Mr. Trump's comment that all federal workers are Democrats, I can assure him they are not but those who voted for him will never do so again.
52
@Dr. Conde
Several US airlines already warned that due to the shutdown and the non-paid and worried air traffic controllers, that flying is less safe.
31
Trump is now doing to the US what he has always done so well for his own businesses - driving them and now us into the ground. While he has kept his fortune by licensing the Trump name, when it comes to actually running businesses, he has been an abject failure - five bankruptcies and business failures, e.g., Trump University, Trump steaks, etc., and fraudulent efforts, e.g., Trump Foundation. No wonder no reputable US banks would lend to him.
With Mitch McConnell aiding and abetting Trump's infantile intransigence, the US can look forward to a recession and the further erosion of its status as a world power with less ability to affect international policy and economics.
Vlad must be thrilled - the US AND Great Britain tanking in the same week. His disinformation campaigns have succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
369
@J. Everything is connected. Putin and the Russians and the Trump-McConnell team are not insulated from the damage they've caused and will neither avoid nor be saved from the pits they've dug for others.
17
No one knows if he has a “fortune”. No one has seen his tax returns.
12
@J.
Yes, Trump was alway a fraud. And that is the reason that no American bank would lend him any money.
Instead Deutsche Banks loaned him tons of money, while Deutsche Bank was already fined millions upon millions of dollars for laundering Russian money.
It can be assumed that when German law enforcement searched the headquarters of DB in Frankfurt in the early morning not long ago, they shared their findings with Special Counsel Mueller and his team.
15
Mr. Trump has placed all of his chips on the pass line, taking ordinary citizens and government programs hostage while he tries to prove a point, without a care in the world how this action negatively impacts so many people who have nothing to do with the disagreement about a wall. Who would believe this if it wasn't in real time?
153
After the Mattis and Kelly departures, Trump is totally off the rails with no adult left to provide guidance. The inmate is running the asylum. I expect things to get even rockier until Trump is out of office, either forced or from the election. I only hope the nation can survive the menace. Mueller's report can't come fast enough. My only hope is that it might push McConnell into abandoning Trump. He's complicit in this. He's been an enabler from the beginning (along with many other Republicans).
454
The McConnell/Trump government shutdown must end. Democrats, do not budge one inch, but keep passing House bills every day to reopen the government and send them to McConnell until the pressure against the Obstructionist-in-Charge breaks his spineless back.
128
@Aaron - I don't really see any benefit to McConnell abandoning Trump. He is pretty safe in red Kentucky and Trump is popular there. Many on the right want government shut down, it can stay down forever. They want this anarchy and to "stick it to the libs". Unless some altruistic, liberal business owner decides to move his company to a swing district in rural KY and bring all his employees, then get them all registered to vote, I don't see Mitch ever going anywhere.
12
You’re not paying attention to the Barr AG confirmation hearing. The report would go to him, should he be confirmed (and he will be), and HE alone, unelected by the people, determines what, if anything, gets reported out. So don’t get your hopes up. “trump” is going to have him shut the whole thing down and there’s nothing we can do about it.
17
Being a Canadian gives me no comfort. I can't vote Trump out of office, nor have any meaningful say in America's political and increasingly, economic dilemma. Nonetheless, your policies affect the globe. It was only a decade ago when inappropriate US financial policies and practices almost drove the world into a major depression. I sympathize with your predicament, but only Americans' can solve it.
As a foreign observer, your partisan political system is not adept at dealing with politicians who have drunk their party's cool-aid. McConnell needs to be gone, Trump needs to be gone, along with their Republican enablers.
I am aghast that a defective political system gives one person the ability to drag the rest of the world down without so much as a glimmer of the vaunted checks and balances you say you have.
112
@David
Sadly, we voters can’t directly affect this for another two years. Sorry.
Since appointing people to run government departments who want to shut down or destroy those very departments, like Rick Perry and Betsy DeVos to name two, why would Trump be in any hurry to reopen shutdown parts of the government? What good is the IRS to the oligarchs? Republicans have dreamed about eliminating the IRS for years. Who needs the TSA when you fly on Air Force 1 or a private Gulfstream 650? Empathy for those federal workers not being paid? Trump never held any job in his life much less waited for a paycheck. Empathy for others in distress? Pease. If the plan is to shrink government so it could be drowned in a bath tub, this shutdown is nothing to be concerned about.
13
@Phil Dunkle
because he is proud of the low unemployment and GDP growth and this shut down will hit GDP first and employment next
Trump is a fool but a few things do catch his attention
Trump knows nothing but he believes a lot of things and his belief in the way to negotiate which is to never give an inch is very strong
plus he needs to dominate perhaps destroy to feel that he had "won."
4
@Phil Dunkle
"Who needs the TSA when you fly on Air Force 1 or a private Gulfstream 650?"
They DO need air traffic controllers for one. This perpetuates the "self made man" myth...as Mark Twain said:
"Show me a self made man and i'll show you a self laid egg"
EVERYONE uses government services. Every single American. Who is keeping the oligarchs' $ safe?
10
@adam stoler The TSA and Air Traffic Controllers shouild all call in sick this week and shut down air travel In the US, All suffer the consequences! Watch the shutdown end,
1
The president is in charge and goes on national television to say he will take full responsibility for the shutdown. Now the Republicans blame the Democrats. Nice work if you can get it. The Democrats now have put forth bill after bill to end the shutdown and McConnell won't take them to the floor. It's clear the president has too much power; no one man should be able to shut down the government and put nearly a million people out of work. Legislation is needed so this never happens again. The founders, we now see, depended on ethical people in the White House and Congress, even if they'd disagreed, and that is over for the time being. Once the right egomaniac came along, all bets were off for "checks and balances." It's totally unworkable with a would-be dictator in charge. Further I believe this is what Republicans want, to cut back government programs and employees at any cost, and they don't care if the process is democratic or not. They absolutely must be voted out.
48
@kay o. The President doesn't have that much power without the Republican Senate backing him. This could be over if McConnell allowed the bills to the floor for a vote, Republicans approved it, and then agreed to over- ride the veto when it comes. The power he does have is his base of voters who will vote against any Republican that does a sane thing. This is about Republicans keeping their jobs at any cost
2
Just as no one predicted that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand would directly lead to WWI, no one really can anticipate the far-reaching effects of this economic bullet hitting the heart of our American prosperity. Let's hope Trump isn't sparking another Great Depression.
27
Can’t we propose legislation to never have something like this happen again? Why have we lost civility in our government?
14
Because Russia undermined our Presidential election and bought off GOP legislators. It's that simple.
2
@Anina With the assistance of Fox News, Breitbart, etc.
Never underestimate the incompetence of a man who, when given a virtual license to print money (a casino), ran it into bankruptcy.
61
They have forgotten that they are supposed to be public servants. They need to remember who pays their salaries and who ultimately employs them.
11
@joyce
how long are you willing to work for nothing?
Slavery was abolished a century ago
9
But they DO remember. Russia elected Trump. Russia is paying off Mitch McConnell.
1
@Nb I believe she is referring to the Congress and President.
I hate the idea of the wall — it’s a waste of resources and represents the opposite of America. That said, the economy losing 0.5% / 4 * $17 tn = $22 bn lost GDP. Give him the wall in exchange for some other give — CO2 legislation, something actually relevant — and then blow the wall up in 2020. It’s the rational move.
3
The Democrats can’t give in to Trump because he’ll do that every time he wants something. They need to stand strong and nip this in the bud, so there are no repeats.
9
Every TSA agent should walk off the job. This will close every airport in the US. Then we may see some movement from Trump and McConnell to end this debacle.
51
@susan
How about the secret service agents walking off their jobs? They aren't being paid either.
23
I have had this thought, too. I am held back by the prospect of such a move being just the thing to trigger a "state of emergency" followed quickly by martial law and a permanent shutdown of the government we know.
1
@Charlesbalpha - If it were up to me I would tell every Federal employee who is not getting paid to walk off the job.
Trump's ability to wreak damage to livability, to the fiber of the US and to world stability is breathtaking. The founding fathers set up a government of checks and balances that is failing.
Federal workers are the hostages. Suppose Democrats capitulate to his extortion demands and many to the right are demanding arguing that the $4 billion more is a mere gnats eyelash to the overall budget?
I fear for our country.
26
@Zev If the Democrats capitulate, Trump will see that as his extortion tactics working. He will do it again when the next disagreement occurs.
11
The Council of economic advisers is a liberal think tank whose objective is to embarrass the president, I'm not believing in these numbers at all.
The American economy cannot be slowed by a partial government slow down for three weeks, it's simplistic to think so
1
@There
The Council of Economic Advisors is headed by Kevin Hassett, a Republican and a former Director of Research for Domestic Policy at the American Enterprise Institute.
33
@There Yes it can, and it will. When people do not spend, growth will slow.
9
@There The president needs no help embarrassing himself, and out nation, everyday in almost every way. He is the best at that, and not even a 'liberal think tank' can do better.
1
The shutdown is treated as a separate issue from the Russian "collusion" investigation. Trump's motivation for shutting down the U.S. government is seen variously as a temper tantrum or a distraction or, by a small minority, as a sincere national emergency. But, more and more, I am convinced the shutdown is yet another facet of the collusion with Russia. The shutdown is just one more way in which Mr. Trump is weakening America and the West.
66
It took Bush-Cheney seven years to destroy the American economy.
Trump-Pence will do in two years.
Republicans always come through in the clutch.
Can someone please test Middle America’s IQ ?
252
@Socrates
The 'incurious' got took-once again.
So,as the saying goes: First time, blames on you, Second time, blames on me.
Socialization imprints us, and in many instances, 'brands' us, and typically we can end up marching like ducks in a row, running with the herd.
But sometimes the pain can force us to change. And hopefully, this will be one of those instances.
19
@Socrates. Can they recognize a camel?
8
It was, in 2016 and again by Fox’s latest media rankings...
2
And Trump supporters still seem to support this brilliant plan to tank America.
“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”
H L Mencken
180
@Socrates
Many of Trump's supporters think Trump is divine intervention
Worth remembering that God's divine intervention led to plagues, locusts and war
Not so different with Trump
20
@Socrates
To Socrates and Mencken, let us add this from Lawrence and Lee's "Inherit the Wind:"
"[He] doesn't have any enemies. Only his friends hate him."
6
@SA
Hah! Sounds like Al Franken’s comment about Ted Cruz:
“I like Ted Cruz more than anybody else in Congress. And I hate Ted Cruz.”
1
When a government inactivity for some mere days is already enough to an "end to growth", then it's bad news for an alleged healthy, fully liberalized capitalist economy.
9
@VK
A government shutdown by one man is not a legitimate tool of democracy. It is a tool of tyrants.
1
Trump's last attempt to kill what is left of the Obama economic legacy.
73
@Scott... Obama had to deal with such dire economic issues with the failing auto makers, and the fallout from fraud on Wall St and elsewhere etc,....and as usual...when someone works things out in a difficult time many take things for granted ! What a legacy this President and his Administration and supporters will leave...it's not going to be good and unfortunately too many of us voted for this !!
8
Has it done 6 billion dollars in damage yet?of course. Will we do a trillion dollars damage over 6 billion? What's the majic number?
We could call the wall performance art, its absurd enough, and fund it thru the national endowment for the arts. A monument to our leaders.
13
@Brian
I like the gloated wasteful defense budget as the source of funding
its trading one foolish type of spending for another
The United States Congress needs to shut down Trump.
85
It's sad how the GOP has abandon fiscal conservatism. They'll consider funding $5.7 Billion for a useless Trump wall AND damage the American economy showing they choose party over country.
For 2 years the GOP held majority in Congress and NEVER funded Trump's wall. They knew it was wasteful spending and fiscal conservatives would loathe.
The GOP has fallen from a once respectable political party. McConnell and Ryan showed America that Congressional Republicans are lapdogs to a bully pretend Emperor who is obviously naked.
The longer the GOP delays standing up to Trump regarding his wasteful wall spending, the more likely America will sweep them from Congress in a Blue Tsunami Part II coming in 2020.
74
@Question Everything
The GOP didn't want a wall either so while they had a majority in both houses they did nothing
McConnell thinks that he has had so much success from doing nothing that his success will continue
7
I'm certain a tax cut for the rich will set the economy straight.
31
@June
Especially if they like the government can get people to work for nothing
1
Mitch McConnell and the Republican controlled senate need to take a long hard look in the mirror and remember that their job is to serve their constituents and the American people. Their job is NOT to serve the POTUS. Pass the spending bills to open the Government and make them veto proof. To quote POTUS, "This should be easy". High School civics 101. If they do the right thing they will be reelected. Common sense! I have never been more disgusted or more in favor of term limits!
54
@E
Be careful what you wish for. Term limits are a bad idea. We have them in Michigan and you have them in Ohio.
All term limits lead to is a lack of institutional knowledge and accountability. Not to mention constant job hopping by politicians between house and senate.
We have term limits at the ballot box. Vote in the primaries and general elections.
13
@E For some reason Kentuckians continue to elect McConnell-why?
1
Seems that most shutdown news articles go for low-hanging fruit. Here’s a few suggestions: Call FedEx and UPS to see what their receipts look like, because the feds are big customers. Those shippers will report lower earnings — bet on it. Speaking about betting, state revenues from lotteries and casino gambling will likely tank, meaning less-than-projected revenue for education. The Verizons and Comcasts of the wired world will find more cord cutters. All of the above will slow hiring, and the trickle-down effect from those employers will cascade into an economic downturn. Family and friends of the newly unemployed will also cut back to help out. Every day this madness continues will be a day lost in economic terms. The District of Columbia and its MD-VA suburbs are beginning to see breadlines not seen since the Great Depression. And that specter will translate into more mental health issues for our public servants. That also is what gets lost in coverage, that these people are public servants and probably could make more money in private industry than in government service. What a way to run a country!
50
@Concerned Veteran
Today the Atlanta papers were quoting low earnings for Delta, because their customers couldn't get through TSA security. When is big business going to realize what a liability Trump is?
9
At some point in time the "president" must have heard the term "bully pulpit" and assumed it meant it authorizes him to be a bully. When Theodore Roosevelt coined the phrase he used bully as an adjective meaning excellent. He wasn't using it as a noun meaning someone so insecure and weak he needs to harm others to feel good about himself.
36
The shutdown has only accelerated the upcoming crash due to 2 years of totally irresponsible government by the GOP and Trump. Remember, Obama inherited a crashing economy, 8 years of poor growth (Dubya's BEST quarter never reached Clinton's worst!), jobs hemorrhaging, and 2 of the 3 automakers on the brink of collapse, banks BARELY saved and people saying "My 401-k is now a 201-k!"
Obama saved the economy, saved the auto industry and millions of jobs, halved unemployment, and cut the Bush's budget deficit by 2/3 ($1.4 trillion to under $500 billion). He left Trump and unified GOP govt a healthy economy.
So they foisted a $1.4 trillion tax cut for corporations that did NOTHING for workers.
Imposed unnecessary tariffs that resulted in soy bean and chickpea farmers losing their market probably forever.
Replaced a talented and capable Fed Head and then sought to FIRE her replacement.
Killed the TPP, re-worked NAFTA (still not approved by Canada).
Filled his administration with incompetents and crooks, and when the good people left, replaced them with more incompetents!
Prior to the shutdown the tea leaves said the crash was coming. December's unemployment went up, instead of down, housing prices have stalled and started to fall.
Is it any wonder that the shutdown is just the push needed to create the next recession? The GOP never learns: Their "economic model" ALWAYS leads to recession.
Always. Every time. Since Coolidge. Ike was the exception but he was a RINO.
166
This is one superlative that Donald Trump has earned: the longest government shutdown in the country's history.
And just like the draft during the Vietnam War, until a majority of the country begins to feel the effects of the shutdown, there will not be any pressure to end it.
If TSA agents just did not come into work; if IRS agents called out sick en masse; if air traffic controllers just didn't show up, this shutdown would end in about 20 minutes.
76
@Len And if you want to shave that 20 minutes to ten, if those who sign and send Social Security checks call in sick, this shutdown would be over.
39
@Kismet...Don't give Trump any ideas...he's liable to order the SSI checks to stop and put the blame on the Democrats for not funding the wall !
2
@Kismet Yes! I agree. . .
1
Donald seems to have a gift for making a bad situation worse through his own intransigence. Again, a clear demonstration of his vast incompetence.
46
So the global economy has been slowing for the last 6 months. The tariffs are to blame for that. Then the fed raised rates, now trump fires 800,000 workers. Our economy may be strong but if this last another month it will stop our growth.
If I were a democratic congress person I would have my I-Pad ready with a recording of trump telling Chuck and Nancy that he would take the blame for the shutdown every time they are asked about the shutdown in front of reporters. This would spur the end of the shutdown. That would trump the PR campaign by trump and friends.
24
It should be obvious to even the most causal observer that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is the person holding up the any possibility of ending the government shutdown.
The Democrats in the House have passed numerous bills to reopen the government and get people paid. Senator Mitch McConnell on the other hand with not "allow" any House bills to come up for a vote on the floor of the Senate until President Trump gives him some kind of signal that he will accept and sign it.
I am not sure when the Senate became a part of the White House but I am SURE it's not in the Constitution.
So just to be clear...the Trump/McConnell Republican shutdown will continue until one of them finally answers the calls from America...ENOUGH!
297
Mitch is awful, true, but he doesn’t have the votes yet to override a trump veto.
1
@Lalo
Mitch is the problem here. He loves to hold the country hostage and has been doing so ever since Obama was elected.
10
@The 1%
It's likely override votes already exist in both House and Senate.
I count 12 Republican Senators who are already publicly stating they favor action immediately to reopen government while continuing to negotiate effective border security. Only 20 GOP Senators are needed to override a veto.
All that's left is for McConnell to allow the Senate to vote on the existing House-passed bills.
7
Watching Trump bankrupt America over a promise he never intended to keep is just sad.
70
@Marlene
or being "p" whipped by Ann Coulter
7
And I suppose that the 800000 people are all Democrats. Where are his supporters? Inflicting pain is Trump replacement for negotiations. What this is is extortion plain and simple. So if we want to bring an end to the threats and extortion we cannot give in to Trump and his cronies. No deal from Pelosi until he backs off and he will when the pain among his supporters begins to come back his way. Trump has already caused a very large ripple effect that is reversing all positive trends for growth. Soon it will take as long or longer than our great recession to pull us back from the brink. This is a vengeful and mean spirited man much more like the crime bosses of the 20's and 30's. His name is Trump and extortion is his game. The art of the deal indeed. He has never negotiated in good faith and we cannot trust him ever.
60
I'm a designer-cabinetmaker-lampmaker in Florida. A new customer - a furloughed federal worker - has told me to delay an upcoming project because his pay check has zeroed out. So, the economic damage from Trump's shutdown (though relatively small in this case) spreads wide.
How many other stories like mine are out there?
372
@BruceM
"How many other stories like mine are out there?"
About 800,000.
30
@BruceM
Actually more than 800,000. Coast guard retirees are not getting their pensions. Federal workers who are still being paid are also becoming more cautious about spending because no one knows what crazy thing Trump will do next.
32
@ BCasero
No, you have to multiply the 800,000 at least twofold if not more, because of the small businesses losing money, be they cabinet makers in Florida or small family owned restaurants and shops in the greater D.C. area.
33
Trump who bankrupted six times probably is not afraid of another bankruptcy. As long as barrage of lies pour out of the WH, the Trump regime will not take the responsibility for the shutdown. Trump will lie to his last breath.
73
This is 100% Trump's shutdown. Anyone who says the Dems share blame forgot their basic US government lessons. Only Congress says how money IS spent. The President, through veto, can say how money IS NOT spent. But nothing in the Constitution gives POTUS authority to spend.
104
And a special thank you to Mitch, Donald and Ann for putting party and greed before country.
Can the adults please come back to run the government again??
98
It’s horrible to note that Republicans have refused to pass the bills of IRS etc in the Senate which are passed in the House of Representatives.
There is no sense in this stalemate. All those Government employees, who are compelled to work without pay simply can’t continue endlessly since they are no bigwigs having tons and tons of money. A day will come sooner or later when they refuse to work. What will the Government do then ? How about those employees compelled to sit at home and whose pockets have become empty ?
Some positive steps need to be taken on urgent basis to see that the shutdown ends lest both political parties will be forced to go into the hiding.
7
Among my conservative friends, the one aspect they have pointed to, in their support of Donald Trump, has been the economy. People talk about Trump's base as an uneducated working class mass, but conservatives I know are business people. They're all in with the tax cut. They're a little jittery about the trade wars. They don't have much to say about immigration or the wall. I'm pretty sure they would spout the party line, if asked, but I don't think they really care. What they care about is business. Donald Trump and Republicans have to be worried about losing support among these conservatives, if they continue to risk the economy over the bragging rights for getting their symbolic 5.7 billion to build a hunk of their symbolic wall.
42
Why the Republican senators are so quiet except Trump’s puppet Lindsey Graham. The senate should override the president to open the government without delay. They should love their country more than their president and their party. Be responsible. We have become the laughing stock in the world. Trump has no shame but the Republican senators also do not have any shame?
58
This is not a shutdown it’s a Trump circus except federal workers are forced to work without pay and are being recalled because the faltering economy and services. Americans are at risk - safety inspectors, airline safety, cuts to air travel except for Congress (keep them in Washington)! The IRS (no tax revenue). It’s a national disgrace and is the result of a delusional Republican Party and President.
42
This sentence segment says it all, "President Trump’s economists doubled projections of how much economic growth is being lost each week". Just let that sink in a bit.
President Trump is so desperate to placate his dwindling MAGA base that he's shut down American government, damaging economic growth and holding 800,000 federal employees hostage unless Congress agrees to put $5.7 Billion into the budget for a useless 14th century wall. Also keep in mind that for 2 years, the GOP held a majority in both houses of Congress did NOT earmark any funding for Trump's wall. Trump's own party knew it was a waste of tax dollars that fiscal conservatives would dislike.
This is a political stunt by Trump and is a bully tactic against incoming Democrats. It needlessly hurts America's economy and Americans all in the name of Trump's personal agenda. Trump's wall is a poor solution to border security compared to a range of technological and/or legislative options. It's a waste of valuable tax dollars. If the GOP does not unequivocally tell the President to stop this charade, then they truly have abandoned fiscal conservatism.
The GOP has once again chosen party politics over the good of all America. America will vote Republicans out of Congress in 2020 for having forsaken their oath to "...well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office ..."
The longer the GOP stands idly by, the more unpatriotic shame they bring on their once proud party.
125
This is not symmetrical, both sides are not equally to blame. Trump is trying to get something that he couldn’t get from Congress through legal means. Congress has the power of the purse and Trump has to make a persuasive case for his spending else it won’t happen. For the Dems to capitulate would be to shred the constitution and hand it to Trump/Putin on a silver platter. So the Dems need to stay strong. However, the interests of the country are such that this spat, if not resolved by the parties, will necessarily lead to impeachment of Trump for gross dereliction of his duty to uphold the laws and protect the Constitution. He is running out of runway. Does he even know this?
40
@Denis
Talk to Mich and his need to have Trump approve any bill before the senate.......
4
The United States will pay for the wall, whether we build it or not. Sad!
46
Revised estimates show that the shutdown is beginning to have real economic consequences to an economy Pence called “roaring.”
Roaring? Yes, as result of borrowed money that one day the US will have to deal with. That will be REAL economic consequences for middle class taxpayers.
We must find a way to hold self-interested and self-enriching Elected Politicians, government officials, their staffers and operatives from both parties personally and financially liable, responsible and accountable for the lies and half-truths they have told US, their gross mismanagement of our county, our $22 T and growing national debt (106% of GDP), and our $80 T in future, unfunded liabilities they forced on US jeopardizing our economic and national security, while benefiting themselves, their staffers, their party and special interest donors.
21
I can not see how trump and the GOP can continue tp blame the DEMs for this mess. The House has passed many bills to fund the government and the senate has refused to vote on them. In case Mitch forgot a bill can pass and become law without trump, its called a veto override!!! To open parts of the government by forcing unpaid workers to work just shows how much the GOP disregards the middle class, why do they vote for them???
141
@Thomas Renner
McConnell hasn't forgotten about the veto override. That's exactly why he's not allowing the vote.
7
@Thomas Renner. A pox on Trump and McCower..his new name.
1
@Thomas Renner
Why do they vote for them?
Because the repubs hate minorities,women's right to choose,affordable health care ,
preserving and conserving our Environment for starters......
5
Let everyone remember that he claimed ownership of this situation before the shutdown even began. You cannot blame the Democrats for this. This is all Trump.
222
@Christopher
And Mitch the great holdup artist. Nothing gets done without Mitch`s approval.
11
@Christopher
And that is another reason the House should not fold. They should constantly bring that up and portray him as the liar and weak person who blames everyone else for his screwups.
8
@Christopher
He also claimed to be a great negotiator, and to know more about war than the generals. Is there any claim Trump hasn't made?
At least he can honestly say he has the longest shut down ever. It's huge!
Finally! Mr. Trump did it. He is breaking the US financial system just like he did with his casinos. No matter how strong the house hand, if making poor decisions, it will loose.
155
And so I must repeat:
No deal with Trump.
Nol one penny.
Impeach him in the House for conspiracy and obstruction.
Let him try to run for re-election based on his single accomplishment - the Trump shutdown.
The GOP Senate will cave.
May take several months. Stay strong.
138
@strangerq
You can't stay strong if you have no money to buy food.
2
Ortrud from Belgium.(really?)
Said everyone who ever opposed a worker strike or boycott thinking they could scare the workers into submission.
America was strong enough to save Belgium from Hitler.... we are certainly strong enough to stand up to Trump.
4
@strangerq
You can't stand up if you can't eat.
If there was ever a time for a variation in our political system, now is the time.
There should be some way developed to put such an issue to a public vote to really see if the majority of the American people think the wall is a good idea and let us decide directly as our President and Congress cannot come to a decision.
11
How about this idea for bringing the shutdown to a quick conclusion. Let's suspend salaries and benefits for all members of Congress and the White House including the President, suspend healthcare benefits, and refuse back pay until the shutdown is over. In the meantime, they can hold garage sales or walk dogs to make ends meet.
243
@EAZiemba Trump can afford it, so can Congress. They have non-government sources of income.
17
Facts are important. Some Members of Congress may have other sources of income, some may not. Is it wrong if wealth is earned legally and ethically and/or from a previous career?
2
@J True enough but the point is to drive home the message that they should be treated just like every other American. It is meant to be a teaching moment for the spoiled kids in DC. And while they can afford to go without these financial assets, no one like to give away money, not even rich people. If they or anyone covered by their health insurance gets sick, they can pay out of pocket and see what it feels like to be uninsured and faced with staggering healthcare bills.
24