In Fiscal Year 2019, the federal budget will be $4.407 trillion. The $5 billion for the wall or fence or whatever it is equates to chump change in federal fiscal funding. Give the guy the money so workers can get paid. If it's so repulsive to build more fencing on the border tear it down after he is impeached or resigns or is voted out. The Democratic party's holier than thou stance makes me livid and I'm not an unpaid government worker and I despise Trump. Democrats made their point. End it now.
1
At least Trump can “relate” to all this mayhem and misery. Think of how bad it could be if he couldn’t.
My husband is a USFS firefighter, you know, one of the people the president thinks ought to "rake" the forests to fight wildfires. A few years ago, we lived check-to-check. This would have killed us financially had it happened back then. I am truly concerned for families who are already really struggling as a result of this nonsense.
2
Why are Democrats remaining relatively silent while Trump and Republicans blame them but also calling them all kinds of names in addition to accusing them of lack of concern for US citizens. Citizens who by the way kill each other at a rate of 11,000-13,500 per year independent of the what is by comparison the small number of murders by illegal immigrants
1
We have a national security problem and it’s Trump !
5
Absurd! Outrageous! It is difficult to believe that this less than mediocre man (T) was actually elected. It is beyond science fiction that he still has the power to create such havoc. Republicans must stand up to him NOW.
5
Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell should be ashamed!
For SHAME on youz.
This is not a Sean spicer binary case.
Open up the federal government you bully!
3
The terrorists in suits known as Republicans are the ones to blame for the fiasco that is the Trump “presidency.” They have enabled him every step of the way. Without his terrorist Republican enablers, this national nightmare would have been over by now. The Republican terrorists have done far more damage to far more Americans than any terrorist organization ever. I have said for a long time that I am more afraid of Republicans than I am of ISIS.
10
What is he going to say tonight?
1. Not my fault it's the Democrats
2. I want my wall so I'll just take the Gov't home and not play anymore
3. Mexicans are bad people and will kill you in your beds. Hundreds of thousands of them are massing at the border to invade
4. We don't need a wall with Canada because they look like me and are therefore nice people
4. I want my wall
5. It's Mexico's fault, they were supposed to pay for my wall
6. I want my wall and don't care about anyone else.
7. So we'll use steel and I don't care it comes from China at ten times the cost of last year.
8. It's not my fault it's the Democrats.
9. I want my wall.
10. What do you mean there's a bigger wall in China?
7
Congress controls the federal budget, and directs the Executive Branch. The President does not control the federal budget, and is not entitled to everything he wants to be included in it. Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Republicans in the Senate need to stop acting like he is going in charge, and do their jobs: pass a reasonable budget with a veto-proof majority, and get on with running the country.
4
Congress "directs the Executive Branch." Really? Did AOC tell you that?
Even Trump supporters know that Donald Trump is working to the detriment of the country and the American people!
2
Absolutely deplorable.Maybe all citizens should give $$ to a Crowd Fund to help support our fellow citizens get thru the horrible position our dirt bag of a president has put them in.
5
A cynical means of defunding SNAP, a program that is needed by so very many Trump-Pence supporters.
MAGA = Making Americans Gaunt Again.
7
Depending on how it is measured, Mexico's economy is between the eleventh and fifteenth largest in the world; according to the World Bank, Mexico currently has a GDP of $2.4 trillion. . . Canada's is $1.4 trillion.
"In 2017, illegal border crossing arrests hit a 46-year low, and were down 25% from the previous year."
https://www.npr.org/2017/12/05/568546381/arrests-for-illegal-border-crossings-hit-46-year-low
We depend upon Mexico (and Canada). To promote a physical barrier is a slap in the face of basic macro-economics, among other things.
If border crossings have been reduced (via security or economics), what is the basis for Trump's "sale"?
It should be mentioned that the US/Canada border is more-than porous. If Trump were really acting in the best interest of the US re drugs, "illegals", terrorism, etc., we would be having a debate about an idiotic border wall between VT and Montreal.
1
It's Republicans in the Senate not Democrats in the House who are not making progress.
6
Trumpski feeds on chaos, and he will be creating more chaos in his upcoming speech. It is beyond all understanding how supposedly coherent republicans in congress can stand by and go along with his ideas that can vacillate from moment to moment.
Given the news reported today regarding manafort and his GRU "translator"kilimski and the attorney veselniskaya, the trump campaign had a staff connections with a strong component of criminals and like minded wannabes.
This drama is horrendous, and the sooner Mr. Mueller completes his work, citizens will realize this administration is a tragic episode, one to serve as a cautionary tale, not to be repeated.
4
Not to worry, this will not personally impact Trump. He will still be paid, go out to dinner and travel at taxpayers expense even though his secret service agents are not getting paid.
5
Just so we're clear: There is a wall. There are several walls actually. I just drove by one in southern CA/AZ last week. Sheets of steel reinforced with barbed wire on the other side. To me, that wall looked a lot like the newest suggestion that Trump is making. Sure, there are areas where there are no walls, but those are either in private property or in areas where there are major natural barriers that make crossing extremely hard. Americans should face the facts: 1. This country's policies in the second half of the last century led to the current downfall of some Central American governments, so in a way this is a problem of their own doing. 2. As long as this country has a good economy and good standard of living, people are going to keep coming. Not just to benefit from the economy, but also to contribute to it. No wall will stop them. This is why these immigrants don't stay in Mexico, which currently has similar conditions (though much less dramatic) than their home countries. Who among us would change a house in a risky neighborhood for a different house in a different risky neighborhood? 3. Without immigrants of all kinds, this country is soon going to see a population crisis with many old people and not enough young people to support them (both directly and indirectly through taxes and jobs). 4. Legal immigration to this country is only for the wealthy or the lucky ones. No one will wait a decade to leave a place where they may die tomorrow.
5
@MariaMulata
So what is your specific approach to handling the influx of people? Exactly what would you do? Allow everyone in and house them in a camp to await processing? What would you do?
Everyone knows we need and want some immigrants. How do you manage the numbers so they are here legally? Democrats never have a SPECIFIC answer. It's always along the lines of "we are a humane country..." etc.
2
Why is this even legal? If a private employer does not pay the people who work for the company, he or she would be arrested. Why is the Government allowed to do this? It is truly time for some changes in the law. This should never happen again.
5
The fallout from the gov't shutdown is really not that bad all. Remember Trump ordered this to happen, and with our self proclaimed stable, genius POTUS well aware of all the ramifications to the economy and victims experiencing financial hardship, don't be upset. It is only for a short time. But more importantly remember, Trump can't blame this on anyone because he caused it, he ordered it. It is the GOP saying to America what a great party they are, always looking out for the working people.
3
Why isn't more anger being directed toward Mitch McConnell? The Presidential veto power is meant to be a veto on bills that have been passed by congress, not a prohibition on bills congress can consider. Congress represents the people of the United States, not the President. They should be acting on behalf of the people, and let our emperor-minded President decide if he wants to go against the representatives of the people (and risk being over-ridden) or not. Mitch McConnell needs to be put in the hot seat!
7
It has never been clearer. There is no functioning US government.
4
Trump's disdain for the concepts of limited presidential power and democratic rule.
Why are Republicans strangely quite on the issue of executive overreach?
Limiting executive overreach is supposedly one of the core principles and beliefs of conservative Republicans.
Maybe there is no such thing as conservative principles and beliefs.
4
I don't think the American Civil War has ever actually ended.
3
Gang GOP in Congress will pay in 2020 if they do not do their sworn duty. A bipartisan, veto proof bill ending the shutdown is what they were elected to do. Protecting their constituents rises above treating the president like the dictators he admires.
5
Rural states with their huge amounts of under educated people are calling the shots for this nation. We need our educated people to understand and react to this menace before we lose our Democracy. American lives are at stake and our criminal leadership cannot be allowed to run this country. If Trump's hurtful and destructive policies could target his base only, I'm all for that. For it is they who have created this situation of dread and chaos.
@Phil M
Actually Phil there were millions of Democrats who failed to vote last time, so there's plenty of blame to go around. Also there are plenty of "uneducated" people who are street-wise, thoughtful and savvy, and hoped for change that would lift their lives
1
Instead of a wall, we need to hold employers accountable for hiring illegal aliens whether it is a household that wants a cleaning person, a farmer in need of someone to pick his crops, a fortune 500 company, or a construction contractor. The first time should be a stiff fine plus costs of prosecuting and deporting an individual and the second time should include jail time for the hiring individual and senior management. Nearly half of all illegal aliens are here because of expired visas. A wall will not solve those with an expired visas or employers who can easily skirt the law and hire an illegal alien.
2
Not sure who is going to pick our crops or work in our slaughterhouses. American citizens refuse to do those jobs, no matter how much they pay. I guess you support moving all these jobs overseas, which is what the result of your proposal would be.
2
@Hools
You just made my argument. Able-bodied Americans without work and receiving assistance should be mandated to take those jobs in exchange for welfare.
@Hools Our slaughter houses were fully staffed until meat plants started busting unions.
Yes we may a little pay more to have legal residents of the United States pick crops, clean our buildings, and build or repair our homes. We may also learn to landscape our own homes and learn to eat at home more often.
If immigrant labor is really needed, then devise a system of legal immigration system for permanent employees or seasonal labor. Not a system that exploits people and violates the law on the books. That is not good for the larger society or the long term prospects of the laborer.
1
What irritates me so badly about this shutdown is:
Had the issue been funding for Planned Parenthood and had the Democrats shut down government unless it was fully funded, every liberal in America would have expounded on the necessity and righteousness of it all.
I guess some shutdowns would be OK provided they are for something YOU believe in.
Trump originally agreed to a budget with both houses of Congress him right wing media personalities complained, causing him to back down. Congress offered 1.3 billion for border security including repairs on the already existing barrier. One issue is that the areas without a barrier are private property and the owners do not want a wall. Trump would have to confiscate this land under eminent domain. Because both Republicans and Democrats generally support private property rights I don't understand how he could get away with it. Their constituents would punish them at the polls. Trump doesn't get that he works for the American people not FOX news.
17
I feel sorry for those affected who did not vote for the Clown. Those who did vote for him deserve it. We warned you. You put all of us in this situation and I'm glad you're paying for it. Unfortunately you're taking down a mess of people with you.
24
Trump cut off WIC. 7 million needy people. A true champion of evangelical charity.
30
Don´t be silly Democrats and give in to this tantrum, a move to take over the US govt and render it more ineffectual that djt/McConnell have already done. They are doing great work for Putin. That is treasonous. News media please emphasize to the illiterate single channel people that the wall is not a border security measure. No experts think it would be effective. This is a pure political stunt by a sick person owned by a foreign government who is attempting to subvert the US govt and doing a good job of creating chaos. It is outrageous that the Secret Service, TSA and even IRS are expected to work without pay.
14
What is amazing is not that "Americans feel the bite" it's that so few Americans feel even a nibble.
7
The country deserves this for they voted for these miscreants and passively accept this abuse.
All Secret Service people should resign next week if they do not receive their check.
15
Even craft brewers.....yep, the alcoholism industry will most certainly fix this deal.
4
Craft Brewers!?!
Perhaps the younger apolitical ones will begin to understand that voting really does matter.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE join us in this democracy experiment and have your voice be counted!
10
Does Trump really care about the chaos he has created? No he doesn't! His ego needs a wall. I say give him a wall call a federal penitentiary and put him inside, then call for a government shutdown. Oh yah, penitentiary service providers are government employees.
8
President Trump should heed this age-old advice: Trumpity-Dumpity sat on his wall. Trumpity-Dumpity had a great fall. all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Tumpity together again.
11
If the Secret Service members who are not getting paid justifiably refused to show up for work to guard the “President “ & his crew, you can bet the shut-down wound end - pronto!
12
President Trump is holding the federal government hostage to pay for a wall he promised Mexico would fund, and is considering the declaration of a “national emergency” to force the military to construct it.
To get his way, he has resorted to several different arguments - all factually challenged.
Let's not be fooled. Trump’s threats to declare a national emergency and force the military to build the border wall are both illegal and impractical.
There is no emergency. Apprehensions at the Southern border are down almost 80% since 2000, from over 1.8 million people then to less than 400,000 people in 2018.
The average of polls conducted since the start of the shutdown shows that approximately 55% of Americans blame Republicans/Trump. Approximately 50% think Trump is “most to blame.”
The majority of Americans oppose a border wall in the first place.
Walls don't work- never have, never will. They didn't work at Jericho. And even a mountain with walls - Masada - was ultimately breached by the Roman army. The Berlin Wall was ultimately smashed and toppled - along with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The Great Wall of China is now simply a tourist attraction and the name of many Chinese restaurants here in the US
Trump - the self-proclaimed great negotiator - can huff and puff all he wants. He's not getting a wall, not even a pinata wall.
11
The line at LaGuardia looks better than usual!
3
This shutdown can be ended immediately by either the Democrats or Trump. The Democrats can pass a bill with the 5+billion needed for starts paid for by a small increase in tax on corporations and the top 5% of income earners.
On the other hand, Trump can submit the plans for the "wall" to construction companies for analysis and have them submit bids for the entire project. Once he has them in hand he can forward them to Mexico for their approval and have them send a check.
If neither of those approaches work, then I would suggest that good Patriotic Americans stand behind the furloughed workers and those forced to work without pay and encourage them to stay home shutting down airports, parks, bases etc.
Since the Republican party has demonstrated their worship of the rich and the worthlessness of the middle class and poor workers, it should workout without a hitch. And maybe the problem will be solved!!
10
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that it never dawned on the handful of people -- geniuses like Stephen Miller and Jared Kushner, for example -- who are left "running" our entire country that a federal government shutdown is actually very complex, and has endless ripple effects that impact voters lives in ways big and small.
I suppose if we've learned nothing else from the two-year catastrophe otherwise known as the Trump "Administration" (and the Republicans in Congress who have given this monstrosity their nearly unmitigated support), it is that our country can still continue to function at some level without any leadership whatsoever at the top.
12
The saddest thing I heard last night was a man from Colorado in tears because without a paycheck, he could not provide for his family. Mr Fake Writer of "Art of the Deal" clearly does not grasp that a good deal is one where everyone gives a little to get something. He certainly does not grasp that average Joe does not have his financial cushion. Both sides agree that we want good border security. Start from there. Send it to Trump with audiotape of people at risk of doing something desperate because they can't pay their bills. Force no empathy Trump to veto because Mr Art of the Deal can't get everything. And keep calling him in his lies.
11
This is just one more of the many examples of how elections have consequences.
So a minority of voters wanted and elected a business/con-man for president. A business/con-man that bankrupt several casinos and number of questionable business practices in the past, no less.
So, why is anybody surprised when the business/con-man/President of the United States shuts down his own government "to keep from looking silly?"
Anyone that believes that he cares for his 800,000 employees must be in the 85% of his party that approves of his job performance, regardless of the failures and crisis he creates.
Elections have consequences!
9
@Listening to Others
Yes, and It's a shame that so many Democrats failed to vote, eh?
1
We are seeing the Belgiumisation of the US - put essential services on autopilot and we are fine. Shutdown the military and we save about a TRILLION dollars every year.
2
This isn't about a wall. This is about democracy.
Given all that's going on maybe we should look beyond the forefront of this story? Trump is holding our entire country, including our Government, as hostages and he's using the money (an amount he's surreptitiously increased) as the negotiation tactic. Only there's no negotiation, it's concessions, from the Democrats and he's more than willing to do whatever it takes to stop the Mueller investigations.
Now Mattis and Kelly are out of the picture, who else is left to stop his plan to prevent the newly elected Democrats from doing their jobs because that is what this is about: stopping the Democrats and he's using us, the public, as collateral damage. He's shut down the Gov't because the Dems now control Congress. Period.
Anyone know why McConnell is AWOL? I don't put this past McConnell and his minions because they know once the Dems start pealing off the layers, the rotten smell emanating from whatever they've been going to great lengths at hiding, will continue reek for years to come. The whole does not equal the sum of its parts.
Mueller uncovered far more then he or anyone could ever have imagined. The GOP have taken our entire country hostage and they're using the $$$ to ensure we as a nation, do not progress beyond the ideological coup that has devoured us. Look beyond what's in front of you someone else is hiding behind the curtain. This isn't about a wall. This is about democracy.
13
If I’m a Secret Service agent protecting the president, and shots are fired, I might stumble and fall on my face while trying to “rush” to put my body in harms way to cover him.
It was just an accident, I swear, check the videotape.
5
The King of Debt has doubled our annual deficit in 2 years. Now, America reads about new messes om the horizon. Tonight, His "Highness" speaks.
And loyal Republicans CLAIM that they would pay this tribute for a Wall / Fence - NOW. They had 2 years! There's nothing new, but a blue wave and a swamped boat. The little voices, Limbaugh, Coulter, and Hannity have pushed their master into this Closure over a Wall / Fence because without it, they're all done.
Newsflash: they're all done anyway, but they've got to go down screaming and hollering because that's who they are.
10
My husband just got notified today that the funding for his project, which is funded by the government, is at risk of running out by the end of the month. As more and more people are affected by this standoff, I sincerely hope that the anger is pointed in the right direction. We already have walls along the border--let's focus on meaningful immigration reform and real solutions for those crossing illegally. But I fear that the longer this goes on, the more Trump will worry about looking "foolish" for giving in.
I've already resigned myself to this guy being re-elected, but I feel like I'm living in the twilight zone. How is this ok?
52
@A - He won't be reelected. Hang in there.
10
@A
Trump doesn't have a prayer of re-election. He has NEVER had the support of a majority of American voters. He talks about his "base" as if it's still comprised of 62 million ignorant people. Every time he opens his mouth, he loses another thousand. Too bad there isn't some clear means of charging Republicans everywhere with impeachment. They have turned their backs on the very constitution that clearly delineates their duties and responsibilities. And they do so in full awareness of treasonous crimes for which they deserve punishment.
12
@A Please never resign yourself to anything you consider detrimental to America. If you want to make a difference...go out and make one.
Time is ripe for positive change.
4
I represent a client who was in contract to purchase industrial land to move his business. The deal collapsed. The SBA is not open to be able to accept and process business loan applications. The seller didn't want to extend the contract- even though the buyer was already qualified- because the US Government is no longer dependable. This was a $1.8M contract with 23 jobs.
18
If the project was economically viable, a private lender/investor would fund it. The fact that the deal has fallen apart without SBA funding suggests that this deal was yet another "loser" that could be funded only with a government guarantee, and makes little business sense.
1
How sweet of Trump and the GOP to go out of their way to hurt the people they claim to serve. We're not talking about their rich friends, associates, or donors here. The oaths they took do not limit them to serving the people who voted for them or gave them financial assistance (in return for hefty government assistance). Each one of them took an oath to protect and serve us, all of us.
The GOP and Trump and their despicable supporters must want to turn us into the Unmoored States of America or maybe the Unproductive States of America. I wonder if, when they nominated Trump and campaigned for him, the GOP ever considered how likely it was that Trump would ruin their lives, their constituents lives, and America. Probably not. Power, the power to deny, to punish, to hurt, and to demonize others means more to them than doing the jobs they swore to do when they took their oaths of office.
11
With this many disgruntled federal employees one can only imagine that DJT’s tax returns may become public.
18
I think blame for this situation should be placed squarely where it belongs: on the shoulders of those who put an obviously unhinged, unqualified candidate in the highest office in our nation. Republican voters and the Electoral College own it. After all, Trump would not be there if the EC had yielded to the mandate of the vote.
33
Why not put the wall to a popular vote? Set a polling date and let the registered voters of the United States decide on the wall!
Forget Dems vs Reps, let's listen to the people!
11
If the Electoral College had followed the will of the people, we wouldn't be here today. It's high time to reconsider the value and worthiness of this institution in this day and age.
If it once had a valid place in our government, we have since grown beyond that need and today, it only serves as a hindrance to Democracy and the will of the people.
8
Be careful what you wish for. Don't forget Brexit.
3
@Mike
I think the people have been left out of the equation a long time ago. The popular vote doesn't seem to carry much weight anymore.
4
Why keep writing about this when the administration & the gop do not care about employees or people losing their homes, food, etc.? All trump is concerned about is the non whites getting into his white world & the gop & all those midwesterners are concerned that the nonwhites will take over their towns & identities.
No One Cares in the Government.
Protest in the streets may get their attention but won't change anything.
Fox News is even turning on trump & gop & it has changed nothing yet. trump supporters still win even when they go without their food stamps & tax refunds.
4
This is what you get when you elect snake oil salesmen to the White House and the Congress. We are now paying for our folly.
There is more to come as the Federal Judiciary is being stuffed with conservative judges who could less about justice for the average citizen as long as the wealthy and the corporations get to the trough first.
20
The obduracy lingers on, to put it sententiously. There still seems to be no palladium in sight, should the showdown continue to be rampant. Not even a douceur of some sort will, apparently, please a temerarious Trump, who is hellbent on having it his own way, like a bullying brat. For a guy, who lacks gemutlichkeit, Trump is increasingly embracing more puerile behaviors, with not a scintilla of magnanimity.
And the morass continues, obviously, much to the chagrin and consternation of the fed workers, who live paycheck to paycheck, some with even infants. Trump seems to revel in sandbagging his way into ridiculing his opponents, but, at the same time, exchanging persiflage with his gang of stooges, and Fox news anchors.
Why would Trump pay heed to the nebbish, whose cries for help are aired in some of the national TV network channels, from time to time? In the name of security, his wall, now, virtually, is creating a barrier between the commoner and the governing elite. Democracy at its worst.
1
Craft brewers!? Imagine this problem solved by 4pm.
1
Dems in power. New legislation about Voter Rights, But the Trump circus dominates.
What a disgraceful, compounded evil it will be if the burden of this shutdown falls on hungry Americans dependent on SNAP and WIC, as mentioned possible near the end of the article. I hope we do not come to that.
11
Trump probably assumes that workers not being paid will “adjust” in the same way he did when he ran out of money on his real-estate projects: 1) Attempt to brow-beat creditors into taking 5 cents on the dollar and, if that does not work 2) file for bankruptcy.
17
@Dan88 - Or, 3): Assume they all have a rich relative who can come to their rescue. After all, doesn’t everyone in America have a millionaire in the family?
7
@Dan88
And let's not forget:
3) Daddy Trump's deep pockets coming to the rescue time after time.
5
@Dan88
Donald always had Dad's Visa card to help him out of a pinch.
2
Look, it's simple: You don't get to spend billions of taxpayers' money when you can't say what it's for. You don't shut down the government, deprive hundreds of thousands of people of their paychecks and millions of citizens of vital services (including border security) over a mnemonic device or a figure of speech.
If the president wants his wall, let him say precisely what it is, where exactly he wants it to be (including how much private land the federal government will have to seize from private landowners in Texans and Arizona), why it is more urgently important than other border security measures (when most illegal immigrants come in through airports, and we don't have enough personnel to enforce the existing system), how Mexico will pay for it, and why the president is willing to charge Americans untold billions in a government shutdown (after refusing to sign funding bills passed by the House and unanimously by a Republican-dominated Senate) -- the cost of which will have to be added to any future construction on our southern border.
He's had years to formulate an actual plan that anyone could see and debate. So, Mr. Trump: Craft a detailed proposal, present it to Congress. If you have the votes to pass it, sign it or veto it. Somebody has got to explain the Constitution to this president.
16
I think the average Trump supporter enjoys this chaos, not because they think the system needs to be challenged, but because they want to see it suffer-- simply for the reason that they have no clue how it works.
19
@CM
I want a Trump supporter to start a website where all Trump supporters can go to proudly enter their names and where their names cannot be removed once entered. The reason for this will be crystal clear within a few short years or probably sooner.
6
Why is congress not part of the shutdown? If all congresspeople have to do without their paychecks, the shutdown might end sooner!
14
Tax refunds, limited IRS workforce - there is already tons of tax fraud (having been a victim, I know something about this) - and expediting refunds is likely to make tax fraud more attractive and lucrative for the thieves, costing us tax payers millions, if not billions.
3
Trump owns this but Mitch McConnell is co-owner. Everyone who made campaign contributions in 2018 to defeat noxious Republicans, please take note. The Blue Wave swept "safe" Republicans out of office last year -- the Blue Tsunami can do it again in 2020 and Mitch McConnell is target #1.
20
Now that the shutdown is affecting kraft brewers we have the upper hand in the Supreme Court. Brett Kavanaugh will either have to recuse himself or he will vote to open the government for sure.
It’s so hard to take things seriously anymore. I’m numb from all the insanity.
17
@Rob
Apparently, you were not paying attention during the hearings. Justice Kavanaugh does not drink craft beer; he likes the cheap stuff.
9
Are government offices issuing passports open during Trump's shutdown?
4
Yes...my daughter just got her expedited renewal in the mail. Whew! Don’t know if the workers were paid though
1
The only way I can see shutdowns working is if those that shut it down, find funds to pay for the workers who won't get paid from the government. They must either find funds, or pay out of pocket. This way, it shows how dedicated to their cause they actually are. Trump is not suffering for this. He couldn't literally sit for decades on this and laugh at the suffering people because of his insane way of seeing poor people as inhuman and not worth his time. He could at the same time pay all those people their same wages and not even fractionally be hurt financially. Trump does this because he has no morals, and doesn't care if innocent Americans are hurt.
4
This President is insane. Period. I am not concerned about S.E.C., mergers, corporation hardship because they do have the money and leeway to fund their endeavors. They can cut CEO paychecks for starters! But their employees will suffer. But more importantly the federal employees furloughed and the employees who are required to work without pay and others who depend on a paycheck are on the road to complete ruin. When bills go unpaid, mortgage payments missed and credit cards maxed out there is no getting out of debt. And giving loans even at 0% sounds great and very helpful. But it is a LOAN! And loans have to be paid back! If not paid back means bankruptcy with it's domino effect to total ruin There is no recovery possible. It won't be long before those required to work without pay will walk out too. And who can stop them? No one. Because all the people who enforce would have walked out too! There is no free lunch for anyone even for the government. Of course, Trump in his gilded cage and unpaid Secret Service personnelwould'nt experience any hardship. All the hardship is on the little people while the Senators, V.P get their wages hiked! The injustice!
12
1. We were promised Mexico would pay for it, not our U.S. Treasury fund. Can we at least go 50-50 on it? What's up?
2. We have a wall. So, will new wall have a hotel and golf course? Is that why cost contract estimate is now higher? Where are the cost details and how will this wall stop non- US citizens from breaking and entering from the Mexico side?
3. OK. Can someone in our present government and supporting this multi-billion dollar real estate landmark at least be transparently honest: Who will be contracted to build it, who are they associated with or are partners with who may be now sitting in government and, what is the risk analysis for its promised reduction or elimination of illegal entries? (If this information has been published, my apologies. Can someone please send link?)
I am a natural citizen (born in NYC - and lived through the other "national emergency"), I vote and I demand answers. Otherwise, I'm going to start believing that this Congress and President are indeed and only for themselves and none others.
7
So THIS is what America looks like when it has become great again!
19
I just heard a federal employee describe her situation on BBC. She spoke of daycare, student loans, mortgage, car payments- i.e. inflexible expenses- in a two-income, tightly-budgeted household, with no savings (apart from perhaps a pension fund). It is a perfect illustration to Elizabeth Warren´s 2007 lecture, The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class.
21
And don’t forget us Federal contractors! We are a large entity of private sector companies and individuals whose main or only client is a government entity. Our invoice processing stopped the day the shutdown started. I’m an independent contractor and my only client is the government. I have to dip into my limited reserves and may have to borrow money from my parents to pay my utilities and student loan bills.
21
I believe now we are seeing the flaws in a "Republic" style of government whereby, the President and those "un-elected" enablers around him have far too much power. Democracy is very fragile only maintained by the goodwill of those in control and their actions which everyone hopes will be for the good of all and should something go wrong, there is no "fail safe" mechanism for this type of democracy.
When a country has someone in power, along with his enablers that have no respect for democracy, the long-standing institutions and their meaning and are using that power to strictly enrich themselves, you have BIG problems and, make no mistake about it, that is exactly what America is facing now.
If Americans won't finally recognize that in 2020 and fully rid themselves of these types, I am not sure how much longer this situation can continue and can America even survive this chaos and for how long? I really don't see how.
21
Of the House, Senate, and the Oval Office, two out of three are controlled by people who got fewer votes than the other side.
Some democracy.
11
@Deus
Where the people went wrong was in in assuming all elected presidents would be either gentlemen or ladies with a sense of decency.
3
Once again, we must constantly be re-enforcing the idea that with ANYTHING that Trump has to deal with in which important decisions have to be made, he is only capable of operating in a "zero sum game, winners and losers" environment, take no prisoners, no empathy whatsoever towards others and their circumstances, casualties are irrelevant. Compromise equals losing.
Since the "enablers" in the Senate, led by the "chief enabler" Mitch McConnell are not interested in applying pressure towards this President to actually do something, I am afraid you could be in for the long haul on this one, America.
10
Social security payments also halted it seems!
4
The tone of this administration’s shutdown sinisterly reinforces the plausible motivations behind the erection of a wall or metal slabs, or whatever you want to call it. I Can’t dismiss the horrific thoughts of America becoming a Dresden United States enclave ghetto. This wall is exactly the same that was used by the Soviet Union. It is to keep people in.
3
All I can say is you should had voted Democat.
16
The Mexican president is laughing while American federal and contract workers are crying. This big tough guy who promised Mexico would pay for the wall and who is now threatening to declare a national emergency with his executive powers to circumvent our duly elected Democratic House majority can't even stand up to "little Mexico." He uses his bully pulpit in the Oval Office to threaten Democrats but has nothing to say to Mexican President Obrador (probably doesn't even know his name) when the Central American migrant caravans make their way through Mexico unimpeded and now remain on Mexican soil south of our border awaiting asylum processing. Mexico is complicit in all the illegal border crossings that have gone before and continue. Is President Trump afraid of Mexican President Obrador?
11
Didn't the Democrat House pass a bill (the same one the Republicans passed prior) to open and fund all other areas of the government until Sept 2019 and the department effecting the "wall" until Feb 2019??? Seems a smart move to get that moving through the Senate. McConnell needs to vote on it and pass it along to the president. Then let the ball be in his court. McConnell shares with trump in being responsible for this idiotic shutdown.
19
I’m furloughed and happy to hold out for the Wall. I’ve lived in sanctuary cities where illegals jeered outnumbered police. I’ve seen anchor baby mills first hand (Garfield Medical Center Monterey Park California 9am ever other Saturday bus loads of Chinese women arrive straight from LAX). USA will soon look like just another 3rd world country. Americans lack spine, fortitude to defend America and the media race baits to increase click-thru, even if the result is a whole nation 24/7 focused on petty tail-chasing minutiae. Russia and China, however, love it. Ukraine and the South Asia Sea were invaded without evoking a peep from the USA. The media is in bed with Russia as much as Trump was.
1
I’m confused. Are you proposing we build a wall around LAX?
16
@ABC
But the basic, fundamental uniqueness of the American system--the balance of powers between three branches of government, and the negotiation and compromise it requires--that you won't hold out for. OK--got it. Glad you are happy being held for ransom.
9
@ABC " I’ve lived in sanctuary cities where illegals jeered outnumbered police"
And your point regarding police understaffing is...?
7
Americans are patient people. We support our president and are willing to give him the tools he needs to get our wall.
@BO Krause
IMO and that of numerous experts (including Israel security experts, who are some of the best in the world, regardless of your politics), your wall is a waste of tax payer money. I'm glad my congressional representatives are there going what they are hired to do: approve a budget, negotiate, advise and consent. You may consider tolerance of blackmail a brand of patience, but many of us--even Trump supporters--do not.
12
Are you one of the 800,000, or their familys’ who are not being paid? If not you can afford to be patient. How much more damage to our country and the world are you willing
12
What you mean is you’re willing to reach into your neighbors’ pockets to pay for something your “president” repeatedly promised Americans would not have to pay for.
6
When 800,000 Federal employees are not being paid, that's way way more than a "ripple" effect. It's a disastrous tsunami!
These people are undergoing (pointless) hardship, they're not spending money on goods and services (which hits the overall economy too), and this unnatural disaster is badly undermining what little faith people in the USA have in our government to do what it's supposed to do: govern!
An unmitigated disaster! Brought to us, again, by a fat-cat who simply doesn't care about working people in the nation he (allegedly) runs or the consequences of his deranged actions on our nation.
Depraved indifference...
19
The % of workers that are federal workers is very high in many read states that DJT “won”.
I am sure many of these same federal workers wish they could go back and vote again now that they see and understand what so many already knew- DJT is unfit for office and thrives on chaos. (Jeb Bush)
Chaos that HE creates, that hurts others, that he is never held accountable for.
We’ll get through this but remember these two FACTS:
1. This fight is for funding for a wall he promised Mexico would pay for!
2. He publicly stated he would shutdown the government and NOT blame democrats!
Let’s all sit back and watch this self described stable genius work his magic...
Vote 2020
14
But our elected representatives - the ones holding US hostage, are ALL getting paid!
11
@Bhj
There is only one elected official who is holding the country hostage: Don the Con. The rest of them are going their jobs: negotiating. DJT is appealing to his base, grandstanding, and having a bully fit. Since when is blackmail the right strategy for the White House to employ with Congress? Mr. Art-of-the-Deal turns out to be a lousy negotiator, in addition to likely being a crook (though I'll wait 'til the full Mueller report is in to pass judgment on what appears to be criminal organization being run out of the White House).
8
Trump not paying his secret service protectors must certainly confirm that we are dealing with a mad man in the White House. Any wanna be dictator like Trump should understand the importance of having a well paid security staff.
10
The only valid response to a man with Trump’s personality disorder, ‘Delusion of Grandeur without ability to reason’, is to flat out ignore him.
We certainly are facing an imminent national security crisis in this country but it is not at any of our boarders, but personified by Donald Trump himself. While he is dividing the Nation with an idiotic argument over a boarder wall, Russia and China are having the ‘times of their lives’…. manipulating, hacking and corrupting not only this country, but the world.
We (the USA) are not paying attention and a voice of reason saying “enough is enough” can’t be heard. Why? Where is the republican Tea Party now when we need them to defend our national deficit as a republican president calls $5 billion - peanuts? Where are the republican senators and representatives who still govern by reason? It seems, they all turned into Stepford Wives (Mitt Romney tried – he was ‘roughed up’ to act as a “team player”. Really? I have not seen any team player behavior since the 2016 election campaign began).
I am calling on you - the remaining, reasonable conservatives who can still hear me. Where are your morals, conservative virtues and values this country was founded upon, standing for the TRUTH and doing ‘the right thing’? Leaders of this country, unite! For the greater good of the Nation, let's stop herding the Trump cats. “Trump, I don’t know who this is; therefore, he can’t be important!!” For once in a long time, take a stance and act!
7
This is not new Republicans use this old tact by shut down state Government's cost millions or like California Billions Dollar's in 90's was Republican George Runner payoff by Banker .George on Rock pile in San Quentin pay off Tax's payer of California for EMBEZZLEMENT.
And now Donald Trump President act hysterical on TV tonight claim National Emergency on are border a must watch for 30% and Hannity his Son.
3
Trump's version of Trickle Down Economics.
3
A friend of mine had another friend go through a TSA line a couple of days ago. When this person asked if she should take her laptop out of the case the TSA Agency replied "I don't care - I'm not getting paid". Replicate this over many of the people being required to work and not being compensated and you have a scary situation. Trump is ultimately to blame for this fiasco, but equally to blame is Mitch McConnell and the GOP Senators. The House has passed spending bills that the Senate already passed with a veto proof majority - but now they refuse to consider them. McConnell is so worried about being "primaried" that he is in partnership with Trump holding the nation hostage - plus his wife is a cabinet member, so he has to support her as well. I didn't have the opportunity to vote for McConnell. He should put the bills on the floor and see what happens - let every GOP Senator be on the record as to whether the government should be funded. I blame these fools more than Trump, because they have the real power to end this nonsense.
19
Most Republican officeholders are signatories of Grover Norquist's pledge to drown the government in a bathtub. If it was a good idea at campaign fundraising time, surely it's a good idea now, right? C'mon, GOP, make good on at least one promise. Stick to your guns; they'll come in handy once you don't have taxpayer-paid security details anymore.
11
I'm just waiting for the collective TSA employees to simultaneously walk out of their jobs. And lemme tell you something, if and when that happens? Good luck.
15
The Donald’s “address to the nation” should be career defining: his demise. I fail to understand his attraction.
11
Ah, yes, the Republicans:
Gerrymandering
Disenfranchising lower socioeconomic status voters
Emasculating incoming Democratic governors
Government shutdown to force, not civilly debate, unpopular Congressional bills
What has become of responsible governing?
7
"Pence says Trump has made 'no decision' on declaring a national emergency"
National Emergency. He is national emergency.
Can for once Pence try to stop Trump, and declare emergency at White House and contain it? Where are useless Ivanka and Jared? Can then act once in the interest of the country, not as servants to an unstoppable family member?
8
@Ellen "Can then act once in the interest of the country, not as servants to an unstoppable family member?"
Why should they? How would it benefit them?
4
Not paying the Secret Service agents who are charged with taking a bullet for Trump seems particularly short-sighted, even for our clueless president. But it does raise interesting problems. What might a “work slowdown” from a disgruntled agent look like in that context? Yikes!
7
Why should anyone believe anything this guy tells us? After months of lies both minor and monstrous, there is zero reason to accept at face value anything he says. If he says there is a "crisis" at the border, rest assured there is none.
15
If Trump really wants to reduce or elliminate illegal immigration, he and the Republicans need to pass legislation making it a federal crime to employ an illegal which carries a five year minimum sentence.
And if he were truly the great negotiator, he would approach Mexico with the offer to help so that their citizzens do not need to flee their own country in order to survive.
10
If only it were that simple. The truth is, most of the people who are here illegally are not from Mexico, and many did not enter the country by crossing an invisible line in the dirt.
8
One of the first food assistance programs to be cut: Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. Mothers and children are not a priority for this president.
10
What a dysfunctional government - on both sides of the aisle. We already have fencing along out southern border. So let the President add some more. This is not a 'moral issue' but rather an example of politicians on both sides 'failing to compromise'.
We need leaders that can work together. What we have are folks that are too conservative or too liberal to get anthing done with the other side. I guess we need a more moderate 'third party' that represents most sensible Americans that want to see progress and not silly rhetoric.
1
Most experts on immigration issues from all sides of the political spectrum agree that this proposed border wall is a waste of money, that there are far more effective and less expensive ways to “protect” that invisible line in the dirt. That $5b dollars 45* wants his only a down payment, money that could be far better used to help our homeless vets, our schools and a myriad of real problems our country is facing.
5
@JK "but rather an example of politicians on both sides 'failing to compromise'."
False equivalence.
5
@JK Hmmmmmmm, the House passed the same bill that the Senate passed before Christmas, now the Senate won't vote on the bill they passed two weeks ago. There is only one side at fault and it is all on the GOP!!!!
6
I know this sounds awful callous, but as long as no one gets hurt (sadly that may already be happening) this is an exercise in showing Americans how much we all rely on the government. I really do believe that this Trump nonsense will strengthen the country if we make it through.
Likewise, my biggest problem with the Ocasio Cortez's is that their message takes the Dems further away from the important task of restoring the luster of public service by painting the system as irredeemably corrupt. There is much to be proud of in our government, and you cannot wish to solve the worlds problems using big government by trashing the government and throwing people like Pelosi who have dedicated their life to public service under the bus.
4
The person most responsible, after Trump, for this mess is Mitch McConnell and other GOP members of the Senate refusal to bring the relevant bills to the floor. If he continues in this stance he should face Congressional CENSURE if not EXPULSION for failure to do his JOB...
15
Do you think that this shutdown will be longer than the 21 day's one under Mr Clinton's presidency ?
To my mind , no and things will move this evening after Mr Trump's message to the nation ...
1
Be expected to take a bullet for Trump AND not get paid? Oh, heck no.
8
Jay Holder, you are so wrong in so many ways that I won't even bother to name them. However, before you comment again, please, get your facts straight.
2
Does anyone else wonder what Grover Norquist is thinking or doing right now? Hit reply and add your guess!
My guess: he's wondering how much longer before he can ship a clawfoot tub to the Whitehouse.
2
When Mr. Trump says he has spoken to past Presidents and they approve of what he is doing. I have to believe he is using a Ouija Board to contact Presidents Hoover and Jeb Davis. That would explain what he is doing to the economy and why he thinks public servants (with an emphasis on servants) should be forced to work for free in the federal work fields.
4
Well, Mr. Trump said that the "workers will adjust as they always do".
So everything is just fine.
5
Sen Mitch McConnell represents the poorest and most uneducated state in the in the country. He is all about winning and he doesn't care how. He has abdicated his constitutional responsibility as well as his State. Time to overturn the Senate with New leadership. Vote Democratic in 2020 and lets clean house.
19
If the money will be coming from Mexico from this great trade deal - why doesn't trump front the money since the benefits of the trade deal are guaranteed.
3
trump creates a crisis to push an agenda that is deeply unamerican, and in the process does serious harm to hundreds of thousands of working Americans. He has no idea how seriously, nor does he really care, but he tells those who are missing paychecks that he can relate.
Meanwhile, the trump shutdown continues.
3
Trump will no doubt deliver his National Lie tonight and explain that none of this is his fault. I know the Democrats have a response. Why not just play a loop of Trump stating that he will be happy to own the shutdown?
8
Republicans in their candidates and supporters advocate a 'survival of the fittest' agenda and policies. Trump is the expression of that ideology and we are seeing the effects as we shift from a society to survival.
5
If the secret service is not getting paid they should refuse to protect the President.
8
Why are we not talking about universal, mandatory E-verify and beefing up enforcement and prosecution of employers? I repeat, if undocumented aliens could not get hired easily and their employers were dragged into court and made to pay a BIG fine or their business licenses revoked, we wouldn't need any more border barriers. The fact that employers are not the focus of either Republican or Democratic policies to stem the flow of illegal immigrants tells me that. as always, they care more about business profits than national security or the wages and jobs of the bottom tier of American workers. Our president himself hires illegals, we are told. The wealthy hire illegal domestic workers. It's time business owners and corporations who are profiting from the illegal immigration "border crisis" at the expense of American workers were held accountable and brought to justice. No one should be above the law, especially when all taxpayers are being bullied by this president into paying $5.7 BILLION for a wall that won't fix the problem. Mandatory, universal E-Verify now!
6
shouldn't the funding of the wall be a non-issue. Trump was adamant (and still says) that Mexico is going to pay for it.
9
Is NYC still using food stamps? I thought they were replaced by Link which is a debit card. Why wouldn’t a merchant accept Link if there’s still a balance? Is NYC still stuck in the 70’s?
Required fix:
Amendment XXIX (2019)
In order to make certain that no government program can ever be shutdown again due to a disagreement with regards to its budgets the following rules will be in place, rules which will affect the President, the Vice President, all Representatives and all Senators: No budget item will be allowed to not be passed less than 60 days prior to its then current deadline. If for whatever reason a budget item is delayed passed the 60 day rule every member of Congress, the House and Senate as well as the President and Vice President will be required to be locked into their chambers until all three work out a budget compromise. This means that those in Congress will not be allowed to leave their chambers except to use the restrooms and the President and Vice President will be restricted to the Oval Office. None will be allowed to use any phone of any kind or to talk with anyone except the members of the restricted group. Not even personal communications of any kind will be allowed. All meals will be delivered to the applicable chambers. If necessary, there will be individuals monitoring the facilities for the misuse of communication equipment even in the restrooms. If any of the above are required to leave the restricted facilities for whatever reason they will not be allowed back in until after the applicable budget item is resolved.
3
@David Gage No food, no water. Just work! If they want a meal they'll have to learn how to negotiate better and do their jobs or develop a taste for Styrofoam cups, packets of coffee creamer, and Sweet & Low.
3
can anyone explain how - in just a week - the fence funding went from an issue djt claimed to be willing to wait months, or even years to get - to a NATIONAL EMERGENCY?
35
@bob lesch
Must be those same polls that had Hillary Clinton in the lead, and Mike Flynn confidently lying to the FBI.
I am supposed to get on a plane shortly and I am VERY concerned that the nation's air safety may be at risk. Air traffic controllers are not being paid and fewer are on duty. TSA staff are (understandably) afflicted with the 'blue flu'. And the National Weather Service models are degrading due to the shutdown; weather, of course, is very important to air traffic routing. Together, this seems like a perfect storm for a slip-up somewhere that results in hundreds of lost lives.
If Mr. Trump is concerned about the safety of Americans, which he claims, then he should end this shutdown immediately. Make flying safe again. Risking hundreds of American lives is not worth it.
22
This kind of Government shutdown doesn't happen in third-world countries like India and Pakistan. Those countries have numerous other problems of their own, but a government shutdown isn't one of them.
10
@AndySingh
you may be right , they depend up close and personal payoffs in their corruption schemes
i am beyond angry and upset but here in the good ol' USA
press freedoms and education have put us FAR from that 3rd world mess
so far...
Am I alone in hoping that the Secret Service Agents who are already being stretched to protect trump and his entire family, might be stressed out too much to perhaps not provide adequate protection?
15
@mariamsaunders - I wasn't going to say it out loud.
5
Why don't the Democrats offer a trade? Medicare for all in return for the wall?
6
@Paul Seletsky This is a brief an probably inaccurate response, but the argument is true. A couple that paid into the system retires and gets Medicare...their contribution covers about 2/3 of the actual cost of their health care over the rest of their life. If that same couple started getting Medicare at 40 their contribution would be less than 1/2 and would need to be supplemented by large monthly surcharges or taxes. You can imagine, at 20 where they have contributed almost nothing, their cost for coverage would be almost 100%. IT isn't as simple a solution as the bumper stickers imply. I do want universal coverage, but I know it will be a complex change over a decade or more. The fairer exchange would be a comprehensive immigration bill that gives DACA participants a short path to citizenship and protects chain migration.
We don’t have to.
The weight of this Trump Shutdown will take its toll and no wall funding will happen.
The GOP is doing its part (incompetence) to guarantee a Medicare solution for all starting sometime after 2020 when Dems retake the Congress and WH.
Those opposed to DJT do not have to give in- DJT will!!
3
If the wall is so important then why did not Trump do this while he had a majority in both houses the last two years?
33
Why don't the Dems offer a trade - unlimited Medicare for all in exchange for the wall (capped at $2.5 B)?
1
The words no longer exist to express the outrage that a president would hold hostage innocent people as a ploy to acquire an entirely unrelated object that has nothing to do with them.
Where did the words go, you ask? They went into hibernation, buried under the invective and hyperbole and mendacity that this same president exhorts continuously. Not even these words mean anything anymore: lies and gross misrepresentations have all but stripped our language from meaning, words can mean anything or nothing at all or whatever fills the wasteland between, definitions don't matter, and even reading this complaint, you might say "Meh."
There used to be a time when reports of malfeasance sent shockwaves through the public, but today we're inured to bad behavior, presidential salacities, and the expectation that a politician lies with impunity -- we expect that! Worse, the least amongst us don't have "the wisdom to know the difference" between fact and fiction, and if there can be a more-worse than that, when pointed out the facts, they do not care.
In my village, one erudite person told me that I was not to discriminate against alternative facts, because they had every right to be held and considered and protected and uplifted just as conventional facts did. This person argued that alternative music, clothing, and lifestyles are protected freedoms, and went so far as to suggest maybe it was I who possessed the alternative facts and that the mainstream view today was Trump's view.
9
There's a word for forcing people to work without paying them.
I guess Donald Trump prefers the age before Lincoln.
15
I'm amazed people are gullible enough to support this man. He's spent his entire professional life dodging, coercing and running businesses into the ground, all the while offloading the price for his recklessness to those under and around him. His most successful business venture has been his own brand name, something that, I suppose, appeals to those who think government should work and play out like an episode of The Apprentice. What's really disturbing, is the more chaotic things get, the more his supporters dig in their heels.
19
Trump is like a computer virus inflicted on the nation, Putin is definitely getting a good return on his investment
16
A bill that passed just before this fiasco by both Democrats and Republicans was veto-proof. Once Trump changed his mind when it came to approving it, McConnell didn’t even bother sending it Trump. McConnell could have over-ridden Trump's refusal to accept the bill because a 2/3rds majority had approved. This new Congress passed it again, and McConnell tabled it refusing to even allow a vote on it again – FURLOUGHED WORKERS, YOU NEED TO GATHER AT McCONNELL'S DOOR AND PROTEST.
If people in wheelchairs can do this at McConnell’s door then why aen't you there...since he tabled a bill that should have received a 2/3rds majority. And a 2/3rds majority vote is veto-proof.
Both the GOP Senate led by McConnell AND Trump have been playing games with your lives.
It's time for you to demand that McConnell pass legislation that will put you back to work and for him to stop treating the Senate as if it's Trump's court.
22
Dear Federal Workers,
If any of you are reading this, please consider a strike! Pass the word along to colleagues. To stay home and not show up to work for ...free!
Believe me, Donald would be on his knees begging for you to return!
13
@Mari
Federal employees are forbidden by law to strike.
It's been two weeks! Adults and families should have 2 weeks of reserves on hold for emergencies.......at LEAST, why has no one brought up that point? It's not always the governments fault.
Personal
Responsibility
That's what's missing.
Gee whizzzz
@There - A fair wage in exchange for full time work, that's what's missing.
13
Did Trump take any “personal” responsibility for all the losses his six bankruptcies caused?
But then again there is no compassion and empathy among the “Christians” of the GOP. Just nastiness and bigotry.
7
SS agents, TSA agents, IRS workers, none should have to show up to work without pay. TSA could easily solve this shutdown by ceasing to operate and travel would grind to a halt.
Why does Melania get to vacation at Maralago with SS protection and tax payer funded airplane during a shut down?
17
Imagine the impact it would have if all federal employees not getting paid just stopped reporting to work. Do you think that would stimulate President Trump to end his shutdown?
12
It is astounding to read accounts of erstwhile Trump supporters who are being badly hurt by this Trump-created crisis, but who won't acknowledge Trump's role! They are buying his lies and fabrications. They either blame Democrats or engage in false equivalence (both sides are at fault, all politicians are at fault). They are utterly deluded.
If they are truly worried about their welfare, they need to be calling their senators and demand Senate action on the previously approved Senate bill, reintroduced by the House. It is the only way. Trump is in infantile tantrum more and will not budge. He must be forced to act. If his "base" support begins to decline, he might pay attention.
11
We have a drunk at the wheel who thinks past presidents are telling him that they too wanted his wall- through the TV.
And that his campaign promise for a foreign gov to pay for his imaginary wall is now to be paid for by US gov workers who will work for FREE.
Whoever wants his job had better get a microphone and start calling him out.
14
After reading the comments by Trump supporters I realize they are just like Trump. They lack empathy and compassion for others. There is a disorder for these traits. It's called "anti-social personality disorder" - a mental health disorder characterized by disregard for other people." Donald Trump is the poster boy for this disorder.
21
Just so you know, all of us on the right have been waiting for these exact articles to be published. Once the shutdown harms our economic by more than "one 10th of a percent," I'll start getting worried.
1/10th of a percent? Are you trying to convince the world that conservatives are shellfish, callous, and short-sighted?
Folks in crucial, gov-funded positions aren’t waiting for the shut down to end. They are finding new jobs so once the shut down is over, their position will stay empty. A lot of these posts are difficult to hire into and keep staffed already, either due to poor pay for difficult work, or rare specializations and qualifications.
If you don’t believe that, check the NYT article from December (?) about the crucial positions that support mental health programs and suicide prevention for veterans...that have been empty for months.
There is also the harm being done to individuals who are expected to work without pay. Even if they get back pay when the shut down ends, many of them are already struggling to pay their bills. How many could be out of their homes or forced into a debt cycle because of the shut down? Those people likely have to pay interest on money borrowed to stay afloat, which they will not be reimbursed for.
...but the overall impact is less than 1/10th of a percent...guess that doesn’t matter to you tho? Doesn’t matter to Trump.
6
I am not watching Trump tonight; I'll watch Animal Planet or another show which is not political. Or I'll read a book. His crises at the border statement is nuts but there will be a crises among many citizens if this doesn't stop right now. In fact I'm sure many are feeling the effects already; if only in concern and worry. You don't really think Trump cares about us do you?
9
Wasn’t Mexico supposed to pay for the wall?
13
So tell Congress to compromise
1
When the average citizen starts to feel the pain and complains loudly and frequently to their Congressional representatives, there will be a solution (mostly because those members are looking to salvage their own jobs). By then, many people will be hurt, businesses closed and the economy damaged. This is the most ridiculous and useless shutdown, done to satisfy the temper tantrums of a small minded, spoiled man-boy.
Trump claimed ownership of this shutdown. Another stupid policy move by an incompetent, ill advised POTUS who thrives on chaos.
9
Various news sources report that federal workers across America are starting to walk out and/or demonstrate against this needless assault by The Con Don on their lives.
They keep OUR lives running but I do not blame them for walking out. Why should they work for free while a multi-millionaire brat tries to destroy OUR government to please Putin, Netanyahu and the rest of the International Mafia inside and outside OUR government?
Stand your ground, Good Workers for OUR governments at every level. WE THE PEOPLE have your backs and WE must not let the International Mafia destroy OUR lives or America any further.
12
The article doesn't mention the thousands, if not millions, of contractors that won't get back pay for missed work. We're not all defense contractors with million dollar projects. We're tiny independents who work small project by small project.
24
What kind of security is this for our nation when so many of us are made to suffer for a presidential whim? first you need to care for our people at home, then fix any localized problem that may exist at our borders. Security starts at home and this is what democrats have been holding to be true. As the suffering ripples out through our economy perhaps Trump's followers may begin to see who their hero , or perhaps they will rather starve instead.
15
It's not just a whim. He was elected on his immigration stance. Build the wall already. 30 years of inaction has resulted in 22 million illegal aliens here now. Gavin Newsome, new Governator of CA, wants to give them free medical insurance. Meanwhile, I just received my new medical insurance and I'm getting raped by the insurance companies.
One can't give in to blackmail. If the White House gets its wall by shutting down the government, it will just continue to shut down the government every time it doesn't get its way.
The only way out of this that I can live with is for Congress to override a presidential veto. But clearly if there were enough Republicans with that courage to do that now, the party would not have let this man gain the nomination.
13
@William Fang
Congress needs to do what evidently Mr. Trump's parents never did: say NO and stick to it.
3
I am directly affected by the shutdown as a retired Coast Guard Officer, I will not be paid.
At least one commenter has mentioned how Trump has taken apart government piece-by-piece: CIA, FBI, Top Generals, Congress, federal agencies. He has packed the courts, w/far right appointees, and attacks the press with words that apply to him: "FAKE!" And now, we are seeing how federal government can fail, in addition to a US economy supported by the government (yes, they go, hand-in-hand). So here we are:
Silver linings:
The American population, first hand, can contemplate what the Federal government touches in their own lives- and to many, feel the pain of no longer having the services that federal employees provide. This reality check for Americans, who are so often clueless as to what the federal government does and how a federal government should be led, is ou rawakening.
To have change, meaningful change, it often takes pain. Ask any addict who becomes sober to the moment, they see life for what it is and then they finally take control of their lives. Americans have been on autopilot for so long, we have become disengaged in understanding what our government is and how our government ought to function. Looks like we are on the verge of sobering up and taking action.
Question: If Trump builds a wall, what does he do about the sea and air borders? Just sayin'...
25
Laticia, the problem is not with the sea or the air, its 100,000 people walking across the border every month
That last question becomes what dies he and his lazy base in the US Senate propose ?
Keep everyone inside the country
No movement at all
Sounds nice eh?
Just do your job and override his veto.that’s YOUR JOB. It’s what you get paid to do.
I can’t believe Trump is on track to starve 47 million Americans!
What else can I say or do? Tweet at Trump that Ann Coulter is more of an entertainer than a policy role-model? Anyone recall policy people?
At least dems are writing H.R. 1 which includes Restoration of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and making election day a holiday.
Thank you, Congressional Democrats!
15
One may not agree with Trump’s policies and even think they’re dangerous, but one thing Trump knows how to do is to use the tools of his office to his advantage. One of the most important ones is the tariff or even the threat of using one. It’s the only reason China is coming to the bargaining table. Anything wrong with that? Obama was ready to give away that option in his trade deals. Threatening to use his national emergency powers is another creative tool at his disposal which he came up with to everyone’s surprise. What emergency? one may ask, but everyone’s abuzz with the suggestion. Now all the major networks will be covering his speech live. Nancy and Chuck want to get in on it and give a rebuttal, but unlike Trump they are boring and predictable, and no one will even tune them in. The networks probably won’t even cover their rebuttal live because they’d rather respond to Trump right after he’s finished.
1
Just because the loud mouth drunk at the party is heard above everyone else doesn’t mean he knows what he’s taking about.
8
@Edward - Yes, to Trump's advantage and no one else. It should bother you that he looks at our government as his own personal sandbox and piggy bank.
4
The secret service should do a walk out so that donald stops this nonsense.
27
@Andrea P. And let the man amd his cronies defend themselves
2
Where's the outrage Americans?!
14
Can't we as Americans have at least as much backbone as the people of France? Whatever happens, whatever is done to us, we just swallow it and say I pray someone will help us. I have read that statement in the letters columns of many newspapers and it is not enough. The Lord helps those who help themselves. Call or email the White House and all your Congressional Representatives particularly your senators and demand that they reopen the government! Come on people! Wake up!
2
Millions of Americans are outraged and have been for a while.
The only words I want to hear from Trump are “I resign” or “Guilty, Your Honor”.
28
I’d be happy with either reply. Send Trump and his family of grifters to jail or back to NYC.
9
Trump is horrible at reading speeches.
I hope he goes off script and turns an "8 minute" speech into a rambling, babbling, 15 minute tirade.
The Dem response could be, "Well, we had a rebuttal ready but after listening to that - There's really not much more to say. Good night everybody."
17
Stephen Miller will write a speech reviewed and edited by Coulter, Hannity and Fox News crowd which the wannabe dictator will read. He will attempt to circumvent the budget approval process laid out in the Constitution. It will be no different than watching a Trump Rally. This is fascism 2.0 being put in action with a fake national emergency. Reading Hitler's speeches prepared Trump for this moment.
26
I told you he would bankrupt the country.
19
Trump famously asked African Americans in Michigan: “what have you got to lose?”
Now, the rest of the country is discovering the answer.
22
This is maddening, but typical of a narcissist! A narcissist loves drama, and often exaggerates the "crisis" to get their adrenaline fix! I see this in Donald, he is loving the attention, the rising tensions, the vitriol he creates!
IF the wall is SO crucial to national security, then WHY didn't the Republicans which controlled Congress for Donald's first two years in office fully, fund his wall?! I keep asking this, not a single Republican has answered. Such hypocrites!
The quick solution would be for Federal workers to strike, crippling our airports, etc.,etc.,etc.
Not a single dollar of hard earned taxpayer money for Donald's wall!
23
I think that it is disgraceful that our people and our country are being held hostage over one mans ego. Think about it, he expects the secret service agents to throw themselves in front of a bullet yet not get paid. Disgraceful.
26
It's despicable that any administration would use federal workers and their families as "leverage" and essentially hold them hostage until the administration's demands are met on an unrelated issue. If this is the "art" of the deal, it's rubbish.
20
It’s the art of the steal.
All the Senate has to do, is to agree with the Budget that the House has already approved. The current mess has been created by the SENATE.....not the President. And it is the SENATE that is destroying America. Dont let them fool you into thinking its "Republicans" to blame ... or "Democrats" to blame....or even "Trump to blame........it is the SENATE to blame.
They laugh at us.
3
The GOP takes their marching orders from
dictator trump. It is indeed his fault. He enjoys causing pain and chaos. They’re all owned by the Russians, who are laughing at American incompetence and dysfunction. They all can’t get arrested soon enough.
11
OK, I admit I may be naive but this is ridiculous. WE THE PEOPLE are allowing this insane sociopath to keep OUR government closed to suit his own insanity. The Congress MUST resolve this and do it now. And perhaps presidential powers need to be legislatively curbed if, in the future, another madman is somehow elected.
9
We live in a Trumptatorship. This will become clear as he declares a national emergency and brings everyone down, enslaving and starving his own people, putting himself first instead of "America".
I keep waiting to see who among the Republicans will run against him in the primary. No one. But that is the only way we can be sure he will not see a second term. Don't nominate him. The idea that we have to vote blue no matter what just further undermines true democracy.
7
I cannot help but see that Congress has not brought a motion to pay everyone for the time they are on furlough. These people are pawns in a ridiculous, political game and Congress doesn't have the forethought to reassure them once this travesty is (hopefully) ironed out that they will get payed since it's no fault of their own that the president has caused a shutdown.
1
GOP not only lacks forethought. They lack respect, professionalism, ethics, heart, and soul.
7
You are mistaken. Paying workers during the shutdown was one of the first bills introduced by Democrats in the House.
6
@Eero Yes, but it hasn't been brought forth and voted on by the Senate, and I remember that during the last shutdown it was passed by both well beforehand.
It's time for Americans to say enough, take down "the wall".
4
Note that VP Pence is publicly encouraging Trump's Shut Down and his Border Wall demand. Pence is equally guilty in the damage that Trump is doing to our country.
13
Pence is a puppet and a religious hypocrite. These are the worst type of people. They stand behind their faith in God and indirectly claim to be better than the rest of us because of their nearness to “God.”
If there is a God as Pence believes, Pence will have a lot of “splaining” to do when he reaches the Pearly Gates.
5
CBP has to have the weakest, most ineffective union. CBP officers are regularly provided as political props standing behind Trump, even through a politically-motivated shutdown where they are not getting paid for their work.
And they will undoubtedly do it again on Trump's political stunt/visit to the border on Thursday. CBP union "leaders" should resign in shame.
Contrast the strong police union backing the NYPD. Can you imagine NYPD officers standing for photo ops behind Di Blasio if he shut down the City government and required they work while refusing to pay their salaries?
5
Trump doesn't care how much he damages American institutions. It wants what it wants. He operates in a vacuum and doesn't have the capacity to understand the complexities that should factor into his decisions as president of a powerful country. He most always makes the wrong decision, followed by cartoonish contortions by his (acting) cabinet trying to convince the country that all is well. How much longer do we let this senseless destruction continue?
6
Funny how DT could not get funding for his wall for the past 2 years while all 3 branches of government were total controlled by the GOP.
Now that the Dems have control of the Hose- all of a sudden, we have a monumental crisis at the border for which DT has shut the government down.
This whole thing is nothing more than a made up stunt to rile up the ignorant DT base, but more importantly- to distract from the Mueller investigation and the upcoming House investigations.
18
@marian exactly totally true
2
It is likely that no federal 1099s will be issued before the end of January as is required by law, so that tax filings will be late and quite possibly cause the US Treasury to default on debt as early as Quarter 1. Millions of federal 1099s are required before taxes can be filed -- by federal employees, SS recipients, and any individual or business that gets federal funds for any reason - farm loans, disaster assistance, mortgages, grants, etc. That's lots of late revenue for the Trump wall debacle to deal with.
159
@Robert The government doesn't issue 1099s - taxpayers do. They will still be sent out as normal.
And the timing of tax filings doesn't reduce cash the government has - since the law requires taxes to be paid as you go, the government actually loses cash when returns are filed and (in aggregate) refunds are issued.
12
@Totes McGoats I think you misunderstood- the government does issue 1099 - for Federal workers. As a retired Fed accountant, the government is obligated to put in the mail by January 31, 1099 for Fed employees. You could use an end of end pay stub however, they are sometimes corrected, as I have seen, & I would not have to rely on that.
The other thing no one is talking about is the President's Budget which by law is due the first Monday in February. It's the budget for all Federal agencies combined so how this possibly can go out I am not sure if 9 agencies that are closed cannot legally submit their budget during a shutdown. IF the government opens up even tomorrow, it will be a lot of midnight oil to get this done by February 1.
6
I saw a sign at the local supermarket that it is not accepting food stamps due to the shutdown. Finally, the Republicans are denying food relief to the poor. They must be so proud of this moment.
335
@Jerez Here's proof that is not the reason they were denied...a grocery store turned off the process itself over which they have control...but it is illegal to do so: https://www.theroot.com/snap-recipients-say-they-re-already-being-denied-assist-1831544813..stop spreading FAUX hogwash
4
Once this ends, I want to see the Democrats propose a bill that requires that neither the president nor his or her staff, nor any Cabinet member nor his or her staff, and no Congress person nor his or her staff, will receive one penny of salary nor stipend while there is a government shut down. Not one of these people is monetarily affected by this.
This president has caused a humanitarian crisis that is affecting thousands of people. Requiring IRS workers to come to work and process refunds seems ironically cruel. All of it is cruel.
This is all on the president. Give him $5 billion dollars for humanitarian relief, and not one dime for a wall.
Thank you to all the government workers who are still doing your job despite not being paid. That is true service to your country,
As for a wall, those who successfully fled East Berlin did not let a wall stop them. Desperation is a huge motivator.
10
I will be taking a flight out of Syracuse in a couple of weeks to go abroad.
I should remember to check if the flight is on time or delayed and if the TSA personnel have shown up at the airport for the obligatory security check of the passengers before they board their flights.
I am thankful to Trump for keeping the country safe from terrorists.
@Dreamer - Are you trying to be funny?
1
The obvious Republican answer is to just get rid of more of those senseless government regulations. Why should business have to operate under any government control. What America needs is a complete free enterprise zone where all buyers beware, environmental concerns are reasoned out by loss of profit, and corporations rule! Oh, that's right, we already have Texas. No need to recreate paradise.
3
The horrible thing about Trump's temper tantrum shutdown is that his supporters will bend into pretzels finding a way to blame everyone but Trump and the Republican Party.
15
I point the finger at you jeff.....
@Jeff
This is not a kind statement, but it is the truth, those farmers who voted for Trump, and whom I saw on TV arrogantly stating that if things continued to go bad with tariffs and China, they knew he would pull a "miracle" for them are getting what they deserve. I do not feel sorry for them. While they looked down at poor people and the so called east coast and west coast elitists, what have they been busy doing? Why of course, accepting 12 billion dollars of American tax payers money to reimburse them for their losses. Now, they are in the same boat or even worse boat they we because their second payment is being held up, well tough, many of us could care less. To be perfectly blunt, if some Americans picked up a book once in a while and even pretended to know what civics is about, they would have many answers to questions they don't know to ask or even understand he answers because of their ignorance.
2
Can someone in the Democratic Party man up, and remind the American electorate loudly and clearly that this shutdown (and all of the people it’s impacting) is completely pointless because Mexico was supposed to pay for this stupid wall?!
Or can someone in the so-called “liberal” media do the same thing?!
Yes, I know the president lies at a dizzying pace, and it can be hard to keep up sometimes. But the wall was one of his biggest and most well-known campaign promises, and now he’s holding the government and close to 1 million American workers hostage because of HIS FAILURE to deliver on a CENTRAL CAMPAIGN PROMISE.
Call this liar out!!
324
What we need to add to the Constitution is a speedy way to FIRE Congress people who refuse to do their jobs!
22
@Joe
MSNBC and CNN call this out all the time. Problem is that is not the news stations that most Americans watch.
and they dont read newspapers. This is all very sad, but maybe the wake up call we need.
23
@Joe From what I have seen, the news media have played the videos of Trump at campaign rallies telling people Mexico would pay for the wall. I have seen the videos played on MSNBC and other stations. The problem is, Trump's base does not care. They don't care, they don't care, they don't care. Absolutely nothing can sway their rabid support of this destroyer of democracy occupying the White House. I wish republican Senators would speak up against the Trump shutdown. But they won't. And I wish the Vice President would speak up against the Trump shutdown. But he won't, either. Sad!
24
Gee, do you think the Secret Service detail that provide security for Trump and all the little Trump's is being paid?
It's rhetorical but I'm sure you get the point.
4
The article makes it clear that they are not.
Trump wants the government & its agencies crippled in order to slow down the increasingly fruitful investigation into his criminality & treason. Another vicious distraction by the master of manipulation and lies.
And is anyone surprised that it's only us "little people" who are affected by the government shutdown? In fact, if the Dems crack & vote to fund that obscenely wasteful border wall, then it's only us "little people" (i.e. the average American wage earner/tax payer) who will pay for that wall. What happened to Mexico paying for the border wall? Or are you implying that Trump was (gasp) LYING to the American people?
21
Mexico, if you’re listening, we need your 20-percent deposit for that wall...
15
Trump says all the Federal workers agree with him and don't mind suffering.
10
That what he says. Does anyone believe him?!
7
the crazy talk that will spewed tonight will cause the stock market to drop 10 to 20 percent by the end of nest week.
19
Trump is hoping that the pain caused by the gov't shut down will cause his opponents to give in to his wall boondoggle. A more reprehensible strategy is difficult to imagine.
14
Does the White House housekeeping staff feel the budget bite? Are they all considered essential services or have some been furloughed? Does the government still pay to:
- clean and take care of the President's wardrobe
- shine his shoes
- cook his meals
- pick up and straighten up after his family
- dust and vacuum his personal quarters and
- clean his bathroom every day?
If not, maybe the president should take care of his own personal housekeeping instead of watching so much television. I thought we fought a war not to have royalty.
Since it costs about $200,000 an hour to operate - $1 million or more for all but the shortest trips - should not it, and the President, be grounded when we have a government shutdown?
24
The Secret Service members who aren't getting paid shouldn't do the work. I support their tremendous efforts and respect the sacrifices many have made (meaning their time, efforts, and very occasionally, their lives). However, NOBODY can tell me to work for free. I am not a slave, and neither are they. I would totally support them if they walked away from this job guarding this "president." I think that local, state, county and municipal police forces would be glad to have their skills.
18
I certainly wouldn't work for free under these circumstances. Hoping that Federal Workers will go on strike! Especially the TSA agents whose absence at the airports would cripple air travel!
9
Further indication that Republicans can not govern this country because their priorities do not reflect the needs of most working Americans. Give Mr. Trump 8 minutes to explain his wall and tomorrow night he will demand equal time to explain that isn't what he wants. Government policy should be evolving with new technological and science breakthroughs not revolving like his get out and stay, Syria policies.
5
Forced to work without pay sounds like a pretty good definition of slavery, something which another president supposedly ended during the Civil War.
If air traffic controllers declared that they wouldn't come to work until they were paid, thousands of flights would have to be cancelled, triggering such a national outrage that the Senate would speedily find a way to reopen the government, including the necessary votes to overcome a presidential veto.
18
We all know how Trump feels about always being the biggest and the best. I don't see how this shutdown can end, until it surpasses the current record of 21 days. That will really give him something to brag about to his base.
14
Let Trump be the last "businessman" to hold the office of President. That includes Mitch "Corporations are People" Romney too.
14
Synopsis: The Congress won't do what the President wants. The President therefore "shuts down the government" and threatens to declare a "national emergency". In which Articles of the Constitution of the United States are the President's dictatorial powers enumerated?
13
Way back when, trump told the world that when he is elected he would shake things up. His base ate it up. It is a pity they have to eat crow now. The millions of people, base or not, are suffering needlessly by the ShakeUp. We need to WakeUp.
15
You can't find an American worker to wash dishes, clean hotel rooms, do roofing and landscaping work etc!
9
This would never happen in Europe. Government worker, when abused by the system-- not being paid-- they call a national strike. Everybody walks out. There is no incentive here for our government to resolve the issues. Workers seem to be willing, like weakling sheep, to work without pay. They should all just stay home.
19
Exactly! Started posting and tweeting yesterday that the best way to end Trump's Shutdown would be for Federal workers to strike! Imagine airports closed all over because TSA agents didn't show up! This would bring Donald to his knees!
6
So much for what people call non-essential employees. Trump claims federal employees support his shut down. Another example of him living in a parallel universe with Fox news.
12
I would be guilty of a criminal offense, subject to jail time, for refusing to pay workers for work performed, or for requiring workers to work for no pay. I hope every "essential" federal worker in America calls out tomorrow.
18
Major networks, including CNN and the BBC, are in a panic about how to handle real time fact-checking of Trump’s TV show tonight given his history of lying and the advance liars’ party in the name of Pence and SH Sanders already dominating the airwaves with this manufactured “crisis.”
But only two things need fact-checking:
1—When Trump said he is building a wall, who did he say will pay for it? Is it Mexico or American taxpayers?
2—Will Putin be watching the speech from the Kremlin with champagne at the ready as what he did last election?
27
Word!
1
@Freddy
People stopped saying "word" in the 80's.
Trump said he feels their pain. How? Has he had to limit his trips to Mar-a-Lago which are paid for by Americans' taxes? How awful for him.
30
What about our national parks and public lands? Are they protected or are they being overrun, ransacked and vandalized like the Bundy gang at Malheur?
20
And our national parks are being trashed as they are being required to stay open but not being staffed. South Rim of the Grand Canyon now is a garbage dump with only fresh snow hiding the trash. Many other parks are facing the same threats.
In addition, the extreme athletes that tend to ignore park regulations anyway are out in full force recording illegal stunts and activities knowing they'll face no consequences.
Archeological site looters are also gearing up as the shutdown persists.
All so a pathological liar and his lying friends can continue to lie about an imaginary crisis on the border while the real issues facing this country are ignored.
28
Corporations take far more welfare than immigrants.
Corporations are permitted to offshore money and jobs. And get tax cuts. And permitted to so badly underpay employees that they need food stamps.
Immigrants work hard and most even pay taxes. All want a pathway to citizenship and to embrace the American way of life.
Let's be clear: Trump is the problem here. Republican tax cuts are the problem here. The shutdown is an abrogation of leadership (oh hey anyone seen Mitch McConnell anywhere?)
Finally, imagine a president demanding this many billions of dollars for infrastructure. Imagine. And imagine the press reminding him and everyone that infrastructure was ALSO a campaign promise.
25
Federal workers who are not working or who are forced to work without pay and mostly work paycheck to paycheck are going to have trouble paying their bills. Not so - many financial institutions are offering low interest or no interest loans or suspension of loan repayment to government workers. These include credit unions, insurance companies, banks etc. When these workers receive their back pay (after their paid vacations) they can pay back these loans. So government workers, as usual, have cushy jobs with great benefits subsidized by the tax payers.
2
Gee you're talking about 45 and the Congress who are still getting paid and enjoying the Cadillac health insurance plan that we taxpayers pay for. If government employees have to go without a paycheck and health insurance so should 45 and congress.
12
Please recall that the outsourcing of expertise in a wide ranging manner of fields to FEDERAL CONTRACTORS whose interests are for their bottom line first and foremost. The regular employees who work in this area are Americans who won't ever get paid back. The moneyed and largely Republican elites who run these companies and their boards WILL get paid.
4
@ez - Says the clueless person who has no idea what they're talking about.
2
Folks, the shutdown is a feature, not a bug for Trump.
Halting investigations, lowering airport security, allowing the parks to stay open while people trample sensitive areas....I can only imagine what shady things they’re trying to pull off in secret and what attacks we’re left vulnerable to.
The national crisis is the president.
24
This is pure racism with S Miller’s Neo-Nazi fingerprints all over it.
Had these “illegal” immigrants been blonde and fair-skinned, Trump will certainly welcome them. Might even find his next wife or two.
The irony is that for S Miller’s belief that his race is superior to that of others, his face negates this and exposes it as something stupid: receding hairline, half-closed eyelids, over-all an ugly face and an even uglier mind. But sure, his race superior.
18
"thousands of Secret Service agents expected to show up for work without pay"
That's interesting.
Let's pull security on all the politicians who won't pay for their security. Trump, Senators and Representatives, everyone.
See how many "months or years" they like that.
24
@Mark Thomason
Also cancel paying for their travel and staff, as well as their salaries. Suddenly they will view it as a crisis.
21
@Mark Thomason
Trump has more family than anyone before him for the Secret Service to guard.
I wonder if his chain migration in-laws have body guards working for free today. Wouldn't that be some irony.
3
The "wall" idea was ginned up by two campaign flunkies as a memory device to keep Trump talking about the topic of immigration. Here is that story.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2019/01/04/where-the-idea-for-donald-trumps-wall-came-from/#2e847d544415
Quote:
Joshua Green had good access to Trump insiders, including Sam Nunberg, who worked with Stone. “Roger Stone and I came up with the idea of ‘the Wall,’ and we talked to Steve [Bannon] about it,” according to Nunberg. “It was to make sure he [Trump] talked about immigration.”
The concept of the Wall did not click right away with the candidate. “Initially, Trump seemed indifferent to the idea,” writes Green. “But in January 2015, he tried it out at the Iowa Freedom Summit, a presidential cattle call put on by David Bossie’s group, Citizens United. ‘One of his pledges was, ‘I will build a Wall,’ and the place just went nuts,’ said Nunberg. Warming to the concept, Trump waited a beat and then added a flourish that brought down the house. ‘Nobody,’ he said, ‘builds like Trump.’”
Roger Stone and Sam Nunberg are political consultants. Neither man has claimed expertise in immigration policy, particularly the complex issue of deterring individuals from attempting to enter the United States illegally. ... Stone admitting in December 2018, as part of a legal settlement, to “spreading lies” on the Alex Jones InfoWars program.
End quote
The whole "wall" thing is nonsense, all made up baloney.
17
Roger Stone? Sam Nunberg? Enough said
Lets have a voice U.S. citizens, lets give these Washington politicians a real shut down. Don't file and don't pay taxes. Can't throw millions of us in jail, plus it'll stop funding politician salaries and medical benefits. And 2020.....get rid of the corrupt lying occupier of the WH.
9
Our children are our future. To put them at risk is criminal. The WIC program provides needed nutrition for the mothers, and therefore the fetuses they carry. If they are malnourished in utero, their brains can be compromised leading to lifelong problems and a need for lifelong assistance. Stopping food assistance to the children already here is also appalling. Being penny wise and pound foolish is counterproductive. To the Congressmen who refuse to reopen the government over one man's temper tantrum, I say, "For shame! And most of you call yourselves Christians. Jesus COMMANDED that we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, put a shelter over the homeless, etc. You are NOT walking the walk."
13
This is precisely what happens when we have a president in office who only thinks of himself and of course, the support of his base. The outrageous arrogance and stupidity of this little man , is so alarming that one cannot help but think of the 25th amendment as a way of removing him from office .
And for those of you who still support this imbecile in chief, keep in mind that he still doesn't realize that he's painted himself into a corner in which he will incur the wrath of either his base or the 65% of the people in the country who are wanting to be rid of him once and for all.
This does not even take into account nearly 1,000,000 people who have been inconvenienced by what Donald Trump thinks is a very smart ploy designed to get his useless wall .
Sooner or later he will learn a very painful lesson that what he got away with as a real estate developer in New York does not work as President of the United States. But then again one would have to be intelligent enough to understand this…
13
Does his base make up 35 percent of the population? Half of eligible voters actually went to the polls, and less than half of those pulled the lever for Trump. I suspect his base is much smaller than 35 percent.
13
btoh congress and trump should not get paid, then they might get that their idiotic tantrums are hurting. but someone voted 10k more bucks. in wages. fire the lot of them get real humans in the jobs.
7
You can thank the Republicans for this.
1
If all federal workers instantly walked off the job in the event of a shutdown, there would never be another shutdown. Ever. They must stand up for themselves, and us, and refuse to be taken hostage.
11
some things are worth going to the mat for. The wall is one of them. Build it, and man it with armed guards. Stop all illegal border crossings. Deport all illegal aliens and their children. Stop chain migration. Reinstate the rule of law and real punishment for lawbreakers illegally entering our country and who bring government dependency, crime and drugs with them.
Geeze let me guess
You have to be at least 82 ....
Because you sure don’t care about anyone else but YOU
2
@paul - Chain migration like Melania's parents?
4
A man speaking the truth, would tell his Country what he promised and in part what got him elected—the Country of Mexico will pay for The Wall. Simple. Tell the truth Trump.
1
Imagine if every TSA worker, every person who works at a federal prison, etc went collectively on strike. They would bring our country and Trump to his knees. The 'small' people would have tremendous power if they are able to organize something like this.
13
@Anne
Federal employees can't strike. That's part of the price they pay for taking lazy jobs with Uncle Sam instead of in the real world
@GMooG: As far as I can tell working for the TSA or in a federal prison are real jobs.
I didn't say they weren't real. I said they were lazy. Sounds like you've never been to an airport.
No check to pay bills, electric and mortgage wont care. But I say no. Don't give into the nonsense. This wall is a Trump absurdity . If Trump continues this nonsense, it's time to move forward with impeachment proceeding which is far cheaper the 5 billion.
9
Yes, we know about the White House side of the "wall" / budget tantrum. Ever since the Republicans and Trump got a bloody nose in the mid terms the President is looking to break his ongoing losing streak with a symbolic win. (Pity the White House hs no grown ups in the room on the domestic side.) McConnell is more of a mystery. His blind thoughtless toadying behavior is going to drag the Republican Party down.
Of course the Democrats need to be clever now and know when to either quit or very publicly offer Trump a graceful way out of his mess or else Trump will try and shift the blame squarely on to them. Forgetting whether it is true or not, Trump is a master of deflecting blame. Unfortunately the Congressional Dem leaders look to be adopting a macho demeanor, which could come back to bite them.
In all this posturing by politicians, what is happening to the poor government workers who haven't been paid for several weeks. How are they getting along?
6
As cruel as this sounds, the Government shut down means next to nothing to most Americans. There will be no impact to most Americans.
Immigration reform does have an urgent tone to most Americans.
The country is going through a demographic and cultural change and it feels as if the transformation of a culture is taking place without voters' input or outside the east and west coast urban centers, this plays well to President Trump's position for immigration reform.
The response from the democrats will be to deny the President his political rallying cry during his presidential election campaign.
President Trump has utilized the media superbly and has blunted the opposition's message even when this includes most of the media outlets as his opposition. I hope they stocked craft beer to carry them through.
2
Maybe we should build even more monuments to the Confederacy to give comfort white Republicans who fear diversity. It’s apparent that modern day Republicans much prefer the CSA to the USA.
PS every immigrant I know, be the legal or illegal works incredibly hard. They stand on sharp contrast to so many white people in red states who’d rather go on welfare/disability and do their heroin and opioids all day?
Would you rather the US look like the coasts, which by the way fund the red states, or West Virginia?
1
@F1Driver - What culture? Fast food and Fox news? I can live without those things.
2
One more thing.... why didn't the Republicans fund Donald's wall while they controlled Congress for the last two years? Conservatives say nothing about this, important fact! Republicans did not want the wall.
2
I hope Mueller is watching McConnell since he has been a co-conspirator with Trump for his entire administration. He needs to be held accountable as does Trump.
19
This shutdown of Government is not about profound policy differences over funding levels or taxes or defense. It is solely about the obsession of one person, who happens to be our President, over his need to have a Hadrian's Wall across the Mexican border. It is completely absurd and has little relevance to border security. Trump just has to build something; policy making is clearly boring to him. He needs a tangible legacy. He will have a legacy all right: the worst President to ever serve our country.
16
Richardb62: you are correct. Want to verify it? enter the search: US Presidents Ranking. Last time I checked #44 is ranked #8...
I'm sure 'most of us' (see, "popular vote") would ('for present purposes') consider the Secret Service's White House 'detail' non-essential. So … Have they 'gone away' and left the 1st (and worst ever) Resident even more 'insecure' ?
I need to know!!!
P.S. Hey, NSA, FBI, et alia … Just 'kidding' (except for the "worst ever" part about the first to be 1st Resident almost "unimaginably").
6
The biggest ripple is the effect of illegal aliens of the entire nation. More like a quickly rising tide, a wave, a tidal wave, caused by an uncontrolled southern border and holes in our immigration laws.
Your quickly rising tide has been decreasing every year for a long time now. Stop the lies.
17
@Stop the Ripples
Is that if they all walk off their positions today, because there is no uncontrolled southern border or need for a wall.
Better, smarter security yes. Wall, no.
2
@Stop the Ripples
Put down the hooch. The border doesn't have a "tidal wave" of uncontrollable immigration. What are you folks drinking. There is less immigration right now than in years past. Maybe take your paranoia to Trump's properties where reporters have talked to folks who are undocumented who are working there.
Trump owns this fiasco.
3
What does it say about our government when Trump was ready to sign a bipartisan funding bill weeks ago but was dissuaded at the last minute by college flunk-out Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter? Who is running this country, anyway?
23
what many Americans don't realize is that Limbaugh, Coulter, Hannity and those others are not journalists, reporters, historians or even retired politicians, they are simply entertainers, celebrities who sell their ignorant opinions to any person who will listen, and apparently the ignorant president is one of them.
1
My ex-husband died on 18 November. Our estate attorney filed with the IRS for an estate tax number. Without this, we cannot access funds, pay his debts, utilities or mortgage on his property. Nothing from IRS in over a month, and I suppose nothing until after this manufactured crisis.
Grief compiled by stress. Even the dead are caught up in this fiasco.
28
Noelle, I'm so sorry for your loss. Will say a prayer for you and your loved ones. May your husband rest in peace.
Hopefully, Trump's Shutdown will be over soon. Take good care.
5
An idea for all you political cartoonists out there! If I could draw,
I would draw a long train, with many cars, each labeled with the affected group, including everyone affected by the shutdown and by policies in general (federal workers for a start, then farmers, Smoky the Bear representing parks, blocks of melting ice, etc.). Leaning out of the engine would be our President, big smile, both hands raised jubilantly. The caption: "Look, Ma! No hands (hands is to be taken both literally and figuratively, i.e the old, experienced "hands")!" The train is obvious headed for a huge wreck.
10
The shutdown barely impacts most Americans since the vast majority of the Federal government is on autopilot.
Hopefully, Trump minimizes the drama and states how Democrats support and enable illegal immigration through, for example, sanctuary cities.
And, hopefully, Speaker Pelosi lets us all know how illegal immigration — whether cross-border transit or visa overstays — helps this nation in light of Sicial Security fraud, criminality that would not have occurred if the perps were in their home countries, the driving down of wages, etc.
White guys committing mass shootings with AR-15s are far more dangerous to the American public than illegal immigrants.
20
@America is Suffering For this "WALL"....How is this acceptable to 327 M Americans?
There is no funding for: Foodstamps, HUD, Agriculture, or the Federal Employees:
*42.2 million-Snap benefit households are families and Seniors, they WILL go hungry.
*1.2 million-Families and Seniors NEED HUD, and will be evicted by the end of next month.
*3.2 Million Farmers -USDA ran out of funding for Farming subsidies.We will ALL go hungry!
*5 million-Native Americans-lost their funding for food and medical care and basic utility services.
*1 million Fed Workers- How long can people keep going to work for NO PAY?
*327 Million Americans- 12% of the IRS cannot process 327 MILLION tax returns and get them out to people in this calendar YEAR.(they told an outright lie to the American people)
How is this "Barely"impacting Americans?
11
Yes it would. And enormous part of the California economy, your economy, is dependent on farm workers. They are virtually all illegals as Americans won’t do that work at any price. Let alone all of the other work they do.
5
This will set the economy back. I agree with that. This is because our government leader-in-chief has no concept of the crises he has created and doesn't care anything about the families and people that are suffering. Sadly the very person who instigated the shutdown is the only person that can fix it and he is intransigent. This misfit president continues to lie in his attempt to save HIS face and incompetence. His 'facts' have been proven wrong time and time again.
8
Actually Mitch McConnell can fix this by allowing the Senate to vote on bills passed by the House to reopen government. He chooses not to unless he’s assured the President will sign it. I’m sure it will get to a point where they can muster enough support from the Republican side to override a veto
1
Networks airing trumps “wall address “ need to provide a fact check and a rebuttal to properly put it in context - Any thing less just allows trump to lie and stoke hate and fear without response. We don’t need more of trumps lies and propaganda - It is a shame networks will be allowing this - let him use his twitter platform for propaganda.
15
Majority are boycotting Donald's address. We cannot stomach any more lies.
2
I can see it now, Donald standing there with a pointer and charts, showing actual facts and numbers that prove the existence of a humanitarian crisis.
I crack me up.
12
@zorroplata
Don't forget the table full of "files".
He Loves files!
4
@peter
Yes, one of his titles is "Lord of the Flies".
2
Doubtful as I am that any Trump supporters are reading this, I will still make the effort. President Trump has partially shutdown the government because of his foolish Wall that won't work. He himself admitted as much in July of 2017 when he told a group of reporters on Air Force One that the Wall would need to be transparent (with windows, essentially) so that when drug dealers threw 60 pound bags of drugs over the wall people on the US side wouldn't get conked on the head and hurt. If 60 pound bags of drugs can make it over the Wall, so can people. Hence, the Wall won't work. It's also worth noting that President Obama set a record for deporting illegal immigrants. Democrats are NOT encouraging illegal immigrants to come to America. What they are doing is the same thing America has done from day one: giving immigrants the opportunity to apply for entry into the US. Finally, this country was built on immigration. And the approximately 11 million illegal immigrants in America today are part of our economy. They hold jobs, pay rent, buy groceries, etc. As a group, they are less a threat to America then people born here. Just look at the mass murders committed in America, such as the Las Vegas massacre (white dude born in America), Sandy Hook, (same), Sutherland Springs (same). to name a few. Trump has demonized immigrants who come from south of our border because he's a racist. We have a right to protect our borders. But lying to create a crisis is wrong.
26
Trump loves stiffing people. He must be as happy as he has ever been. And, he gets a lot of free campaign ads too!!
15
Having a reall wall is perhaps the most compassionate option the country has.
The people making money getting illegls across the border choose where they send these families. The families that are now being aimed at southern New Mexico like never before are coming to an ICA area only accustomed to healthy young adult immigrants.
A real wall tells people to stick with actual ports of entry, period. The impenetrable $20 billion wall will pay for itself at least once during its first year.
This President has cured the unemployment mess that we had for the past twenty years. Let him fix the immigration mess like Democrats used to talk about every week.
Dems do approve of walls to protect countries, by the way.
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2018/03/22/gop-democrats-fully-fund-border-wall-jordanians/
Link to Breitbart? HAHA!
18
“...the wall will pay for itself...”
How convenient it is to forget that Trump said: “Mexico will pay for the wall!”
Could it be that:
1–Trump is a coward who doesn’t have what it takes to call Mexico & demand the money?
2-The wall is a stupid idea borne out of Miller’s racism?
3
Symbolic but weak response to border violations. Unmonitored barriers are always penetrated rather quickly by humans. Trump is practiced at expressing confidence and conviction when he actually hasn’t any. He’s aping the opinions of people who talk big but know little. If the Democrats don’t teach him that our country is not some joke that the super rich can pretty much treat as insignificant, he’ll continue to be an irresponsible actor.
I think we are supposed to get used to the idea of no government services—and working for no pay c
3
Those in the Swamp, and those who may be somehow troubled by the government shutdown are dependent upon the wrong god. Many if not most of us in the flyover states and even some from the left and the right coasts would be unaware that there is a shutdown if it wasn't the main topic of the media. Our only question is: Maybe someone should start a twelve-step program of recovery for government dependency.
Although almost no one who makes it onto CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS or the NYT to pontificate on the shutdown thinks Trump has the upper hand in his stare down with the Democrats in Congress, I have a contrary view. I believe the Dems are so addicted to taxing and spending other-people's-money on the special interests and constituents who put and keep them in office, they will blink first. Republican congress persons are no less addicted, but they don't matter because they have already blinked and winked for Trump.
The fight will be over when the fat cats who feed at the public trough scream loud enough to scare their pet congress guys and gals into abject submission.
1
@Ned Netterville Think bigger...here are the numbers, decide for yourself how this is not going to impact your life and everyone you know....
There is no funding for: Foodstamps, HUD, Agriculture, or the Federal Employees:
*42.2 million-Snap benefit households are families and Seniors, they WILL go hungry.
*1.2 million-Families and Seniors NEED HUD, and will be evicted by the end of next month.
*3.2 Million Farmers -USDA ran out of funding for Farming subsidies.We will ALL go hungry!
*5 million-Native Americans-lost their funding for food and medical care and basic utility services.
*1 million Fed Workers- How long can people keep going to work for NO PAY?
*327 Million Americans- 12% of the IRS cannot process 327 MILLION tax returns and get them out to people in this calendar YEAR.(they told an outright lie to the American people)
*Keep in mind, these politicians getting PAID and they are getting a 10K RAISE-During the shutdown!
The REAL Crisis is NON-partisan and being caused by OUR OWN GOVERNMENT. Things are going to get really bad , really fast. Be prepared, all our lives are about to change if we don't tell the politicians we hired, DO YOUR JOB AND RUN OUR GOVERNMENT!
4
@Ned Netterville - Tennessee is #3 highest in the nation for dependency on federal assistance. And Tennessee is a red GOP-voting state. So rather than blaming Dems maybe you could address problems close to home?
4
@Netterville "I believe the Dems are so addicted to taxing and spending other-people's-money on the special interests and constituents".
It will be your tax dollars that the clown in the white house will be wasting to pay for his wall. If you're okay with that fine you pay for it! The rest of us want our tax dollars spent on things that actually benefit our lives (healthcare, infrastructure, etc).
3
Why are the whims and caprice of one human being allowed to unravel our country? It suggests to this reader that the Executive branch has too much power. In addition, we have a compliant Vichy-styled Republican senate; a lapdog and collaborator for the Executive gone mad. How much longer does the United States have to wait to restore sanity to its government?
12
To the Air Traffic Controllers working Air Force One today, I can bet there are a lot of traffic conflicts that will cause mr trump's plane to require multiple routings to maintain safety of flight.
5
For some reason I think that corporate America is quite happy that the SEC has minimal staff. No investigations of corruption. Nobody looking.
Quick, grab those chickens!
5
@Joe Blow
You say, "let the Democrats come up with a better, less expensive way to secure our borders." They would be happy to do that, and they are full of suggestions about how to do it. Even some people on Fox say so. It's one of the few things that Democrats and Republicans could likely come to agreement on. Trump is not interested in talking about any of them, or in negotiating with members of his own party.
No Democrat supports "open borders", Joe Blow. Why would you even believe such an obvious, dumb lie? Yes, it is a lie, one of the countless lies being repeated over and over by this administration, and echoed by Fox and right wing radio hosts. Sorry, but it's ridiculous, and so is the idea of building a wall along the entire border. We have a thousand better ways to provide security, and most Republicans in Congress know that.
15
Note to Pres. Trump:
You have the upper hand. Do not stop the government shutdown until after SCOTUS decision.
Wow....you are delusional! Congress will override his veto. Majority rules.
1
@Mari
You can't over ride a veto with a simple majority. But even if you could, there is no majority for an overide in the Senate
1
@Mari And
Ha! Ha! Ha! "Lordy," as James Comey would say, and you are calling me "delusional"!
Mass destruction of the GOP in slow-motion, and even watched in bemused disbelief by Trump MAGA people. All but the Sherman Tank encased GOP hardheads can readily see the nitroglycerines seeping between the crevasse and busted pipes of civilization. No one is guessing that good might come from this shutdown except possibly Trump sycophants and candy wipes. Fox News is aflutter trying to spin lead balloons into lighter than air fluffy clouds. This is the first substantial coronary thrombosis for the GOP in 2019 that will inflict substantial morbidity on an already injured GOP.
8
Instead of Nation Building - we get Nation Destroying!
This is the tariff that Trump built.
This is the farmer destroying his soy,
That employed the migrant who worked in the morn,
That denied asylum except for Norwegian born,
That hired the man all tatter'd and torn,
That bought the house standing all forlorn,
That bought paint and drapes with which to adorn,
Then bore a child,
That adopted a dog,
That ate the kibble
That created a job
That depended on steel that Trump destroyed.
8
Well, I guess the Federal government is just not that into YOU! For all we know the donor class is pulling the puppet strings on both sides. It’s also interesting that wealthy people aren’t required to pay their fair share of the burden to support the government, but the middle class is expected to forego their money and serve with stoic loyalty. Trump has the audacity to say the furloughed employees “support” his border wall intransigence. Malarkey! The Dems are content to finally have something to hold over Trump’s head. He needs this “wall” to save face. You think it’s 2019 but it’s actually 1984!
7
I feel like democracy is dying by the hour. It's the bloodless war Putin purchased two years ago. Nothing will be left but a wall and throngs of poor and powerless people, saying prayers to the latest installment of Fox News. This shutdown will not end for weeks. Cruelty, lies, death, and prisons are the hallmark of this Presidency. His reign of terror is complete.
9
Every day the idea of splitting this country in two becomes more and more appealing. We have huge challenges in this country, such as rebuilding infrastructure etc. But instead of dealing with those issues, we have to address the irrational fears of red state rural voters who think this country is being invaded by brown people thanks to a racist propaganda network owned by a greedy Australian Family that could care less about this country and a deeply cynical political party that continually stokes racial tensions to distract rural voters that the GOP’s trickle down economics are the root cause of their economic problems not minorities.
But you know what I could care less about these red state voters. I’m sick and tired of progress in my country being held back by their ignorance and bigotry.
So let’s just do it. Let’s just blue and red go their separate ways. The red states can build their walls and devolve into a third world country as they devote all of their resources to ensure the Koch and DeVos’ families have enough money to last a thousand generations.
I for one want progress and a modern country.
17
@Sterling - political and cultural divides are more urban/rural than red state/blue state. But even as a lifelong blue voter in a red state, I've become disgusted enough with arrogant, effete coastal elites to say, sure, let us go! When you can't provide food for your burgeoning masses because you have too little agricultural land, or a massive power grid failure occurs, your cities descend into chaos and your money's no good even if you could access it at all, and you don't have any skills except high technology, our land and resources might start looking pretty good to you again.
Truth is, both rural and urban have gone too far in opposite extremes. Rural may be backwards, but the urban world is a house of cards.
1
This government shutdown is a result of Trump’s guilt of conspiracy and collusion with Russia, plain and simple. He was about to lose his base with caving on the wall and saw the negative press and did a 180. Why? Because he knows that once his base loses faith, he’s done for, and he knows what’s coming in indictments and he needs anything and will do anything to save his own neck. At the expense of 800,000 people. This is beyond disgraceful. He’s cornered in and it’s going to get ugly.
4
Those widowed since December 21 are unable to reach Social Security to ensure they will get this month's single SS check, because this toddler president has abdicated his responsibilities. Nancy is right - his ridiculous wall is a manhood thing and his impotence is now revealed for all to see. We Americans deserve an adult in the WH. Trump's instability threatens our democracy at its core. The move to remove him via the 25th Amendment cannot happen soon enough.
9
Trump and the Republicans own this.
9
trump shut the government down. trump MUST re-open it, NOW!!!
Nothing for D's to negotiate. just get ready to impeach him,
if he fails to re-open the government. And if Pence fails to use his Article 25 powers to remove trump, then he must be impeached, as well.
8
Hate government? Try living without it.
Several years ago, Paul Krugman declared words to the effect that a society believing that all government is bad will always have bad government.
More recently, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez opined that President Donald Trump is merely the symptom of a much deeper syndrome of public dysfunction, the pus-filled pimple on the epiderm of American governance, as it were.
Both of these observers are right. If the governance-destroying evidence of the current shutdown fails to provide sufficient evidence, then I don't know what does.
7
The news organizations, the real ones, not Fox, will hopefully be all over every single lie, obfuscation, exaggeration, nonsensical non sentence that vomits from the troglodyte president's pie hole tonight. That man is a walking double nightmare and every fake move he makes needs to be called out.
He could care less about the effects of his shutdown because he is incapable of even the tiniest amount of compassion.
We are a rudderless, leaderless country right now and it's terrifying to think about the consequences of that.
7
My oldest and closest friend’s six-year-old grandson has been waiting for a year for a very promising drug to treat PKAN, a genetic, terminal, progressively degenerative brain condition. His family and friends have been engaged in non-stop fundraising to get the drug to the FDA for approval for clinical trials.
Late last fall, the drug went to the FDA for approval. There are approximately 200 children like my friend’s grandson now awaiting the FDA’s verdict on whether they can have what they believe will be a life-saving compound. When will the FDA be able to do its job and grant approval of such clinical trials? This is only one of the tragic stories of children now counting on their country to actually uphold its responsibliity to keep them safe and ensure their survival. How is there any way this can be construed as “keeping the country safe????”
312
@Karen "Safety" means keeping brownish people out of the country. Trump is not interested in other people's health, children, security, he really just does not care about anything or anyone. Except for their adulation and praise and support of him.
7
The USDA office in my mom's county seat is closed and information that has to be filed for this year's crops is sitting there untouched while Trump has his giant family entourage guarded by people now working for free.
Trump's own properties also have undocumented workers who were helped by his own organization. He could start there instead of inventing his "national emergency".
16
Federal Workers have more options today than in 2013 when the unemployment rate was twice as high as it is today.
The American view is that if someone is unhappy in their job then they have the choice of remaining in it or not. I would encourage our Federal Workers to seek employment with the private sector who would show more appreciation for their loyalty than our government shows. When people have choices they aren't victims. You can victimize the willing. Trump isn't doing anything that the citizens aren't choosing to go along with. We aren't victims. Maybe co-dependents, but certainly not victims. We know what's happening and we are going along with it.
2
@Max & Max
most federal workers contracts state that they cannot seek employment during government shutdowns. they also cannot be vocal as to being pro or con for the shutdown. and most contracts also state that they must report to work even if payment is deferred.
5
@me
I don't think that is common knowledge.
Please provide some support. For example, the percentage of government contracts that stipulate that federal workers cannot quit during a shutdown compared with contracts that do not stipulate that. Please provide more information about his. It's a scandal!
1
@Max & Max
It is not common knowledge because it isn't true
At 11:00 last night we crossed over the US/Canada border. After the customs official completed his questioning of us, we asked him a question: "How has the government shutdown affected you?" He told us that he is not being paid. But he is still showing up to work late into the night in frigid temperatures to protect our border.
How ironic it is that our border security hinges on the willingness of people like him to keep showing up despite Trump's refusal to allow them to be paid...in the name of border security.
8
Should McConnell's refusal to allow the Senate to debate and vote on legislation to fund the government, thereby causing a constitutional crisis, be considered dereliction of his duty as majority leader of the Senate and grounds for his impeachment? This present offense can be added to his prior refusal to allow the Senate to consider Omama's candidate for the Supreme Court vacancy in 2016. Both acts should be considered high crimes because they obstruct the Constitutional demands for a legitimately functioning government of, for and by the People. McConnell forgets that he legitimately represents only the people of Kentucky, and that the interests of the Republican Party should never take precedent over the interests of the Nation.
8
On of the best things that this Government Shutdown is doing is showing who needs Government services and who does not. This shutdown is separating the men from the boys and the women from the girls.
All that the Federal Government does is essentially run a welfare state. We don't need or want a national Federal Government. The Government is too big and has failed bigly.
All National Federal Government in the United States should be broken up and broken apart. All Government should be only by each individual state. Each individual state should become its own independent nation-state.
As we see happening now, Europe is re-thinking the notion of the EU; it is re-thinking the idea of a united or a unioned Europe. Britain, our mother country, has led this move and Italy is thinking about leaving the EU.
America will function much more effectively without a national Federal Government. This shutdown must evolve into the breaking up of our Federal Government and the assumption of powers taken over by and within each separate, individual state.
@Reggie We are fine in the EU thanks. Worker's rights and unchlorinated chicken and uncontaminated lettuce, and our free at the point of use healthcare,and other benefits of paying taxes, and living happier, healthier lives are among the freedoms, that any government takes away at their peril.
I know that you despise the 47%, and would rather really that they just died, so you could get on with your perfect, empty, life, stuffing $ down your trousers in the place where real men show their prowess.
7
Thank you for demonstrating that even during these troubling times, laughs aplenty are still to be had.
2
Aside from the career federal employees who are sitting at home on their hands, their are millions of federal contract employees who have been furloughed, as their employer's contracts aren't being funded. This doesn't seem to be making the news. It's huge.
6
@RonS
And this and the government workers not being paid affects all the retail workers in their area.
The food stamps not being funded with impact the grocery stores.
1
Our system of government is deeply flawed. How else could George W. & Trump have amassed such power? Read their bios, both nonentities. I suspect the two-hundred yr. old Constitution is beyond redemption, perhaps OK for thirteen colonies, not for fifty states. America now is four or five different countries.
7
This shutdown doesn't actually have anything to do with national security, it has to do with presidential pique.
If Trump succeeds ion extorting what he wants from Congress with this shutdown, it will be his "go-to" maneuver in the future.
Best to stop this in its tracks, here and now.
8
Please stop referring to this situation as 'a crisis at the southern border' which is a distraction from the crisis directly eminating from the White House and Trump's twisted mind. The crisis is about power and who will wield it and our people and economy are caught in the middle. Trump does not care a bit about the American people or their sufferings which he could stop in a moment. What Trump can not win by under handed means he will destroy.
Democrats have positive policies to help improve our immigration system and so much else, but giving in to Trump's bullying will gain us nothing but more lies and more bullying.
9
Our extended family has Coast Guard personal who daily
risk their lives for the safety of this country.
Where is the outrage on their part for not being given their
wage?
5
The hostage taker to speak and air his manifesto and demands tonight. Shame on the broadcasters for cooperating, thought as a country we don't cooperate with terrorists (one goal of terrorists is to inflict economic damage). No airing, until entire government is functioning and operating. A basic function on any government, well maybe not in Yemen or Somalia. It that what we come to? Political tribal warfare where the elected officials purposely inflicts harmful economic damage on its own citizens for political disagreements. What's shutdown is next gun rights , abortion, health care, etc, etc, etc.
4
Every "essential" government worker being forced to work without pay should call in sick. If they are unionized, they should strike. They can't be replaced because no money is appropriated to pay replacements.
These shutdowns are a systematic problem with our government and the system needs to be fixed. As long as the public is shielded from feeling the pain, these shutdowns will continue no matter who is in office.
6
Remember all the contractors Trump didn't pay as he built his real estate empire?
8
The only thing that will nudge Trump is Secret Service agents having a widespread blue flu and not showing up to protect his hide.
Mitch McConnell, his Russian agent counterpart, better decide to send him the bipartisan-passed legislation to reopen the government.
Otherwise, the cheese will literally stand alone with no personal protection.
Our country is being held hostage. GOP members of Congress will be held to account.
7
Why is the media allowing the gOP/trump to define the funding stalemate as a wall funding issue. The top/trump had 2 years with a majority voting block to fund the wall.
Please expose the lie.
6
Please don't forget the forecasters at the National Weather Service who are working without pay to protect lives and property.
3
Despite these closures and hardships to the public, the Bureau of Land Management is still accepting new drilling permit applications and requests for site inspection at proposed oil and gas wells.
4
The people who aren't being paid and are working are more patriotic than Trump. Thank you for your hard work. I'm sorry I can't send all of you a check. I'm even sorrier that you are being forced to suffer this way.
9
The 800,000 number vastly underestimates the number of people who are not able to work during the shutdown or are not getting paid. Many contractors are either not working or working on declining funds that have been approved. Contractors have no job protection and will be laid off once they exhaust their leave. Also every government facility has services surround it from lunch delis to stores for lunchtime shopping to coffee shops, many local small businesses. If government workers and all the unfunded contractors are not at work, there is no business for these companies, many of whom operate on slim margins.
Also no one can work on future work .. and contracts are shorter and leaner than ever. There will be chaos when the government reopens and it will take a while to get the gears grinding again.
Also, while after many shutdowns you should know it, essential services are basically the fire-police-electric-water type services. Are bathrooms in national parks non-essential ? Are programs at NASA, NIH, NOAA that have received congressional OKs not essential long-term ? You can shut these down for a few days or weeks, but these programs have been voted on and selected to be implemented.
12
Those of us with complex tax issues can't even file, if we expect a refund, because the IRS people who write revised forms for TurboTax and other services are on furlough. It's a minor point compared to people who can't pay their bills, but shows how even simple things are on hold.
8
Let them eat cake!
8
@Majortrout LOL....PERFECT...so right on about the attitude..
2
Well I think we can tolerate delayed tax refunds, closed national parks, and mortgage defaults, but BEER?!? Seriously?!? That’s a national crisis!
12
It could be telling to see how quickly this whole debacle may be resolved if Trump is made aware that his own personal security is being eroded by the stresses and strains on Secret Service personnel.
15
I think the secret service should just walk off the job. who exactly is so important that they are defending - wasn't it the Constitution and nation they swore to defend?
22
I hope this means McConnell will be voted out in 2020.
I hope fiscal conservatives are waking up to the reality of government. The Federal Government of the United States of America needs to be big enough to manage an increasingly complex nation and world.
18
@memosyne
He has no problem getting re-elected in Ky. Did you know he had a touch of polio as a child?
The constitution actually lists what the federal gov't is to do, maybe 6 jobs.
As long as KY & similar states continue to vote for the party of division & hate & against their own self-interests & the party that actually cares about its constituents, the mcconnells of this country will keep getting elected. This is a result of underfunded & mismanaged public schools, lack of labor unions, hateful, coldblooded, fake Christian evangelicals, & fake news. I hate to use the word conspiracy, but . . .
1
We have shut down the federal government for 0.01% of the budget ($3.8 trillion vs $5 billion).
The shutdown has cost more than the $5 billion being argued over.
Just vote the money and reopen the government already.
And all the answers to this involve 'Trump' or 'him' or 'can't let HIM win' proving it's not really about the issue but about 'winning over HIM'.
3
If he gets away with this tactic of holding the government hostage, the next time it will be about gutting Social Security and Medicare or, with a president of the other party, gun control. He should allow the government to reopen and then we all have a debate and vote on proper border control and immigration reform.
6
So spend $5 billion just to stroke his ego? I don't think so.
4
@Jim. Or Trump could stop holding the country hostage to his desire “not to look foolish.” He was on the verge of agreeing to a budget but backed down when commentators raked him over the coals. Americans don’t want to throw away money on a wall that won’t address any of the real problems of immigration. It won’t stop people from flying here and overstaying their visas. It won’t (and shouldn’t) stop asylum seekers. It won’t keep employers from hiring people without valid Soc Sec numbers and it won’t improve the situations in Central America that are causing people to flee out of desperation. So, yes, maybe Trump can show some humanity and stop worrying about his “winning and not looking foolish” and do what is right for the country.
3
How is that we have 330,000 non-essential employees in the US government and not one politician, not one agency hard, not one manager, not one civil servant is embarrassed by this? Tax dollars are a finite resource. They are precious and should be spent according. They are taken by force. Yet we have hundreds of thousands of people collecting paychecks for work that isn’t essential. Multiply that across cities, states and counties, not to mention various commissions and authorities and were talking huge sums.
1
@From Where I Sit
You are completely clueless about what is essential and what is not. Hopefully somebody you know will let you know how they are being affected by good people not working and skilled people being forced to work without paychecks. This is a threat multiplier.
If Trump had worked a day in his life, he might know what it's like to do an ordinary job for moderate pay.
We should certainly eliminate his security detail and all his expensive travel and luxuries.
6
Yeah. We need more unemployment.
@From Where I Sit: You have your opinion because you have a complete misunderstanding of what 'Essential and Non-Essential' means as it regards federal employees. Do some more homework.
4
All the people affected financially by this shutdown, Republican citizens included, need to remember two things: Trump promised Mexico would pay for The Wall, and Trump said do not blame the Democrats for this shutdown. He owns the shutdown, he said himself.
Blame the man, a reality show host and self-proclaimed stable genius, who is causing this to happen.
28
@dave
Dave you don`t understand human nature. Think about the voters in Kentucky for intense.
Mc Connell is the senator for Kentucky along with R. Paul.
Yet Kentucky is :
1/ #46 in Educational attainment..
2/ #46 in Poverty.
3/ #43 in Employment.
4/ #43 in Medicare quality.
But #1 in obstructionist politicians.
And McConnell is reelected again and again ; ie. too many people in Kty that can be fooled ALL of the time.
1
20 to 30 years from now, many of us may no longer walk the earth, but I think it's a sure bet that it will be really difficult to find anyone who will admit to having voted for Trump.
18
This is an important speech, if only because it will be a basis to gauge whether or not Trump is likely to hold on to the Presidency. The shutdown obviously cannot go on for long but neither side seems to be cracking. If his speech draws a large negative response, he is in big trouble.
6
Here is what "The Master Negotiator" aka President Trump is going to do. Tonight he will blame Congress for not dealing with him "in good faith" despite the fact that both he and his administration put out different and conflicting terms for a deal.
He will then say that "Because this an emergency, I am going to use my emergency powers to build this wall."
Master Negotiator exits stage left. Emperor Trump enters stage right.
8
Two weeks free of the federal government and the sky hasn't fallen yet. I don't feel any bite. Of course, I am employed in the private sector and my compensation comes from the economic growth my labor creates.
1
Because services don’t count.
1
Air traffic controllers, the FDA, Agriculture, NSF do a great deal to facilitate what you think is your independent entrepreneurship.
3
Trump is determined to get the next recession going. He really doesn't want to be pres any more. Unfortunately, he's not man enough to quit.
7
@Ellen - Oh, how I wish the Secret Service would hold Trump to his statement about "owning the shutdown" and make him own the consequences by removing the protective detail from Trump and his family.
11
Me too, but I'm pretty sure he could be protected by the military.
1
The nonsense of government "shutdowns", partial or otherwise, is - and has been - a national disgrace of our modern era, the fault attaching to both Republicans and Democrats at different points. It has to end.
As for the current mess, isn't it time, and/or possible, for the courts to rule that forcing civilian government employees to work without pay for weeks or maybe months on end on the assumption they will be paid sometime in the future, is illegal and a violation of the FLSA or other legal or constitutional requirements?
These are not indentured servants or chattel. How can we say that in exchange for the "privilege" of working a civil service job one is legally compelled to work indefinitely without pay? If the air traffic control system, airport security, courts, law enforcement, etc. were ACTUALLY shutdown, both economic and practical chaos would ensue and at the very least Congress could override any presidential veto and reopen government. They're too partisan and timid to do it at present even though they have the constitutional power to do it.
Is that what it will take to stop this and future shutdowns? Frankly, something has to be done to end these national embarrassments and political games.
11
So now t keep the Trump voters happy tax refunds will be processed, but he is the one who will not budge and he is the one who has been recorded saying "this could go on for years." I frankly am very pleased that so many are affected and that they will mostly have to assign blame to the President, DJT. He is the one telling his usual lies about the need for the wall and who through his failure to budge has stalled government and lives. He deserves any negative fallout this creates.
11
When the republicans controlled the house, senate and the presidency for the past two years they couldn't get anything passed to fund the wall. So now that the democrats control the house they are trying to use blackmail to get it done?
22
Dec. 11.
Trump: "If we don't get what we want, one way or the other... I will shut down the government ... So I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I'm not going to blame you for it."
13
Should shutting down the government be considered a national emergency and/or an impeachable offense, or both? Come on Republicans in Congress -- 2020 is just around the corner. Americans may have short memories, but November 2020 is just a few months away.
7
But I thought all those GOP'ers and tRumpsters said we didn't need the government. Wasn't there something about drowning it in a bathtub?
17
Having shut down much of our federal government to boost his ego, Trump now appears ready to declare a national emergency. This again will boost his ego, and set the stage for vastly extended control.
Not to worry. Given his history of making calm, thoughtful, reasoned decisions, our president will be sure to use his totalitarian powers wisely.
In the name of national security Trump has slapped on tariffs and undone international trade agreements approved by Congress. Just think of how much more he can do in the name of a national emergency.
9
To be honest, I think this 18 day shutdown has shown us how little the government REALLY does ... Nothing has changed in my day to day life. In fact, it's a bit more peaceful without all the menacing.
4
Great for you, but maybe re-read the story and see how it really is impacting other people's lives. So far my life isn't impacted, but I have great empathy for those who are not getting paid and are having difficulty making ends meet.
2
@kz, thank you for your example of the myopic viewpoint. Perfect! "If it doesn't affect me, it must not be necessary". We are a diverse county, to say the least. If you really believe you don't depend on governmental activities, then please. by all means do not use federal, state or county roadways when you travel to purchase your USDA quality assured food to exist. I'm sure you can forge your own path through your neighbor's yards. Much better because you can say "I did it all by myself!"
4
@kz
This conclusion is clueless, blind, and selfish. Time to look around and notice that other people exist.
3
Until affected people make their Senator's phone ring it does not matter.
7
Tariffs, ally-alienation, Putin-puppetry, roiling what's left of Middle Eastern stability, environmental degradation, rampant corruption, manufactured border chaos, abuse of the military, loss of the few serious remaining members of the Executive Branch, and now a pointlessly harmful government shut-down.
This is what passes for governance in today's America. to understand fully the meaning of the increasingly prominent word "kakistocracy," all we need to do just keep our eyes open. This is what happens in societies let's systemically demean knowledge, learning, science, and critical thinking.
Such a society that elects a figure like Donald Trump as president.
16
Donald Trump, Putin's Dream - he could not even predict that his candidate could go that far.
12
How does the shut down affect the Mueller investigation?
2
To all of those forced to work without pay, I have one word of advice: WALK!
This is an ego trip, not any sort of national emergency or crisis. By walking off, you force this nonsense to end. And, if you are thinking you will lose your job. Think again. What prospective replacement is waiting in the wings knowing full well he or she won't be paid either?
8
@Tom Q, better yet. Vote democrat.
If you walk, the Reagan in trump will fire you and fine your union, if there are any left. Vote democratic.
2
Meanwhile the one person who can stop Trump, Senate Majority Leader and multi-millionaire Mitch McConnell, collects his full salary and does nothing.
All it takes is for McConnell to end this Trump shutdown nightmare is to ALLOW a vote in the Senate to override the President's veto.
McConnell knows his fellow GOPers are caving quickly. He easily has the two-thirds votes to end Trump's shutdown tomorrow, but McConnell is too weak and financially indebted to Trump and the GOP mega-donors to stand up for our country and do the right thing.
Mitch McConnell ($$$) first, American people last.
Time's up.
Start feeling the heat, Mitch.
The Dems are exposing the truth.
And the American people are very angry.
17
Any credible news network that is running the speech needs to run it on a split screen, with half of it reserved to put up actual facts. This shouldn't be too hard to prep for ahead of time, Trump has repeated his lies regarding immigration so many times that I suspect the news staff (and a good portion of the country) can recite them by heart.
Have the graphics up ready to go and then just put up the applicable one to contradict whatever nonsense is coming out of his mouth.
And then for good measure, re-broadcast the speech afterward, but with the audio muted every time he lies. My guess is there won't be much left.
20
This is how it all starts. Trump will declare a national emergency tonight so that he can misappropriate funds and redirect our military to build a useless wall. Good use of their training and $750 billion annual price tag, I guess. Mexico won’t pay for it. Will be telling to see which mega corporations choose to run ads before and after his skit.
Leading into 2020, in order to cement power and guarantee his re-election, Trump will declare martial law to suppress voters and clamp down on protests against the wall and the fabricated terrorist threat. Meanwhile, our global standing will have been destroyed, debt rating downgraded, our agricultural industry will be reeling, coal will still be declining, China will be globally ascendant, ISIS will be rebuilding, the Kurds will have been slaughtered by Turkey, Jared and Ivanka will be vacationing in Riyadh. Winning, indeed.
11
Unfortunately it is painfully obvious that the average US citizen is too apathetic to demonstrate their outrage in the streets to show disdain for the presidential pouting contest affecting 800,000 people besides themselves.
If every TSA employee called in sick for one day (3 shifts in a row) this shutdown would be over because the disruption that would cause to not only domestic air travel, but global routes as well, would be unimaginable and untenable. Security risk you say? If no planes are in the air, there is no risk.
Likewise, I’d like to see how comfortable Chrump is holding his position if the secret service just didn’t show up one day.
Really, the ball is in the Senates court now, and I blame them more each day for allowing this to continue because they won’t break away from the cult base and swing toward reason and justice for a veto proof majority.
Our government is as pathetic and impotent as ever. The ride to nowhere continues.
14
I wonder when Americans will stop cowering before oligarchs and others who admire them? It's time for every federal worker to strike and millions of others to join with them in mass protests throughout the country? Trump created border wall crisis, and Americans should create a home grown Orange Revolution we started in November.
12
Americans need to tell their Senators and Congressmen if they like the direction America has been going in for the past two years, under the chaotic impulsive leadership of Donald Trump. If not, we have to start harassing our Congressional Reps and Senators to stand up and challenge the ignorant, self-serving and harmful policies coming out of the Trump administration and warn them that they will meet the real majority of voters in 2020.
5
It is time for members of the Senate or House to apply the 25th admendment to the Constitution of the United States. We cannot allow one man to shutdown America and make everyone suffer the treat to human health, the environment, and national defense.
Section 4 addresses the case of an incapacitated president who is unable or unwilling to execute the voluntary declaration contemplated in Section 3; it is the amendment's only section that has never been invoked. It allows the vice president, together with a "majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide," to declare the president "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office" in a written declaration. The transfer of authority to the vice president is immediate and (as with Section 3) the vice president becomes acting president – not president – and the president remains in office, though without authority.[6]
Congress does not need to impeach Trump, just declare him unable to perform his duties; clearly, he is not able to determine fact from fiction and changes his mind on a whim, . . . if this continues any member of Congress and the Executive Department that continues to enable an unfit President is in part undermining America. There comes a time we must decide, Brave people make decisions, Cowards run and Hide!
5
800,000 federal emoyees are beginning to experience what hard working folks in low wage jobs face weekly: paying bills and coming up short. Increase wages to a living wage and get our government working again so they didn't have to experience what non government ow wage employees face daily: trying to making ends meet .
4
Pelosi and Schumer need to frame this in a different light. It should not be characterized as "wall money" but money better spent on other things. Like housing every single one of the 38,000 homeless Vets. To say nothing of the fact that DJT didn't even put this into a budget request. Nothing but a monument to himself and one that will survive his idiocy and eventual impeachment.
7
I remember when Obama was President and everything was working.
12
They should just all strike until Trump caves or is forced out of office. They're not getting paid at the moment, might as well strike.
On another note...Wasn't government shutdowns something the republicans did to try to undermine Obama? I guess it's their current tactic...Clench their fists and stop their feet until they get their way. Not too surprising, the GOP is full of
toddlers...And Trump is the biggest baby of them all.
5
The President wants to persuade Americans that there is a crisis at the border that calls need for a wall for which his administration cannot provide a proper long-term figure of cost. There is now a crisis but it has been of the President's own making. The majority of Americans do not want funding for wall, they want funding for education, veteran services and infrastructure. The majority of Americans therefore view this ignorant stunt of shutdown as the fault of the President.
4
“They are asking you to put your life on the line and not paying you - it’s ridiculous,” said Donald Mihalek, a 20-year Secret Service veteran...
Wow. That quote could have come straight out of ‘The American Crisis’. A few more like him and we would all be Englishmen.
1
Imagine the secret service person that is worrying paying his mortgage and feeding his kids watching trump eat his second scoop of ice cream.
7
A reminder:
"House Approves Back Pay for Furloughed Workers"
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/us/politics/house-gop-to-take-up-pay-issue-for-workers.html
After every previous government shutdown, all federal workers received back pay. This time will be no different.
The stories of hardship are absurd. This will end up being a paid vacation...where the "furloughed" workers don't even need to use accrued vacation time.
3
Backpay doesn't help pay for food and utilities when you are hungry and cold right now. It doesn't pay your insurance, car repair, or doctor bills either. Or rent. Many people don't have savings enough to cover expenses while they wait for backpay. So there is hardship now, even if it will be alleviated later. Have some compassion. Many of these workers are not "on vacation." They are working without pay and even incurring employment-related expenses (childcare, gas, meals, etc).
6
How do they pay bills in the meantime? How do they buy food?
2
@Nancy
“Average Federal Employee Salary in States: How Do You Compare?”
State Average Salary
1. District of Columbia $115,594
2. Maryland $108,491
3. Virginia $102,311
48. WYOMING $63,148.87
49. MONTANA $64,420.37
50. IDAHO $65,172.64
https://www.fedsmith.com/2018/02/24/average-federal-employee-salary-states-compare/
Sorry Nancy, but folks earning the above salaries have no one to blame but themselves if they can't survive a few weeks without their hefty salaries/benefits.
The thought of watching Trump as he lies to the country about a stupid wall on primetime TV is depressing. All this from a fool who thinks that global warming is a Chinese hoax.
14
“President Trump and congressional Democrats have made little progress...”
Stupid me. I though the Senate was also in the legislative branch. I wonder why they aren’t legislating? Let’s see the Senate debate and vote in some bills. Cowardly Mitch trying to protect his evil party from having to take a stand on ANYTHING is ruining our nation. Again.
25
Without question, more Americans will die as a result of this shutdown than have died in the last fifty years as a result of illegal crossings over our border with Mexico.
13
Trump is a fool and one of the reasons he stated on now backing down at this point would be that "he would look foolish". This has already been lost by him. The taxpayers lose approximately 52 million per day during this shutdown.
More cost effective techniques such as high quality fencing (versus a steel slat wall) on biased sections, baseline ariel geophysics to define current and potential future tunneling activity, subsurface seismic monitoring, and UAV monitoring don't seem to even be on the table. It seems that stupidity and hubris for an impressive physical structure (that some have questioned the effectiveness) show how this pathetic president has acted.
6
It would be good to close the head of government, e.g. Mr Trump --have him stay in his room at the WH-- that would be closing the government in a good way; He'd just be in his room, wearing Gucci sweatpants selected by the wife surrounded by TV screens and some hamburgers and cokes.
See a head of government shut down is just what we all need--a break from this head of government.
why not?
11
Hey Don, how about giving 5 billion to the Florida and Puerto Rico hurricane victims instead? Nah, that would be too humanitarian, wouldn't it? Besides, they're not like all those south Texans you bailed out as they're probably not Republicans, are they?
11
"The Wall" has degenerated to the status of a symbol for the usurpation of presidential power.
Tonight we will hear Trump declare a "national emergency," a new tactic allowing him to unilaterally move money from the military budget—as well as the military itself—to finance and build his Wall. (The House be damned!)
The Republican senators will continue to allow him to do as he pleases, for they are nothing less than frightened rubber stamps, allowing Trump to do and act in complete disregard for the Constitution.
Meanwhile, the economy grinds to a halt, hundreds of thousands now have no income, bills and mortgages go unpaid, medicine becomes unobtainable and food literally becomes scarce.
This is what Trumpworld looks like, folks. All because, as Trump said, to compromise "would make me look like a fool."
Indeed.
6
I hope the NYTimes will feature lots of these stories on the front page every day. It's much more useful to explain the depradations of our predator in chief than attempts to explain or evaluate the true selfishness of our wannabe lord and master.
A few weeks ago, impeachment didn't seem possible or useful (President Pence, really? Christian sharia?). But now I feel Republicans should be truly worried about the state of our country and it's time to stop the crimes and misdemeanors of the cowardly bully with his grabby ways.
5
So much damage has been and continues to be done by this creature. He has shown time and again that he has no thought for the innocent, the common human, even his own base although they may not wish to acknowledge it. He does not care one whit about anything (certainly not national security) except himself.
So regardless of one’s opinion on how best to institute immigration reform and/or border security, we all must realize the danger of caving in to the demands of a blackmailer: If Congress chooses the path of appeasement on this issue, they will be giving their stamp of approval to his continued future use of the American people as hostages to achieve his selfish filthy ends.
17
The Internal Revenue Service is listed as one of the targets of the presidential shutdown. We know that the president has been involved in, at least, a 15 year dispute with the IRS over his own tax returns. Could it be that he is motivated by revenge against the IRS ? Hmmm? Would the president, any president, do such a thing? Hmmm? Is he willing to waste many more billions in a continued shutdown than what it would cost for his stupid wall? Hmmm? I'll be watching tonight to witness this embarrassment of a president self destruct.
8
Best solution? Elect a sensible law abiding president. Get rid of the current one.
14
I hope that when .. not if but when he starts lying tonight the media including fox will call him out
9
Some Americans feel the bite. Others, like my son in law, laid of during the shut down from F&W Services think it's great
'Paid vacation' , he said. ' Best thing ever.' 'We all will be paid eventually.'
His wife, a busy professional in the private sector agrees. "He now can work a lot more around the house and help with kids"
3
@Moshe - What is your point?
2
@Moshe
Unfortunately yes -- it's most likely that all furloughed federal workers will get back pay for no work, just like every other shutdown. So in the long run it does not hurt them much, so why should they complain? Of course the millions of government contractors who will not get back pay fare much, much worse....
2
Melania said the same thing. She’s got DT doing the vacuuming.
All of this brought to you by the tantrum of Donald Trump when goaded by two Fox TV personalities.
17
And the big fat radio liar, Anne Coulter et al, Matthew O'Brien.
2
I hope Trump keeps it closed until 2020 election or until Mr Mueller arrests him.
3
Trump is a clear and present danger to the United States.
16
Well the old saying that you get the government you vote for never seemed so appropriate. You swallowed Donald Trump`s kool-aid in 2016; and you have been paying the price ever since. He could not get his precious wall built when the Republicans controlled everything for 2 years; now he is punishing Americans for voting for the Democrats in November. Sorry; but until the fools who make up the Trump base finally wake up and realize once and for all what a demagogue they have put in the White House; and given the cowardice of the G.O.P. who lack the spine (and other body parts) to stand up to the spoiled brat; you are going to keep suffering until something is FINALLY done to put an end to Trumpocracy once and for all. You have no one to blame but yourselves; if you voted for the party that does nothing!
8
We need to focus on Mitch McConnell like a laser. He is standing in the way of a vote that could end this ridiculous shut down while hiding out like a coward. His popularity is waning at home (down to around 33% approval) so he is playing a political game where his concern is for himself and not the well being of the country. Long overdue to rid ourselves of this despicable excuse for a human being.
22
@HG Wells
Can McConnell be recalled somehow? Impeached? Wouldn't that be wonderful! He's up for re-election & his popularity rating in KY is very low: there's hope on the horizon.
3
There are no innocent parties in this tit for tat close down of the Government.If the Democrats feel that a wall of any kind is a waste of money, then let them come up with a better less expensive way to secure our borders.In essence, it’s all politics & the people know this, and will make both parties pay for this charade.It is obvious that the Democrat Party want an open door policy to let whoever wants to , come in legally or illegally, because poor immigrants mean more Democrat voters, & the Republicans know this. As it is, the Democrats have more potential voters then the Republicans, if the vote for President was a popular vote rather then a Electorial College Vote,only the Democrats would run the Government & corruption would run wild without checks & balances.
5
@Joe Blow ". . . corruption would run wild without checks & balances." . . . . As opposed to what you've had the past two years? seriously? If Mitch McConnell would allow the vote that they already passed only a short time ago the shut down pain for so many of you fellow Americans are feeling would be tempered.
2
A lot of money already given for border security remains unspent by Trump. The "open borders to get voters" line is nothing more than conservative hyperbole.
2
Undocumented immigrants can’t vote.
If the Democrats are relying on undocumented immigrants to secure their electoral dominance, I’m pretty sure that’s not a winning strategy. So I don’t think your argument about Democrats’ motivation re: immigration policy really holds water.
2
Oh, quit yet bellyaching. It's just food and shelter. Barter with your mortgage lender. I'm sure TD bank needs some painting done at a branch. Somewhere.
10
For those who wanted less government....you got what you voted for. This article is just the tip pf the iceberg. Just wait until spring when things like NOAA and its early warning tornado system are shuttered, or heaven forbid, a nuclear accident that needs to be handled by Professor Rick Perry and his Dept of Energy
21
Essentially, our government is grinding to a halt because a temperamental, racist, thin-skinned egomaniac was taunted by right-wing media personalities. Think about that for a moment. We have a so-called leader who is so insecure and prone to manipulation that a small handful of extremist media hacks can push him off course.
To add insult to injury, we have another so-called Senate leader in Mitch McConnell, who is frozen to ineptitude and refuses to pass a continuing resolution to re-open our government, despite the same legislation passing unanimously only a few weeks ago.
Folks, we are stuck with the worst of the worst "running" our nation. Republicans in Congress refuse to govern, while a posturing lunatic drives our nation into the ground over his ego. Never forget - this is what you get when you vote Republican.
28
The President has declared a US War on immigrants while neglecting the threat of the national and foreign debt and his neglecting inequality and the shrinking middle class.
6
Lincoln freed the slaves. Government workers should remember this.
2
The tactics of Senator Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) -- years of open obstructionism, refusing to hold hearings on an Obama nominee to SCOTUS, and now halting the normal Senate process of voting on bills that he has been told the President will not sign -- effectively make him a co-president with Trump.
In addition to helping stack the Supreme Court, Mitch McConnell has now turned Congress into an annex of the White House.
This one man, installed in Washington by the voters of Kentucky, one of the least well-educated states in the country, has thwarted the unambiguous majority will of the nation again and again.
It is time to boycott Kentucky businesses until the citizens of that state remove McConnell from his corruptly managed seat of co-presidential power. The will of our 49 other states are being controlled by one man from Kentucky, again and again.
25
Well, elections have consequences. A significant portion of the country bought the idea that a woman could not be president. Now, while China landed a spacecraft on the far side of the moon, we are discussing the stupidity of the president addressing the nation on an issue we all agree is not an emergency. Now figure the overall impact this administration will have over at least four years on the country at large. Scary, right?
8
Let’s get a law or constitutional amendment passed:
Any shutdown must have the following sequence for entities that do not get paid:
President
Cabinet
Congress
Senate
White House staff
Cabinet staff
Congress, Senate staff
9
@Neo Fernandes - This will be interesting.
President Trump is a billionare, or at least several hundred millions.
He has a penthouse apartment in NYC, a beachfront home in Palm Beach and a private 757 to fly around in if Air Force 1 is grounded.
Let's look at just one opposition member, Ocasio-Cortez. Two years ago she was a bartender. Probably a house or rent payment in Brooklyn. She's undoubtedly signed a lease in her own name in Washington expecting reimbursement from the Federal government to cover it. If that doesn't come in, she will be hurting badly.
Who do you think can hold out longer for an extended shutdown?
I know you want to put pain on the Republicans and the President, but this could well backfire.
@Jim
Members of Congress do not get reimbursed for their personal housing.
@Jim No. I want to put the pain on entities in that sequence. Laws are not applicable based on political parties. And if American citizens see that political actions have no consequence or effect on Billionaire/Milloinaire political ruling class. Let them become wiser or not. Personally I want every lawmaker and his family also in the armed forces. If you get the gist of what I mean.
It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better and it will take many people some time to regain what they've lost. Mr Trumps claims of 4.000+ terrorists entering the country through Mexico have been shown to be so bogus, most are caught at airports, and he would know this if his principal advisers weren't Fox Newscasters. As my wife likes to say " what is he 4." I guess people of any age can through tantrums, I wish we knew how to deal with a president that threw them, we can't send him to his room with no KFC!
10
@John D Stewart
The press needs to repeatedly call out Trump for this, and every, bald face LIE that he or his administration utters.
Lying about the facts to create more fear and division amongst Americans should be grounds for impeachment.
Did we learn NOTHING from Bush/Cheney's treacherous lie about terrorists and WMD's in Iraq?
We lost over 4,000 U.S. service men and women and another 31,952 were wounded in action as a result of this Bush/Cheney fabricated war.
This should be considered Conspiracy Against the U.S. if not treason.
Presidents who LIE to the American people should be imprisoned.
Do you, as a tradesman, really think DJT is on your side? Even when he hires temporary immigrant workers at many of his properties. You might want to reconsider. DJT doesn't have any empathy for you or for me, a retiree. He and his wealthy Republican cohort of politicians just want power to increase their take, and they do this by instilling fear in the general population by giving out false information (this is also called lying). It's a con.
14
Why don't more people realize this?
2
If a citizen dies of starvation from the government shutdown Trump should be charged with murder.
10
@Hector Ing
What about innocent children under the care of the US Border Patrol/
Put the Presidents news conference on 7 second delay. When he lies and distorts the truth a censor blob will appear over his mouth and the word LIE will graphically be superimposed over his head. The press has a duty to keep the facts as truthful as possible. I think Trump counts on news not doing this job and in turn calls you fake because he knows how many times he has faked you out.
9
If there is a terrorist event on a plane, or two planes collide due to an air traffic control error, while the shut down is still in effect, President Trump will be rightfully held accountable for the loss of life and fear of the nation. The blood will be on your hands Donald!
7
@G as if he would care.
1
Maybe some Republicans will get a hint of what the government actually does for them, when it's not shut down?
All for a wall that would not be effective, but is just red meat for the base.
The Great Wall of China was built to keep out the Mongols. It didn't work. Mongolian Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty in China. Oops. Then, when the the Japanese invaded China, they actually marched along the top of the wall to the heart of China.
500 years ago the city wall became obsolete when the Turks took Constantinople with canons.
The French put large amounts of resources into the Maginot line, which was supposed to keep the Germans out. The German Blitzkrieg went around it.
Fixed defenses are mostly obsolete. Humans and are too smart to be stopped by a wall. To stoo humans, you need humans, and flexible technology that can move to where the problems are. As these forces move they take advantage of existing features for barriers and cover, and have engineers that can construct tactical barriers. Barriers that make sense on the border have already been built. Building walls in the Rio Grande or in the mountains is just stupid, but Trump and his base are hostile to logic, so they just demand that the entire border have a wall.
Meanwhile most illegal immigrants come through the gate, at the airport.
But Trump is not doing this because he's stupid. He's doing it to manipulate his base, and because he wants the government to be shut down.
10
@McGloin
Excellent commentary.
I say pull the Secret Service protection for the entire Trump brood. The shut-down will end the next day.
16
Secret service working without pay. Wow.
A "man" like The Don's gotta know THAT's not smart.
Right?
I mean, someone could tell him.
Right?
Come on deplorables! - help him to help himself at least.
5
@Mike
Shhhh...No. don't tell Trump.
Let him be surprised when they all call in "sick" as he arrives at the border for a visit!
1. NOW do you see what your taxes do?
2. This is not about a wall. It is about diversion from Russia.
14
It's Trump's fault and the fault of the republican party for not standing up to him!
6
Trump proudly declared that his decisions are based on his “gut”. But somehow, people who would be terrified to learn that the pilot of their airplane was operating solely on “gut” instinct, have no problem allowing the “most powerful man in the world” to make the most consequential decisions for our country and the world by listening to his ever expanding waistline.
Obesity is killing our country in more ways than one. Time to lose weight, America. Fire the Gut.
8
The unintended consequences are starting to show. In our red state flyover Trump area, USDA offices are closed due to the shutdown, no subsidies, not loans, and no bailout checks. USFS is closed so local logging operations stopped. National park is shut and local tourist business has dried up. A lot of rural Republicans are finding out what the government actually does and how it helps them. If you voted for a Republican, please contact your republican representatives and senators and tell them to vote for the agency budgets. Otherwise, you are on your own. As to SNAP benefits, it will be interesting to see what 39 million people do when they are hungry. Will someone stand on the portico of the White House and say let them eat cake? We know how that turned out elsewhere.
22
@tom - Good idea:
Mitch McConnell
(202)224-2541
Congressional switchboard
(202) 224 3121
I’m wondering if anyone is considering the impact to government contractors - of which there are nearly as many as federal employees. Janitorial and administrative support staff have been furloughed since 12/21. As time progresses, the work agreements that allow contractors to work remotely during the shutdown will run out, potentially doubling the amount of actual furloughed employees. The difference is, however, contractors will not be given back pay for work missed.
12
@Sarah Groves
Domino effect...the furloughed employees don't need child or senior care, and since they aren't being paid, severely cut back on everyday goods and services.
This shutdown could throw the whole country's economy into a tailspin.
But "Stable Genius" Trump who is so "proud" of his shutdown and takes ALL the credit , gleefully proclaims his shutdown could go on for years!
While GOP "leader" Mitch McConnell does absolutely nothing.
1
5 billion. Yet, trump cut emergenvy funds to Puerto Rico since he thought it would cut into the budget too much.
19
This madness could end tomorrow if Mitch McConnell reintroduced (veto-proof, 100-0) legislation he already passed in the Senate, just before Christmas, to fund the government that is consistent with what Nancy Pelosi passed in the House. McConnell's dereliction of duty, a duty requiring the Senate to be a coequal and independent chamber, not an appendage to the Trump campaign and Rush Limbaugh, this dereliction should be countered by those GOP Senators looking at losing in 2020: Maine, Colorado, etc. Make McConnell reopen the government.
30
@Tony Cochran
McConnell's up for re-election in 2020 too.
Karma.
Mr. McConnell is in bit of a pickle. He knows that his hold on his fellow Republicans is slipping. Residents of the states should be flooding their Senators and Representatives with messages to end the shutdown. Should he hold a vote on the House passed spending bills, they would pass with a veto proof majority. So he passes the buck back to the president by not scheduling a vote. The impass is his and the president’s to own.
16
I thought his adoring minions took him seriously but not literally.
Now we learn "the wall" was a memory device for a toddler with ADD to stay on script.
We went from memory device to pretend crisis. Even Lindsey Graham called the wall a metaphor.
Are we going to allow ourselves as a country to be run by a toddler's tantrum?
Border security is serious but a wall can never be literal. We the people must put a stop to this madness. We'll need to lay our bodies down in front of the land movers if they ever come. This is literally serious.
14
The border situation is serious but not an emergency. Trump's use of it as a campaign tactic is despicable. The lives of 800,000 employees and countless more contractors and business operations, plus the downside to the country itself is terrible. Trump will keep the country in a state of shock for his own interests.
16
I find this shutdown of our government which Trump publicly owned his greatest fiasco. And he is clueless what it means to the employees to need the pay they earned and services which are critical to the safety of all Americans. He is not upholding his duty to serve all Americans as our leader and chooses instead to serve a small percentage of people who listen to Ann Coulter and Limbaugh. When will the majority of Americans who are angry and frustrated and betrayed by Trump stand out and speak out that the government must reopen or no deal and even better,"You're Fired!."
11
The House got rid of Boehner. Long past time for the Senate to do the same with McConnell.
15
The real immigrant problem is the robots that work 160 hours a week replacing four people at a time. Read "Robots are are the Real Immigrant Problem" The National Economic Research Bureau has reported that for every industrial robot introduced into the workforce, six jobs are eliminated.
3
I am an attorney and my client is unable to close his Small Business Administration loan that was supposed to have closed weeks ago. This hurts his business and mine as well. This is going on all over the country.
358
Blame the Senate. They are the ones holding up progress. The House already approved a Budget.
25
@Paul Ruszczyk
Thank you!
We need more stories about how everyday Americans are affected by Trump's shutdown stunt.
Billionaire Trump couldn't care less:
"the federal workers will just have to make adjustments."
But we fellow taxpayers DO!
19
@Wherever Hugo
I blame Trump.
22
As for taxes, I won't get a refund. But I've started my taxes, nonetheless, and a lot of items in my tax program return the message: "the IRS has not yet released the final version of this form." And that's for basic things such as interest on a home mortgage.
11
After the government reopens, both side must agree that this can't happen again. Neither party should be allowed to close the government.
12
@Walter McCarthy
This has happened in the past and may happen in future on budget issues. Note that furloughed federal employees will get backpay at some point. This is costing taxpayers about 52 million per day.
3
Will government workers called back to work be paid more than workers who are not?
@LJC Nope.
@LJC
The pay rate will not change. Furloughed federal workers will likely get backpay.
@LJC
In all previous shutdowns, the furloughed workers received full back pay for the period of the furlough -- even though they did no work during that time. But government contractors get no such back pay.
1
For years the Tea Party has been telling us that government should be as small as possible and primarily be for defense.
Well, we now can see how that works out. I sure hope the Democrats pick up on the theme that this shutdown is what small government looks like and keep hammering it home to the Republican voters.
16
It’s gone beyond a Trump shutdown
It’s now a Republican shutdown
Democrats in Congress have sent a series of bills that would fund re-open the government, get all these people back at work and paid. Homeland Security (that includes funding for the concrete wall -steel slats, fencing - whatever Trump is calling for today) would be funded for a month with continued negotiations.
McConnell won’t bring those bills to be voted in the Senate.
It could end this unnecessary Trump/Republican shutdown.
14
Who does Trump think he's going to convince by interrupting prime time television? There's no one to persuade. The only people watching are the minority who are already cheering for a wall. Everyone else tunes out and waits for the fact check. I'm not going waste 90 minutes listening to Trump ramble incoherent falsities. Why would you? Use the time to write your representatives instead.
The situation is really quite simple. Trump is holding the federal government hostage over a public power symbol he can't construct through the legislative process. He is twice the would-be autocrat in this instance. The voters already rejected a wall when they elected a Democratic majority to the House. End of story. Trump lost. If you want to discuss immigration reform, there is a way to do that which doesn't involve federal monetary appropriations.
18
One thing must be made clear, all the federal employees are being paid, furloughed or not. When the government reopens checks will be issued. It's a paid vacation for many.
2
Try telling that to some creditors.
1
@Walter McCarthy
Big help if they become homeless and lose they cars or D-G forbid starve.
@Walter McCarthy. Gee, but what about all the work that piled up? No one is doing it while on your so-called vacation. When folks get back to work, corners will be cut, folks may come on weekends at no extra pay, etc. The public is not being served by this. Yeah, a great vacation which you don’t know when it will end, don’t know if you can pay your bills, and during which you are not supposed to pick up other employment. Real fun. And for the contractors who won’t be paid - even more fun. Sheesh...
2
He is going to declare a national emergency, and so make a bad situation as bad as he can possible make it. Pence is out there, sanctimoniously calling for the Democrats to come to the table. They did. They were treated like poor relations with no voice: let him approach the Congressional Table.
The strategy is, please note, crippling those w forces which actually protect and serve most of the rest of us. When the budget is finally passed, it will take months to get through the overdue tasks.
The paranoid part of me thinks - aha - he's willing to create a total snafu in federal agencies to escape any exposure of his tax records, or enforcement of financial fraud. That the counter-argument to that is - he's far too ignorant and lacking in control to strategize in that detail - he has dementia - is not comforting.
Other Presidents have used public occasions to explain actual policy, or to unite Americans in genuine emergencies. This man will be using his access to rip the country apart to the extent that he can, and to attack opponents.
It is absolutely NOT an acceptable use of the airwaves.
39
@cheryl
Ooooh. I wonder if Mueller has to shut down too.
If so we should start a crowd fund to keep him on the job!!!
2
The Failing Trump Administration is now entering its death throes. Even Trump's supporters cannot successfully ignore the obvious corruption and incompetence. It's time to put this fiasco in our rearview mirrors.
26
What more evidence do Americans need to know that Republicans don’t care about them at all?
44
Now, Trumpdown will be toast in 2020 no matter what he does. He has and will hurt almost a million workers, plus millions of others with the financial overflow.
And here's to hoping McConnell will also be toasted in 2020 when he runs, for refusing to legislate the same legislation that he and the Senate had past before Trumpdown.
21
As far as I’m concerned, Trump can have his ‘big beautiful wall’ when he goes to prison.
56
The reality...... Trump is playing with peoples lives, and he doesn't care because it's all about him, our own mini strong man.
He can be solely focused on appealing to a mathematical minority of voters, his base, because he has the power of the U.S. Senate in his pocket, his real base base.
Tide rolled.
28
In order for President Trump to understand the effect of partially shutting down the government, he first needs to understand what the government is and what it does.
Unfortunately, like Louis XIV, President Trump thinks "'L'etat c'est moi'." And we all know how that turned out.
29
While it is the trump shutdown, and while it is clear he had no plan for what to do when REAL legislators were in charge of the House, mitch McConnell and the Republican party now are equally to blame for prolonging this. Democrats passed the legislation the Senate passed unanimously before the trump shutdown started. A simple vote on that bill would prove veto proof and the impasse would end. Instead, McConnell acts as he has for the last 2 years - like someone who is deeply compromised in trump-Russia crimes and so unable to oppose his "master"
Two angry rich old men holding the United States hostage all to salve the ego of the illegitimate pretender to the throne
36
After reading some of the comments to this article I cannot help but thinking how off base they are. Trump’s base is fully backing him on this notwithstanding the fact they may be some of the most affected victims of his tantrum. A perfect example was a client at the local food bank yesterday who proudly announced Trump became president because “the hand of God” brought him to us to help us finally end the flow of illegals. He said that these illegals were being paid handsomely by “someone” to come storm the border and that therefore Trump’s Wall was necessary. When I asked him what evidence he had of these payments, he pointed to the fact these illegals all had new, expensive tents and mobile phones, which they certainly could not afford in their countries of origen. When I asked if he was worried about not receiving his food stamps, he answered that if it was God’s will that he had to go hungry to support Trump then he would be okay with that.
There is no way to reason with someone holding these beliefs. GOP members of Congress know this. If you add how Fox easily manipulates these people, none of these GOP members of Congress will dare challenge Trump lest they face the ire of their base for having challenged God himself.
44
So the premise would be that “god” is a wholly-owner subsidiary of The US of A and is opposed to non-US of Aers, apparently. Otherwise I don’t get their point that “god” could save us from its other people, for wouldn’t they claim there is only one “god” for all peoples everywhere?
But I’m sorry, I forgot logic - even as we are discussing “god” stuff - no longer applies.
1
@CEA
I hear you. I'm living in Texas and it's like something out of the Body Snatchers here. It’s getting to the point where Trump’s supporters are just pulling lame excuses out of the air in an attempt to protect him. These people have so much pride and faith invested in Trump that it's going to be a really hard fall for them.
10
@CEA
if a critical mass may thinks that way, this is how both communism, in Soviet Union, and fascism, in Nazi Germany, were born. At the end they were responsible for suffering of millions. The similarities in the destruction caused by such opposite movements, were in manipulation of masses with ideology and planting a similar amount of hatred aimed at those not following their madness. Definitely we cannot ignore mindless masses following Trump.
4
The real national emergency is 800,000 federal employees going without pay.
15
@Citizen The real emergency is the resident of the oval office is mentally unfit for the job, and the GOP Senate is unwilling to perform its job.
3
Congratulations to President Trump for standing up for what is right. The immigration problem has festered for years. President Obama promised during his campaign to deal with the issue and to protect the Dreamers. This did not happen. Now is the time for all the parties to step up to the plate and pass a bill protecting the Dreamers and establishing security at the southern border including the use of barriers. But also providing that all those who need asylum and help because of the conditions in their countries will be welcomed to the USA.
7
@Saggio I think you are missing it. Trump won't negotiate with Democrats. Democrats have passed legislation in the House to open the government and provide funding for all departments except Homeland security through Sept. 2019. They also passed a stop gap budget for Homeland Security to keep it operating so Trump and Democrats could negotiate over the next month regarding his wall versus what democrats want for immigration reform. He won't sign it and negotiate. He wants to continue the shut down until he gets his wall in the budget and give nothing in return. Here's the basic point. Trump doesn't want to negotiate with Democrats for immigration reform since that would end the issue he's using to whip up his base and run his 2020 election campaign on.
10
@Saggio Sadly the illegal gun problem and the healthcare failure of the Republicans and the Wishy-Washy comments of Trump on Syria and on North Korea which change overnight, or in less than a nano-second are also serious problems...as are our place in the world now. And the statistics who that "terrorists are not coming from Mexico in droves unless 6 counts as droves to you, and this point was made on Trump's mouthpiece, Fox News. I note not many support your comment, I certainly do not.
Keep this up, and the wall may be needed to keep Americans on its northern side.
49
@Jim S.
Then Mexico WILL build the wall. Maybe that is Trump's strategy!
3
Isn’t requiring people to work without pay a form of slavery?
35
@JM
Trump will never learn.
Once again he refuses to pay his employees, dismissing their complaints by telling them to
"make adjustments".
I'm sure the millions of affected Americans who are struggling to pay their bills because of this "trumped-up nightmare" sincerely believe that Trump has the compassion to "relate" to them.
1
@JM
Why yes, yes it is.
1
Majority of Americans would at this point favor seeing mr frauster ousted from office. Take a poll. Show us the results.
14
Thr writers made no mention of how many people died from Fentanyl in the lst few weeks.
@LMJr nor from products from Indiana Purdue pharma
@LMJr
Opioid crisis... Trump does not care.
Haven't you seen daily the breaking news video on the "crisis at the border"?
All the "terrorists" flooding over the border?
But wait, where are the 5,000 troops Trump sent down there? Were they deemed
non-essential federal employees and furloughed?
1
so, Trump uses slaves at the IRS to pay out refunds as bribes to voters? every day, he reveals more about the kind of crook he is. at the very least, he does not uphold his oath of office. we need to gret rid of this guy, and fast, under Article 25. Republicans! remember Lincoln who freed the slaves and do what you know is right!
13
@[email protected]
Abuse of Power.
Obstruction of Justice.
Conspiracy Against the United States.
Emoluments Violations.
Campaign Finance Violations.
Witness Tampering.
Collusion with a Foreign Power.
How many more "High Crimes" and Misdemeanors do we need?
Trump said publicly that he would accept responsibility for shutting down the government, and then he turned around, predictably, and blamed democrats. Remember, both the house and the Republican controlled senate have already passed identical funding bills that give money for border security, but not for a wall. Trump has refused to sign this bill, so McConnell is preventing it from coming up for a second vote in the senate. This shutdown is another of Trump's attempts to gain the status of dictator, which is how he sees the presidency. This is something our democratic system will not, and must not allow. If the democrats were to cave in now, Trump would threaten to shut down the government over every issue that arose in the next two years. Hopefully it is becoming increasingly obvious to even Republican senators that Trump is not fit to serve as president as they watch him wreak havoc on the lives of millions of Americans.
50
@Mary Pernal
Focus and media pressure should be on Mitch McConnell and his fellow GOPer Senators who are up for re-election in 2020.
4
The point needs to be made repeatedly: this is the fault of Sen. McConnell and his GOP cohorts in the Senate. The Senate has previously held a vote and passed bipartisan legislation to fund the entire Gov't through Sept 2019. Trump says he refuses to sign it without the $5B wall funding.
The Senate needs to fulfill its Constitutional duty and send this budget funding to WH. Let Trump veto it if he so wishes. That action would clarify this situation for all Americans, and that is exactly what Republicans cannot stomach.
59
Why is no one taking about how the US Coast Guard is being affected? While they must operate as a part of the military, they aren’t being paid. They MUST work (and many are deployed) while worrying how to pay bills. They aren’t allowed to miss work or moonlight. We don’t have military housing in the continental US, so many of us face the real problem of eviction. Because so many of our force are junior folks, they haven’t the opportunity to build up savings to last through several missed paychecks. On top of which, we are required to move every 2-4 years, which means a lot of out of pocket expenses (rent deposits, etc) have to be made.
These are the people who make sure that boaters are safe on rivers, lakes and the ocean. They break ice for commercial shipping and they patrol waters to keep marine life safe and not over fished. As well as combating drug smuggling and migrant smuggling via water.
Please don’t forget about your Coast Guard!
75
Government is serious business -- far too serious to be disrupted by political stunts. This shutdown is even more frivolous than the numerous Republican fomented shutdowns we have endured over the past 25 years.
The Republicans in the Senate believe that government doesn't matter. They are about to disabused of their notion by this Trump orchestrated shutdown. Unfortunately, the key to ending this shutdown is held by McConnell and 51 other Republicans. Even David Brooks is urging them to man up and check Trump's reckless behavior.
We are waiting for Godot.
November 3, 2020.
17
I want to see our government can handle a run away & wild president and inactive senate majority. This is a big test for our law and order doctrine and testimony. I am a retired guy. So far the government shut down hasn't affected my daily routines. I am sure there are others who are not affected. But I really love to see the new congress can continue defending our constitution and democracy.
5
No wonder that he failed in each venture that tried to be too involved. Only when he let his name to be used and he stayed away, the disasters have not been obvious. We cannot wait for him to turn this country into another"Atlantic City fiasco and bankruptcy" and hear again a version "How Donald Trump Bankrupted His Atlantic City Casinos". Can he lend his name, move quietly back to Trump Tower, and let others to play a composite character "President Trump". This is the only solution.
10
A couple of things for everyone to remember:
1) Trump's White House has never (NEVER!) provided Congress with a plan for how the $5.6 Billion would be spent. He just keeps on referring to the 'Wall' in a vague sense as though that explained everything. In order to build this 'Wall', many private citizens' and tribal land would have to be confiscated. There are national parks along the border which would be virtually destroyed. (Remember CBP wants 150' on both sides of any wall/fence built completely cleared; all of which has to be in U.S. territory) Congress should never abide by his demands until there is a full public study and case plan presented on how the money will be spent, where the wall would be built, whose and what lands are affected, which contract companies are being considered for doing the building, etc. For Congress to give into this child would be to allow him to hold the country hostage again and again for whatever selfish purpose.
2) We constantly speak of the 800k federal personnel who are either furloughed or working without pay. While they may get backpay when this is over, it's not guaranteed; in the meantime they still have to pay rents/mortgages, buy food, pay bills, etc. However, there are 500k contractors affected by the shutdown too - people who will NEVER get backpay and still have to pay all their bills. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of persons working for companies where all those workers buy goods and services.
50
@JustJeff
"Trump's White House has never (NEVER!) provided Congress with a plan for how the $5.6 Billion would be spent."
Maybe this is the size of his personal debt, conveniently called "The Wall".
1
and furthermore, the $already appropriated for border security has NOT been spent!
cant help but wonder if he is beholding to the wall contractors too.
1
@JustJeff
Excellent points!
And no one talks about why the Trump Administration had not yet spent even 10% of the previously allocated congressional funds for border security.
What happened to that money?
2
For $5 billion, the Dems can get border security, pay the federal workers they say they care about and still get our craft beer. Seems like a small price to pay given how easy they are willing to throw money away on ineffective education programs and that $77 billion dollar high speed train in California. Put the blame where it belongs on Chuck and Nancy.
1
@ehillesum
Really - where is the $5 billion funded?
We've known for eons that "Trickle Down" economics is a scam, but apparently "Trickle Up" economics - damage from the bottom up - really has an affect.
9
When will Republican Representatives and Senators realize that their job is to do what is best for the country, not what will keep getting them elected and/or what is weirdly "best" for the Republican party?
33
@Betterwould: Never. Putin pulls their strings.
Maybe the only silver lining I can see around this crisis created by Trump is that there should be a new appreciation around understanding what your tax dollars really do for our society. Only a portion of the government is shut down but it affects everyone's lives in a harmful way. Without government and what it provides to a society, things just do not work. In many cases, government fills the areas that capitalism cannot or does not want to fill but still need to be done. You don;t want to have air traffic control go to the lowest bidder, you don't want tax collection to go to a private enterprise with no oversight, you don't want your financial markets to operate without any oversight, the list goes on. Government is needed to make sure that society functions and a fair and sane way. It may not always work out that way but at this point, you can see, take government out of the equation and things start to fall apart fast.
60
@Kelly R. Donley
Thank you. Well stated.
The media needs to continuously highlight the immense damage a shutdown causes the American people.
But our esteemed multi- millionaire "Representatives" who CAUSED the shutdown, gleefully collect their full salary.
1
I have never been this concerned about our nations future as I am now.
Clearly after two years of this presidency, Trump has done more damage than I could have ever conceived. He must go now.
47
@Dave
Ben Carson:
"Even if Donald Trump turns out not to be such a great president, which I don't think is the case, I think he's going to surround himself with really good people," Carson said. "But even if he didn't, we're only looking at four years as opposed to multiple generations, and perhaps the loss of the American dream forever."
OMG Ben.
How could a brain surgeon be so brainless?
1
This article demonstrates exactly why any government shutdown should be considered unconstitutional. It's inconceivable that the Framers of the Constitution thought that the government should ever be shutdown, especially over a manufactured (aka "fake news") crisis. When there is such a dispute between the Executive and Legislative branches of government, it would seem appropriate and necessary under the Constitution to resolve it through the Judicial branch. It's time to take this case to the Supreme Court and end the suffering of the 800,000 federal employees and the American people who depend upon them. This is the real "humanitarian crisis" that's unfolding and it's time to invoke "the rule of law" and to end "the rule of Trump."
24
Well I agree with your overall comment, but the judicial cannot “resolve” matters of legislation where there is no matter of constitutional rights. Building a stupid wall is not.
What we NEED to do is curtail / limit the powers of the presidency. It has quite clearly become something entirely different than what the founders intended. It is too close to imperial power.
1
The longer this drags on the less important the wall becomes. Pretty soon, people will forget why the shutdown ever happened, they'll just want it over. Trump is losing this battle. Open up the government.
25
Economy is strong and unemployment is low. Just go work somewhere else for awhile.
1
@Jim Some federal employees can not work other jobs because of stipulations written into their contracts.
3
@Jim: Tell that to the workers that have to pay their bills without a paycheck and the countless Americans and businesses who need their services.
1
Well, Jim, I'd like to go work at another job, as you so unhelpfully suggested, but I'm expected by my employer to show up to the one I already have. Not getting paid to work, treated like a pawn in a war being orchestrated by a petulant man-child, can't get a second job without approval from my employer, the government, my concerns glossed over by a man who has never had to worry about money a day in his life--the solution is so simple! I'll just go get another job!
8
If American individuals and families are financially stressed by the delay of one single paycheck, how do think the country is going to fare when the next recession hits? The American culture of lifetime debt and endless consumption is at the root of much, if not most, of the drama in this country. Ultimately, the cost of consumerism is peace of mind. I'm unlikely to impress my neighbors with my 2014 Prius and my...way out of style clothing, but I never lose a minute of sleep worrying about paying bills. And if the ladies have a problem with a guy like me, well, it's like the Rolling Stones said, "If you don't rock me, somebody will".
15
@Epicurus Yes to all this. I have shirts and ties that are older than my nieces and nephews (they are 30). My Ranger is used 2006, runs like a top. We live in the woods.
5
@Epicurus - You make a good point but please keep in mind that many people aren't buying luxuries, they're struggling to keep up with basic necessities.
4
@Epicurus
You need to use that Prius to tool around the United States and see it for what it has become, as do so many of our lawmakers. A trip to middle America about six years ago showed me just how little many citizens now survive on. These are not wasteful people as you suggest. They are people wiped out by the failure of prices and wages to keep up with the bare necessities of life. What I saw made me question whether I was traveling in the United States or some third-world country. While those people obviously got by on less than many government workers, federal employees are not rolling in dough. Wage increases have been minimal and benefits have been cut. One emergency can irreparably change your life. (And, btw, the car I drive is seven years older than yours.)
6
It is time to put an end to using government shutdowns as a tool by Presidents and Congress when they are NOT DOING THEIR JOB. They continue to get paid. They are the ones that SHOULD NOT BE PAID until they work together in a bipartisan manner to get the job done.
I will not be watching 45 tonight. I He has no case to make.
79
@Mauger while it feels good to say that Congress and the President etc shouldn't be paid, their pay and benefits is such a miniscule part of the national budget (and, for most of them, a miniscule part of their wealth) that really it's just tilting at windmills.
5
@Mauger
Umm... it's called blackmail while sabotaging the infrastructure. What Trump really wants is to disable the American government and devastate the economy, then hand us over to Putin asa bleeding stump, ready for work camps and enslavement by the Russian oligarchs.
7
I feel stupidly chilly.
If the issue is not resolved before Feb 1, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is aiding about 40 million people, will freeze. 40 million is not a small number. When people are hungry, they will revolt. History has been showing that rules for thousands of year. And the most recent experience: look at France: people march mostly because they don't have sufficient food by the end of the month!
At the wall cost about 5 billion? Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program needs 4.7 billion per month. Why not giving up a wall to help these 40 million people and ... prevent the revolt?
21
@Nobunaga Oda for only one month? Why doesn't congress fund the wall and end the shutdown.
Why only blame the president? 5 billion is a small amount of the overall federal budget.
1
@Bicycle Bob its estimated the wall will cost over $32 Billion & counting. Not sure why Trump wants just 5 billion. There is no need for the wall. There is a need for people to eat though.
6
@Nobunaga Oda: Wow, I looked up the numbers for 2017 and they show that 13% of Americans are poor enough to be in SNAP and proabably more would qualify but don’t apply. What a disgrace for the richest nation on earth!
9
Mitch McConnell's inaction here is mind-boggling. None of the Republican Senators will say anything, mostly because of fear. Fear of getting primaried.
You know what would solve this? TERM LIMITS!
46
@BA, Jeff Greenfield once said, we have term limits. They’re called elections.
9
@BA It is not mind boggling. McConnell is acting exactly as any compromised asset would in this situation. He has for 2 years.
Term limits are a terrible idea.
HB1 that Democrats already passed in the House would get dark money out of elections and ensure voting rights for all Americans are all the "term limits" we need. If Republicans could not cheat they would get "term limited" in the way the Constitution intended, at the ballot box.
10
@BA We already have term limits. They're call "elections" and are held every two or four years.
3
If these workers can legally go on strike or a walk out, especially TSA they should do it. Shut down the entire nation to clearly point that Trump is not in charge the people are. See what he does then.
22
@BAR
It would be nice if this could happen but Federal employees are barred by law from engaging in such a collective action. It is a fireable offense. Remember PATCO?
7
Turn your outrage into action. Don't turn on to Trump's drivel tonight. Write to our president and tell him you do not support the government shutdown and it is his responsibility to stop it.
14
@Sarah
That would be great except Trump doesn't read.
1
Wally Wolf,
No, but he does live and breath TV ratings.
I think Rachel is on at the same time. Click!
1
@Sarah
Trump doesn’t read and his staff only gives him positive letters.
Write your Senators, especially if they are Republican- they do respond to their constituents.
So will the Democrats get equal time on TV or not?
23
Does the shutdown hamper the Democratic House investigations' access to information/documents?
7
Boycott the speech. Turn off your televisions and deny Trump what he craves. Use the time to write your house and senate representatives and tell them to end this madness!
63
Contact your Senators and your Congressman
and tell them that since they are getting paid while government workers are not they should stay in D.C. and have Congress be in session 7 days a week until this is resolved.
It looks like the only way to stop this stupidity is to pass legislation and than override Trump's veto.
That lets Trump say he did his best (worst?) and gets the government re-opened.
25
@Bob in Pennsyltucky Don't blame the house. Trump has said he'd be glad to own the shut down. The ball is in the republican's hands. They control the executive branch and 1/2 the legislative branch.
The republicans run on a self fulfilling prophet. The claim the government doesn't work, then they get elected and prove it.
4
Sad that these networks have lost so much integrity that they are willing to help a compulsive liar spread his lies.
They have refused previous president's requests--but don't seem to have the backbone to refuse this one.
52
While Trump is demanding his birther barricade tonight, please open up your laptops and go to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, to "Defining the Enemy" page to read up on how they were identified by the supreme leader of the "Aryan Race" before World War II and during World War II.
My father fought w/the 101st Airborne, Yankee Infantry Division and was awarded the Silver Star for risking his life to fight fascism. Trump - a self-proclaimed nationalist - is promoting a myth - one we've seen before.
He has quoted Mussolini, has claimed that people crossing our southern border are "infesting" our country, and he is campaigning.
He does not govern - he campaigns.
That is what this government shutdown is, and that is what his manufactured crisis is.
Do not accept his rhetoric as normal or acceptable.
143
Trump's idea for the shut down was to cause pain and hardship on as many people as needed to force (coerce) the Democrats to give in to his wall tantrum. So far, Trump is ahead in the sense that many are feeling the pain. This stunt is the business style of our non-leader. If the Democrats give in in any way, he wins because hew will use this approach many more times. Make a ridiculous demand, hold your breath and threaten to destroy the world will work again. It's the only thing real about Trump.
50
@Paul Raffeld
Since the wall and border security were primary platforms President Trump campaigned on and was elected into office on he has an obligation to the American people to deliver. Congress needs to recognize the problem is as real as the concern is real. When estimates are that 3-5% of the residents within our borders are here illegally we have a problem. Part of the solution to that problem is stemming the flow and beginning to reverse it.
4
@Catholic and Conservative. The wall is a 6th century answer to a situation that is not even close to a crisis. There are issues but it's clear that the wall is far more about Trump than it is about security. Those that wish to circumvent it have 21st century tools at hand. The wall is nothing more than Trump wanting to stamp Trump on the country. He doesn't really give a lick about illegal aliens living in the United States, the fact that he employs them should tell you that. If it was that important to him, he understands that there are many undocumented workers in the hospitality field and would have gone to great lengths to make sure that he wasn't part of the problem that he was crowing about. The real crisis is that people feel the need to try and make it here because where they are is unlivable. If Trump had an ounce of compassion in him he would be focusing United States efforts towards finding ways we can utilize those that are fleeing repressive environments and finding ways to make sure those repressive environments are eliminated and replaced with environments where people can thrive. We don't have undocumented immigrants from Costa Rica because that country has a good environment for it's citizens. How can we have that happen for many of the rest of the central American countries? They can't do it on their own.
14
The majority of the American people didn't actually vote for trump. The electoral college did. Check the numbers.
14
When Trump visits the southern border this week, apparently thinking he’ll get cheers from the federal workers he is stiffing, the workers should don yellow vests and let the so called president know just how much they are suffering. Americans need to start protesting how shabbily we are treated all so the 1% can live in luxury and ignore the rest of us struggling to just get by. And Trump thinks federal workers can “just make adjustments like they always do” to make up for not getting paid!
The yellow vested workers in France have brought Macron to his knees. It can be done here. Americans have to stop being so meek.
73
@Mary Make adjustments like Trump always did, declare bankruptcy.
7
The longest shutdown was in ‘95-‘96. It had two parts. The first one furloughed 800k and the second 200k. Is this the shutdown that’s had the biggest impact - if you multiply furloughed workers and number of days?
4
@Joel Jacob
After that shutdown the federal workers received back pay for all of the time that they were off, and not working. The same will happen this time. So it is difficult for them in the interim with no pay (though they can apply for unemployment) -- but not in the long run. But there are very many more government contractors who are off work due to the shutdown who will not get back pay.
3
@Joel Jacob
That's an interesting question. Forty percent of federal employees are now contractors, who, as Aengus points out below, will not be paid after the shutdown ends. And, there is no guarantee that non-contract employees will be paid either. The rise in contract employees replacing non-contract, permanent employees is a recent phenomenon that accelerated during the Obama years in an ongoing push for privatization, so my guess is this shutdown will have a more significant financial impact than the one in 1995.
1
How interesting that Trump has boundless regard for the brutal dictators of the world, while not caring at all about the people of this country. He fell in love with Kim Jong-un during their pretend negotiations but he is totally oblivious to the needs of the American public.
If I were to design a bad president for the US they would not be as evil, childish, uninformed, uncaring or vile as Trump. He brags about his achievements, but he forgets to mention becoming our worst president ever, while being only half way through his term.
35
Time for the forced labor to walkout. The IRS is forced to work because the tax revenue is needed. The shutdown is a hoax - almost a million people working without pay. Trump, Pence, McConnell - in their cushy jobs with their feet on people’s necks.
50
@Barbarra I agree with your sentiment, however I think Trump might consider punishing the people who walkout by terminating them.
As incomprehensible as it seems, given the mentality or lack of it of Trump, it is possible he would do it.
I’m thinking of Reagan and what he did to the Air Traffic Controllers.
1
Who knew the Federal Government actually did stuff?
11
Although Mr. Trump has given Congress enough evidence before, I do not know how members of Congress can not see him as being unfit for this office. As voters, we need to remember who stood by this farce.
Write your members of Congress. Time to end this shutdown.
28
Perhaps a minor point amid the suffering 45 has created and McConnell and Republican Senators perpetuate: while those ultimately getting back pay will pay taxes on that income, there will be no taxes paid on the funds foregone by the balance of government workers and contractors.
The short-sightedness of 45, McConnell, and their ilk is staggering, as is their capacity for cruelty. Of course this will get 45 his page in the history books. May it show him as the tyrant he has chosen to be.
39
Here's a point that needs to be made repeatedly: this is the fault of Republicans in the Senate. McConnell should hold a vote and force Trump to veto bipartisan legislature. That would clarify the situation greatly, and that's precisely what Republicans don't want.
The wall is a projection of Trump's disordered psyche, not a solution to a real problem. I'm not entirely clear on why the Speaker of the House chose the word "immoral," but perhaps it's because building a colossally pointless monument to the ego of someone with autocratic longings goes against everything this country stands for.
A great country committed to freedom and justice doesn't respond to a humanitarian crisis by slamming the door on refugees and asylum seekers and just telling them to go away. Or locking up children—children have died in custody while separated from their parents. If you are a parent, think about that very hard. The emergency is how to process applicants. The Democrats need to explain the moral dimension more carefully.
The media are doing a terrible job of examining the issues; they're letting Trump, as always, create a reality TV narrative of who wins. I'm extremely sorry to hear that the networks decided to give him coverage. He'll do nothing but tell lies and poison minds.
The shutdown didn't need to happen. The disruption to American lives didn't need to happen. There had been bipartisan agreement. McConnell is attempting to obscure that fact now by not holding a vote.
79
@C Wolfe
"McConnell should hold a vote and force Trump to veto bipartisan legislature."
Or better still, they should override his veto with a big enough vote.
They can do this, but as usual, it's McConnell standing in the way of the best solutions.
10
The Trump shutdown, however unpleasant, allows the nation to review the effectiveness and motivation of the current occupant of the Oval Office. After a few more weeks (or months) of this Trump shutdown the country will be able to evaluate if the political "base" of Mr. Trump and his Administration are good for the country. I may have made up my mind, but still some people need more evidence to decide.
Carter, Bush 43., and Clinton all say they have not spoken to Mr. Trump about the wall nor do they support it. Mr. Trump asserts that all the former Presidents support his wall effort. Who is mis-representing the truth here?
25
The majority of Americans knew way back in 2016, whether it was during the primaries or the debates, what a baseless individual trump is. And we feared for the country if he became president. Now here we are. Something tells me the majority just became greater. Most of us have no degrees in psychology, psychiatry, political science or business administration. But we do have common sense, something lacking in the minority of our country’s makeup.
We have proven B.T. Barnum right again. And so has trump.
28
I’ll tell you who is feeling the pain and have been for not days or weeks, but for decades now.
The working class folk are feeling the pain for having to compete with millions of illegals.
For example, in NYC alone, there are 1.2 million illegals out of a population of 8 million. Think about that.
As a painter here for over two decades, my hourly wages have actually gone done because 50% of my work goes to illegals these days, who get paid in cash and will never ever sue their employers for anything, including unsafe work conditions or injuries.
There are hundreds of thousands of more New Yorkers like me. Waiters, chefs, domestic helpers. Who don’t get a living wage because they have to compete with over a million illegals in one city alone. That means two jobs and not seeing your kids.
Elites and Dems don’t get this because they are selfish. They are not the ones competing with a million illegals. But Trump has empathy and gets it.
I pray he holds out indefinitely till we get the wall. The Israeli one on its border with Egypt has proven to be 99.98% effective against migrant caravans.
43
@Jay Holder
Isn't this the fault of employers who hire undocumented workers?
304
@Jay Holder
What is the source for your data? According to the Pew Research Center, the 1.2M number is for the New York, Newark, Jersey City - NY, NJ, PA metro area. New York City has an estimated 525,000 unauthorized immigrants.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/09/us-metro-areas-unauthorized-immigrants/
177
What is the source of your statistic for number of undocumented people in New York? Thanks.
88
Why are networks that refused Obama's speech on immigration giving free air time to Trump's speech on immigration?
63
@Marie
The networks' willingness to broadcast the speech of the present occupant of the Oval Office attests to their collective hypocrisy and their placing of profit (i.e., keeping their stockholders happy) above serving the best interests of the public.
In decades past, the networks fully supported their news services and gave them wide latitude to do their jobs wisely and responsibly, though the news services (in comparison with other services provided by the networks) were not a money-making operations for them. Nowadays, the networks eagerly bow down at the altar of Mammon, happily cavorting in seas of dirty money. As a result, their news services tend to act more as conveyers of cheap entertainment than news.
8
Trump never really did not veto the bipartisan bill sent to him before Christmas because he feared a two thirds Senate vote to override his veto. He fears an uprising of his own Republican Senators at this point and it will come true. And please NYT stop being nice to this despot and giving his lies so much airtime. He uses every opportunity to get his lies on air. It is about his will not security he just wants a wall named Trump not security.
21
Trump couldn't care less about the damage created by his shutdown; to government employees, national parks, business, the economy, "whatever". Proven by his lies on the subject, deflections and transparent justifications. An outsized ego in the White House is inflicting suffering on America, without empathy or apology. Forget the "invasion" on our southern border; America has been successfully invaded by the agent of a foreign enemy, and is wreaking havoc from the nation's Executive Mansion. Wake up people!! Deliver the smoking gun, Mr. Mueller!!
32
@Bill Harrell
Many of us disagree with you Bill.
1
You are wrong! The majority of us in this country try agree with Bill.
Wondering why all the government workers along with the sub contractors, and any others who are being impacted by this ridiculous shut down, don't descend on Washington and march for the re opening of government?
12
@Linda Holley
Well -- the government workers have no reason to march or protest, in the long run. Like all previous shutdowns, the government workers will receive full back-pay -- even if they did not work at all.
1
Well- there is no guarantee of compensation for lost wages, that requires successful legislation. Which of course ignores the reality of the present need for earned income.
1
@Linda Holley
wondering about unpaid governmental workers to solve the crisis by traveling to Washington and march?...and who will fund such a march? What about others who are paid, who can afford it, show up in Washington and demand reopening?
1
Why is Stephen Miller getting a pass from the media? He is the one behind the scene feeding Trump all this propaganda nonsense.
40
@PAB: Because the buck stops with the president?
1
Walls don't work! The consequences of the closedown are apparent and getting clearer each day. Trump is a bully, that's it. No Wall and No (more) Trump.
I would like to see the (any) 5.6 billion go for better education throughout the land. Sometimes, I wonder if our senses aren't bent out of shape and our priorities determined by short-range (percieved) gain. One example: it is easier to get money to put people in prison and keep them there than to get the money for higher teacher salaries and better schools.
Teaching children to get (tech) jobs is not the same as teaching them civics and history so they have some sense of origin and are then better equipped to understand and focus on building better futures for Americans and our fellow humans.
Arguing about steel or concrete walls is cosmetic but, worse than that, it is idiotic. Yet, it is a good sign that we're missing the logical question- do walls work? Trump is the highest example of baseness but we have to remember; he didn't get to the presidency without support. There exist some real cracks, crevasses, in our society that can't be ignored. It isn't just Trump!
16
Trump repeatedly said Mexico would pay for the wall: why does the New York Times often omit this key fact from articles like this one? I'd support many policies with marginal benefits for me if a foreign country was going to foot the bill.
27
If you were conspiracy minded, and willing to set aside Trump's profound psychological problems, you might start to believe that he is indeed a Manchurian candidate intent on destroying our country.
But maybe it's just, as so many have said before, "elect a clown, expect a circus."
25
@Working Mom
You are on the mark, a topic that was discussed in detail at my favorite watering hole last Friday. The Russians have worked on this for decades. I would not even be surprised if Melania was a Russian agent, planted in Trump's life to influence and report back to her handlers.
1
Trump had the clueless audacity to tell reporters yesterday that he could "relate" to what the 800,000 unpaid federal workers were going through. He, of course, is lying (it's like breathing to him!). He has no idea what it's like to depend on a modest paycheck for the necesssities of life. This lie was told with glib nonchalance. It's clear that he also has zero ability to empathize with real people. He doesn't even try.
Trump's holding the country hostage as part of a gigantic temper tantrum. Like a toddler holding his breath to get a piece of candy. He's beneath contempt.
52
A massive sickout would push the Republicans against the wall, either that or Trump ends up in Mexico by accident and then not allowed back in.
17
Glad I no longer live in the US and can witness this fiasco, no wait train wreck, from afar.
11
There is absolutely no way the Democrats will approve funding a wall. It would be a huge giveaway to Trump’s re-election campaign. The only conceivable way that they would agree to funding would be to get something massive in return, i.e., a path to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants, which exacts as much political capital from Trump that he would gain from the wall. The Democratic leaders in Congress must know this. And you would think someone on the Trump team would realize it too. Time to have “come to Jesus” talk with Trump and let him skulk away.
22
I actually think that there’s a simple and easy solution to this problem. As trump asserts that he is a multi billionaire, why not allow him to pick up the tab? Then the deal would only be between him and the Mexican government - as he has insisted time and again that Mexico would pay for this. Let the deal making begin!
48
@JB Hopefully that simple and easy solution will come fast, and his name is special counsel.
Did Trump even understand what would be shut down by his tantrum? Did any of his bottom of the barrel hires? Is this the long disastrous reach of the Federalist Society that gave us Gorsuch and Kavanaugh? The Federalist Society seems to want to eliminate government and replace our democracy and rule of law with their wealthy back office regime. McConnell understands and he did nothing nor did the other GOP Senators. Ultimately it is up to McConnell to turn on Trump. This situation will not do.
22
Every cabinet appointment was selected to neglect or destroy the agency they lead. This shut down is an accelerated effort to destroy the federal government with the complicity and capitulation of the entire Republican Party.
33
Trump has a history of stiffing workers and he is demonstrating it once more.
48
Issuing tax refunds is smart on Trumps part because not getting a tax refund is the only thing that his base and Mitch would actually mind.
12
An alternative has been suggested by Nancy Pelosi to solve this grave problem. I think she should initiate the steps immediately and start providing the required finance for the departments individually by passing the bills in the House of Representatives and then get it passed in the Senate as well.
It’s tragic that one person’s ego is hurting 800,000 employees , their families and in turn thousands of retailers as well.
9
McConnell has made the Senate an arm of the executive branch. Nothing will happen until he and his colleagues show signs of having a spine.
6
Maybe Trump won't be able to declare a national emergency over the wall but maybe he can declare a national emergency over the disruption happening to our citizens' well being due to his missteps. We've often heard Trump likes chaos. Good job.
5
Second biggest shutdown in history? Not good enough for trump: he aspires to be Number One.
12
The Democrats can take the high road here, and show up Trump. All that has to happen is a measly $5B needs to be approved by the Democrats for the 800,000 federal employees to get their paychecks.
How does that show Trump up? Sounds more like capitulating to the threats by a madman to me.
16
@Scott K getting real tired of regular, hard working taxpayers and obviously Trump Republicans, saying 5 Billion is measly.
1
I have a better idea: The Democrats should vote $20 billion for the wall! Trump would look miserly and uncaring in comparison. His base would lose interest in him and vote for Pelosi for president! She would win in a landslide!
Yeah, that would really show him. Sheesh.
1
I am very concerned for Trump's speech tonight. I am preparing to hear a call for a "state of emergency". He has backed himself into a corner and he is a frantic, dangerous animal. The walls around him are piping hot cause a fire is moving in. Mueller and the Dems are more a reality than ever.
Shutdowns, crisis and never ending stress for the American people is the perfect distraction.
17
So America now gets to see how trump manages the business of government. All those who thought he was a great business man, the greatest negotiator, now get to see how he ran three casinos into the ground and walked away saying HE made out great! The banks kept him on the payroll for a while trying to recoup some of their money, we don't need this self promoting clown any longer, fire this APPRENTICE!
14
Republicans hate government. Their primary political platform has always been less government. Government isn't the solution, it's the problem, they like to say.
Great. Super. Well they just shut down one quarter of government and the place is starting to unravel. Only one quarter, and the effects are rapidly being felt.
I hope these people that are not being paid take matters into their own hands and get jobs elsewhere. Who in their right mind would want to work for Trump? His instability becomes your personal hardship.
We have boatloads of scientists and technical specialists that work for the government. These people could make more money in the private sector. Maybe they should. Maybe our top scientists will move to Canada or Europe where they are respected and paid for their contribution. We'll just dig more coal instead.
I don't want people to suffer but unfortunately it's going to take some suffering of the people who voted for Trump to get them to realize what a danger he is. They are quickly finding out that they are primary beneficiaries of government. This is the same government that Trump has vowed to dismantle.
Taking things apart that function is really stupid, especially if you don't know how to put them back together. That's Trump.
I'll stop now because I have to go hide in my basement from the hordes of immigrants pouring across the border.
26
@Bruce Rozenblit, it's the entire GOP that's the danger. They served up Trump as their candidate and they didn't have to. But they did.
8
The trump shutdown...look at all the attention he is getting out of this fabricated fiasco.
Yet, it seems as though the trump supporters are still "all in" on this guy. The pain from the trump shutdown must not be great enough to open their eyes to the train wreck coming at them every day from the WH.
11
Trump has the audacity to state that many Americans believe in what he is doing. He had stated earlier that most of those effected by the shut-down were Democrats implying that it didn't matter as they were his political foes.
We can only hope that Bob Mueller will find the goods and we can say goodbye to this charlatan occupying the Oval Office.
18
“They are asking you to put your life on the line and not paying you — it’s ridiculous,” No, not absurd or farcical, the right term is "servitude." Trump's 'mind' denies federal workers are human. (Take a bullet for him???)
I wonder all federal employees don't walk off the job in support of their brothers and sisters? Those currently furloughed or forced to work without pay are today's toys. Next year it may be Social Security, CMS or the FBI.
Keep in mind government shutdowns are just a game for Republicans in Congress - like a toy - Republicans have come to pay with on a routine basis. When Republicans can't get what they want they throw a tantrum and shutdown the government. But, this time is a bit different.
This time the two mental giants having fun at federal workers' expense are Humpty Trump and Dumpty McConnell. What makes this time so different is Democrats are not negotiating with rational humans. Humpty Trump is playing Russian roulette with a gun pointed at federal workers - he's not only willing but thirsting to pull the trigger. Meanwhile Dumpty McConnell fears America will see he doesn't even care. He's hiding. He put his head in his shell and pretends the bills House Democrats send to reopen the government don't exist.
Humpty Trump and Dumpty McConnell live in a fantasy world. They think the shutdown of the government is wildly popular, like the wall, like Tinkerbell. Reality doesn't matter.
But people, the reality is you can't negotiate with psychopaths.
17
How the ego of one ignorant, arrogant, insecure, delusional man can mess up the economy and the lives of tens of millions of Americans just to get a vanity project every expert says won't even work.
And how the political desires of an amoral Senate Majority Leader who only cares about HIS party's power leads him to not give 2 hoots about the welfare of the nation.
This is an artificial calamity and 2 people and 2 people only are 100% responsible for it: Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell. They are together turning the USA into a 3rd World banana "republic" and until enough Republican Senators say "No!" it won't end.
Democratic leaders: Please stand firm: No Wall without DACA!
13
It should be no wall period. It’s a waste and even if you get DACA or tax reform to tax the 1% the wall is still a bad idea. Let him melt it all down. Walls are closing in on him.
6
I would like to point out that Trump has depicted those affected as people who "hang in there" and make it through these episodes with hardly a scratch. This is coming from a man who has ABSOLUTELY no idea what it is like to be someone who lives the way the average American does. Who Trump is is a landlord who would evict a tenant for sneezing at the wrong time (or for being the wrong color). This is a guy who has empathy for NO ONE. He is a guy who raises peoples' rent to pass along inflated costs to make profit and increase his tax deductions. In other words he is a slime ball landlord. Who wants everyone to believe they won't feel so much as a pinch from all this. I think it is time for Schiff and his colleagues to remind America who exactly they are dealing with here.
13
trump shut down the government. trump must re-open it, asap.
if he refuses, he must be removed asap.
if pence won't use article 25, then the house should impeach both trump and pence. the people will support.
9
Trump is not a King and we are not his
Subjects. This is tyranny by a foreign agent working to destroy our republic for the benefit of oligarchs and autocratic dictators
22
It seems the greatest threat to our national security now is not lack of a border wall, but this shutdown.
23
We need a National Tomato Day in which we gently gift rotten tomatoes to the people responsible for this, our friends and family members who put this disaster in office. It's not like we couldn't see all this coming. I propose Friday, January 11.
10
Do baby boomers need to teach those who came after to employ the tactics of the anti war demonstrators-they have (to borrow from the Doobie Brothers) take it too the streets. Demonstrate in front of the white house, put the suffering in the face of Trump et.al. The media loves this kind of "news", it makes great optics and can be milked for all its worth. Hunger strikes are another media attention method. The discomfort of government workers and their associated entities have to stop being passive and confront Trump and the Trumpsters with their suffering using the methods of past down trodden suffers.
10
Yes, that is what ended the War, stopped the Draft, exposed the dishonesty of the Nixon Administration. It didn’t end well for Nixon.
6
@Janet Alot of us are outraged. Alot of people would join a general strike and support the exploited federal workers. They are in a terrible position.
1
Trump is "winning" in his current job the same way he did in his previous jobs: stiffing employees and contractors, bankrupting businesses.
The shutdown is just an extreme example of how he's always done business. He's perfectly comfortable with it because he's oblivious to the rubble he leaves in his wake.
The hardships this causes? He couldn't care less. "They'll adjust" is the Trumpian equivalent of "let them eat cake."
29
I agree, this seems to be the way the President Ran his businesses in the past; however, it is OUR business, not his, this time around. I see many MAGA supporters who are fed up, so it will turn on him very quickly. Taking it to the streets is difficult, when folks in the federal jobs don't have income to pay for fuel to drive over the beltway and stand in the streets near Pennsylvania Ave.
thank you to NYT for keeping the strain message in front of the rest of our country, when some of us have to stop paying for a monthly subscription to things not deemed required to feed our families... such as this publication.
5
I will be very interested in seeing how his polling numbers shift in blue collar Republican states. West Virginia immediately comes to my mind, but there are numerous others.
4
Trump really got some bad advice from his media friends this time about a shutdown of the government. I would like to know who told him to get out of Syria. I have a feeling that it was Putin as he was the only one that said it was a good plan.
With these two blunders am I the only one that thinks Trump is unhinged. These are really two colossal unforced errors.
While I cannot recommend the language used by the new congresswomen from New York I do admire her. It is really refreshing to hear from someone say something from the heart about our President. I must say however that I would like to see him voted out rather than impeached. He will still face criminal actions once he is no longer president.
7
Blame the Democrats for this shutdown. They are the ones refusing to meet with President Trump and resolve this conflict. They do not want to compromise in any way and do not want a wall. They are more concerned with the wellbeing of illegal immigrants than American citizens. The Democrats need to come to the table and talk. They are the ones slowing this process.
1
None of this is true. No one is for open borders. Democrats have offered and continued to offer funding for border security, all of which has nothing to do closing the government. Don the Con, successful again.
12
He inflicts pain on Americans affected by the shutdown.
He cut off funding for nutritional assistance programs for woman, infants and children.
He cuts off funding for SNAP-food assistance program for 40 million people.
He poisons the youth of America with his incendiary rhetoric, bullying tactics, facial contortions and hand gestures.
He poisons our rivers and streams with his deregulation of toxic coal ash.
He poisons our air with his deregulation of emission controls.
He will give a speech tonight. The same type speech he gave on his very unsuccessful mid-term barnstorming tour to his rabid base which has diminished to about 35 percent of the country.
He will not get one second of my attention tonight....NOT ONE!
29
If only the networks, derided and scorned as "fake news" and "the enemy of the people" by Trump would deny him a prime time platform to utter his dispicable lies, then there would be some degree of sanity restored to society. Let Fox News air Trump's nonsense as it does daily and in a continuous feedback loop with him and his cult/base. Then again, the networks should give Nancy Pelosi an equal amount of time for rebuttal. She can play back a continuous airing of Trump's Dec. 11 Oval Office grandstanding in which he boasted that he would be proud to shut down the government. Just play it over and over for eight minutes...
14
Real Clear Politics is carrying a cartoon depicting Nancy Pelosi as Mary Poppins flying in with a satchel labeled “Nanny State”. This is what Limbaugh, et.al think of government. This is what Trump and his hard core supporters believe. Not A One of them understands, especially Trump, what the government does. Not a one of them believes that the privileges of being an American citizen are a direct result of the health of our sysem of government as it supports the collective business of the country. Trump has set out to undermine and dismantle our government at every turn, only seeking to learn what unitary executive powers might enhance his own control, while he is cheered on by the far right fringe that would see us all burn. This wall “crisis” is for me the last straw in that game. When people work they must be paid, not forced against their will to contribute their livelihood to a political stunt for the glorification of Trump. We cannot allow our government to be held hostage to this President any longer. Veto proof the vote and fund the government today.
19
I am very much afraid that Donald Trump is using all this self generated right wing hysteria to somehow attempt to install himself as America's first authoritarian leader. I fear he will use any tactic he deems necessary to achieve that goal. What's next, a fake assassination attempt? A military takeover of the border? A trumped up invasion to declare marshal law? Stay tuned tonight, truly anything is possible.
16
No matter your political affiliation, you have to feel for all those deprived of their paychecks. It is extremely stressful for the individual, their family, and their immediate circle of community. Holding government employees hostage for political gamesmanship is a sin and those responsible for this depravity have some serious explaining to do. Shame on Trump and his GOP lemmings.
14
@Bob Bascelli
Remember -- like all previous shutdowns, the government employees will be fully paid for the shutdown -- even those who did no work. So what pain do they suffer in the long run, really? Now all those contractors who work for the government will never get paid for the shutdown -- that's a crime.
@Aengus Lots of businesses depend on federal workers and are going to go bankrupt. Those businesses have staff and contractors also. It is past time for a general strike against an illegal executive branch and complicit senate.
5
@Aengus What pain do they suffer? How about the stress of figuring out how to feed your family in the meantime? How about the hits to your credit rating when you can't pay your bills on time? How about trying to figure out whether to pay for medicine you need or food for your family? Which do you buy when you don't have cash RIGHT NOW? Back pay doesn't help in those situations. And it's not ONLY the contractors (which is horrible in itself) What about the associated industries who depend on government workers and contractors being there? The restaurants/cafes near government facilities that depend on the lunch trade from those facilities? Gas station owners who don't sell gas when those workers can't afford to buy gas to drive anywhere? EVERYONE suffers.
4
No, he plans to use prime time to lie to the nation. Again.
14
I own a business that is directly connected with air travel. For the last week, sales at my business are down 15% year over year. This may not sound like much to some people, but this decline - which I believe is directly related to reduced air travel due to the shutdown - wipes out all of my operating profit and puts at jeopardy my ability to pay my business loan and personal expenses. Living in a "border state" my biggest problem right now is not people crossing the border, but is the person in the White House.
26
President Trump insists on building his beautiful wall that Mexico was supposed to pay for because he believes that it will please his base and ultraconservative pundits at Fox News, Breitbart, etc. The latter may be true but the former may prove to be a bad miscalculation. I don't think any Democrat or Independant will switch to Trump because of the wall thing. However, there could be a number of previous Trump voters and especially who are hit hard financially by the shut down who have second thoughts about him and turn away from him. I don't know whether that will be 5% or 10% or even more of those but in any case it seems like mathematically it's going to have a negative impact on the size of Trump's loyal base. Maybe, it's that type of the artful deal of Mr. Trump that ended in bankruptcy.
20
@W
I think you are (borrowing a linguistic howler from GWB, the second-least-presidential president in living memory) misunderestimating trump's base. They are the live-and-don't-learn crowd.
4
@RickyDick
Maybe I am wrong. But there is an article in today's NYT about the impact of the shutdown on a community in the Flroida Panhandleand at least one previous Trump voter is having second thoughts. As an aside, I would be careful to generalize too much as far as the Trump crowd is concerned. Yes, there are dogmatic and ideological conservatives who voted for Trump because they want to pursue a very right agenda. However, there were and are also many Americans who voted for Trump because they felt ignored or left behind by the "establishment" and elites.
1
Trump, McConnell and their cohorts are not simply out of touch with the vast majority of Americans, they really have no interest in the 'little people' except as a means to achieving the ends that benefit them and their friends and in Trump's case, his ego. Can you imagine any of them displaying Truman's sign, 'The Buck Stops Here,' on their desks?
Trump boasted about how proud he would be to take responsibility for shutting down government in a meeting with Democratic leaders broadcast to millions. Once the shutdown began, he disavowed all responsibility, pointing to those stubborn Democrats who wouldn't give him all that he wanted. His idea of negotiation is for the opposite side to fold and give him what he wants without him giving up anything.
Of course he lied, but here we are, a few weeks later, with the media dutifully reporting his lies and those of his enablers, without posting in the next line the reminder of his original public promise. Without continually reminding those following the news what the facts are about where security is more st needed and what is most effective.
Trump's narrative is successful because it is consistent and the contrary explanations are less cohesive in tone and target. The Times and other media outlets need to start getting back to giving us all the news that's fit to print - and remembering that includes printing that the President is not telling the truth when he lies yet again. That's news. Print it and do it well.
21
No senator. No Representative. And none of their staff. Neither should the President or any of his staff receive paychecks during the government shutdown. All of these so called “leaders” should feel the pain they are inflicting on everyday Americans who show up for work and deserve to be paid.
16
@Grady Moseley, No security details would hurt them more.
5
I am a furloughed federal employee -- one of the innocent bystanders Trump is holding hostage for political gain. This is hurting me financially and causing stress. That said, I urge the Democrats to not give in to Trump. We need our leaders to enact sound, evidence-based public policy, including immigration and border security. Do not reward Trump for his anti-immigrant fear mongering. Do Not Give In!!
1153
@Gloria According to NYS unemployment rules furloughed Federal employees should apply for unemployment insurance when they are first sent home as they may qualify for benefits, pass it on.
54
@Gloria
To Gloria, of NYC: Thank you for your courage, convictions, and speaking up for what is right. Thank you for not caving in and for not "selling out." Thank you for standing firm in your ethical standards. Thank you for being a good role model.
104
@Gloria Your fortitude during what must be an extremely stressful time is amazing. This is some (hopefully) short-term pain, but if the Dems can avoid caving to this insane idea of a wall, which now seems to hold deity-status in Cheeto's limited thinking, it will significantly change our course. Thank you for your comment. I hope your pain ends soon.
74
Trump has been busy disassembling the government since day one.First he attacked the CIA and FBI, then the immigration system and the Judiciary.He marginalized the military and its revered Generals.He started a trade war with China which has hurt farmers and small businesses.Now he has closed the government so no one is paid to work except essential workers.He has taken the government apart piece by piece and now we are left with a Democratic House and a Republican Senate who cannot function because McConnell will not bring anything to a vote that Trump will not sign.Trump is consolidating his power by declaring emergencies and insisting on TV time to " explain" them.He is taking autocratic powers-why is there not more activism and rage?
581
@Janet Michael this has been my concern as well. And I expect him to invoke emergency powers tonight. They'll piecemeal the shutdown to lessen the inconvenience and safety issues. So IRS, TSA, Secret Service, and Homeland Security will be back on the payroll. Only about 200,000-250,000 employees will be off, but most of those goods and services are off the radar. The shutdown for those agencies will go on for months. This is testing the waters for an existential fight, do we want a representative form of government or an autocracy?
60
The Senate essentially has become part of the executive branch, with Trump making all the decisions about its agenda and legislation. This is similar to many rubber-stamp legislatures that have existed throughout history. Senators might as well go home and only return to the Capitol when our Supreme Leader needs formal affirmation of his policies.
30
@Mountain Coyote Primarily because lifestyle addiction rules the minds of most Americans, who have no political consciousness whatsoever. Trump said to Howard Stern in an interview 20 years ago that he would only run on the Republican ticket because they are so dumb. (So are most Democrats!) Factor in the youth mindset is not political either. Most millennials I speak to are hellbent on getting filthy rich and retiring by 40. Little else affects them and many already have severe drinking problems. Trump has seized on their apathy as a "New Silent Majority" comprised of limousine liberals and mall-addicted suburban and rural Republicans. The wall is their Holy Grail! Excelsior!
12
I propose only the executive and legislative branches of government not get paid during government shutdowns. I think that would promote a speedy resolution.
28
The number 800,000 is so misleading. Most likely there are 2-4 times that number given those workers probably have family members impacted by the loss of income. Whenever those workers have no pay checks, they can't buy food or other essential items so store owners will be impacted as well. THe list is going to keep growing.
37
@BSR
Remember -- like all previous shutdowns, the government employees will be fully paid for the shutdown -- even those who did no work. So what pain do they suffer in the long run, really? Now all those contractors who work for the government will never get paid for the shutdown -- that's a crime.
@Aengus. But what about the immediate problem? There are mortgages/rents to be paid, food to buy right NOW. Not when they get their pay later.
1
The Emperor has no brain.
306
That was pretty obvious way before this current tire fire.
7
For decades Republicans have been arguing, "Government is not the solution, it's the problem," and time and time again have set out to prove it. They therefore found their ultimate leader in President Trump, who in a protection racket-like move has promised to keep major parts of the government closed indefinitely if he does not get his way. What we have today is simply how government works when it is run by people who do not believe in it.
106
Several commenters ask why the shutdown is occurring now when Mr. Trump had 2 years of full GOP control of the House and Senate.
Distraction.
The last thing he wants is the 4th estate to have time to crawl all over the work of Robert Mueller and the SDNY investigations.
He does not want to wall off our southern border. He wants to wall himself and his henchmen off from examination and consequence above all else.
131
@Douglas McNeill
"Several commenters ask why the shutdown is occurring now when Mr. Trump had 2 years of full GOP control of the House and Senate."
Because he would not take such extreme measures with his own party; they might take revenge and isolate him. He knows who his servants are.
He's only willing to blame it on Dems.
4
Simple, the Democrats should NOW get out those people who will challenge any Republican Senator or Representative out to present the Democratic POSITIVE case for what needs to be done to support the USA - no mention of the current "shutdown" need be mentioned. Then the Republicans will get the message. Maybe some of the current Senators will switch from Republican to Independent or Democrat and take over the Senate with a new leader and solve the many problems. I dream a lot, but it could happen. DJM
20
I live outside of Yosemite, but have friends outside of sequoia national park. Most of community is out of work, but still having to pay for things like mortgages and day care. Sequoia employees have these problems, in addition to an entire community that is based on tourism is shut down.
Not only are people who work in the tourism industry affected, but construction workers are out of work, because no businesses can afford to make repairs or improvements on their business with the uncertainty of a shutdown. This shutdown is affecting more than the 800,000 employees that are unpaid.
124
@Jo De
The government employees will get back pay once the shutdown ends -- but none of the non-government workers who rely on these parks will get back pay. How fair is that?
21
It is not just breweries! We own a winery in Indiana and have 2 labels that are in the hands of the TTB. One is for wine for an event in early March. Without approval, we are going to miss on a lucrative contract for our business. As I explained to my "representatives" during this shutdown and the last, these partial close downs are damaging to small businesses. The requirements don't go away, but we cannot complete them.
80
@Deb Sorry to hear about this. I hope you didn't vote for Trump.
112
@The Jeffersonian Or any GOP pol. After all, it was the Republican Party who served up Trump as "their man."
13
You should double your pressure on any GOP reps you have. They are as responsible for the Trump shutdown as Trump is.
8
For two years Trump couldn't get his border wall funds from the Republican controlled House and Senate.
270
maybe funding the wall, not a huge expense, is the best path for the nation rather than this suffering of shutdown
8
@Joe Yoh
Perhaps for you 5.4 billion $ is not a huge expense. Taxpayers should not be saddled with paying off a campaign promise that is not necessary, ineffective and insulting. If you support Mr. Trump ask him why Mexico is not paying for the Wall. The shutdown allows the nation to see who in Congress is actually listening to their constituents.
8
@Joe Yoh
Nope we offered five times the amount of money not long ago in exchange for DAca To be put on a path to citizenship and the right wing of the right wing turned it down. So,no
9
@Joe Yoh yes Trump should get the money from Mexico as promised. Or he could just sign off on what he agreed to several months ago.
5
It is perhaps the greatest achievement of a Leader to be able to get the attention of all his people, to interact.... to inform.... to make a rational case... to motivate. With hindsight we look back at great orators, great Statesmen and Women. Churchill, Gandhi, FDR, Obama, et al. I await Mr Trumps oratory with polite though large reservations. Surely he won’t disappoint? With that I’ll remove my tongue from my cheek.
39
@Alan Harvey Your time would be better spent watching the later facts check VS giving that pathological liar any tv time rating, the NYT has a lovely list of all of trump lies, please google it.
8
@Gianni
I think you need to re-read the last sentence of @Alan Harvey's comment... :)
1
Well it was always true that it's never just been Trump. It's the 40% that back him recklessly. So, hopefully, this will erode the support that has helped buttress the spineless members of the Republican Senate. All politics is local, and that's just what Trump has made this border wall fight. In shutting the purse strings of the nation, he's made himself the local 'fill in the blank' who costs people their livelihood. And put their families at risk. Now snow mobile payments, field trip deposits, car payments hospital bills and birthday parties that won't get paid are all on Trump.
78
I live next door to a retired cop in his 70s who I’m sure voted for Trump. Last night he was telling me how disgusted he is by this shutdown and that he’s changing his party affiliation (to independent, but still!). If this guy is blaming the president for the shutdown, I have to imagine Trump is losing the PR battle.
225
My TSA friend voted for Trump. Right now her family is in near meltdown mode.
She is trying to pay all essential bills, so her credit rating doesn't take a huge hit. Doesn't care now if all of South America swarms the border.
You don't care about a wall if the creditors are screaming, "Where's my money?". Then send a nasty gram to the credit reporting agency on what an awesome dead beat you are, through no flat of your own except working for the Fed.
15
@Rls Yes, while I had very high hopes for this presidency, I too have lost all faith in the current administration. It is ALL of Washington. Both sides. and the outright lies....SMH
2
@Rls My suburban Trump family members have bailed. They can't take the chaos. But they don't want to talk about it.
10
Words are important. This is not a government Shutdown. It is a government Strike. Once again the Republicans want money for one of their pet projects and to get the money the Republicans go on Strike and shut the government down. Why is this any differrent than a union closing down a company by calling a strike and forcing all employees to stop working. Why call it a shutdown. It is a government strike.
18
A strike is when workers strike. Government employees are not striking. Political leaders of the U.S. federal government have shutdown the government and either forced employees to work without pay or not allowed employees to work at all.
27
@Martin you have it wrong. It is a lock out not a strike. That's when a company refuses to let their employees work.
9
@Martin This is not a republican pet project, this is trump running scared, he run on the wall and when he gave up on the wall Fox News took trump on it and with out Fox support (trump personal propaganda channel) trump would sink really fast.
1
This is all about Trump once again posturing to his base supporters, but really all he wants is to leave a lingering legacy for posterity after the Trump presidency is relegated to the dustbins of history. Imagine the history books claiming, " That was the wall Trump built!" Please Democrats don't let him get away with it. The guy's ego knows no boundaries. He plays with peoples' livelihoods and lives just to feed the dumb, mobster image he has created about himself.
76
I I implore Pelosi and the Democrats to hang tough on this. Keep emphasizing that Trumps wall was supposed to be paid for by the Mexican government. Trump is on tape saying it. Show those tapes over and over again. Don't back down. If Trump says the tariffs will pay for it make him show the math. Now is the time to back him into a corner with no logical way out. The majority of the American people will support you. The midterms proved that. Trump is a con man and most con men run out of marks. Don't back down!
329
@Dan DeLeonardis
Keep the video viral to keep it fresh in the minds of Americans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEAH5RRNBoA
2
I'm sorry, but instead of re-instating tax refunds, the money should be used to pay government workers. Sure, most will get reimbursed when the shutdown ends, but that doesn't help day-to-day while the shutdown is on. And the most heinous rule of all is that Congress is still getting paid. If that money were cut off, you can be we'd see far fewer shutdowns. Hit 'em where it hurts and they'll negotiate to prevent it.
42
Critical, time-dependent permit issues and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management meetings affecting important offshore renewable energy development; agencies responsible for food safety; the Coast Guard; the TSA, and myriad other essential functions of government are being held hostage to this narcissistic, ignorant psychotoddler who can't think in terms complex enough to understand that his ego wall is not the solution to the USA's relatively minor immigration problems.
48
Putin must be delighted about what's happening in the U.S. right now. America-haters, democracy-haters, and full- on authoritarian regimes from Venezuela to Turkey must be so happy that America's decline can come in such a self-inflicted fashion. And all because of an unbalanced, ignorant, stubborn and ethically compromised man wants a costly and useless "wall" around the country he obviously does not love at all, but wants you to believe he does. His chief enabler, Mitch McConnell, will not even allow legislative efforts to halt this madness to be voted on by elected officials. I once read that power can only be fully tasted in it's abuse. That two men---and two men only---can wreak such havoc in the U.S. with such impunity, and not suffer any consequences, is proof positive that America has lost its collective mind.
206
@Lldemats
"Putin must be delighted about what's happening in the U.S. right now," you say.
I'll go you one better. "Putin must be delighted that Trump is following his orders right now." Think about it: Doesn't it make sense that the Russian leader would be the one behind Trump's shutdown? I'd be willing to bet he is likely behind every move our *president* makes.
We may not know the truth in our lifetimes, but history books will one day record that Trump was owned by Russia, from start to finish.
4
The Dems control the House. This should be the end of the discussion. No wall, no never.
40
The Senate and it's leadership are acting in similar fashion to the Roman Senate at the end of their Empire. Yes we have our own Nero. Shame on all of them.
47
Mitch McConnell owns this shutdown perhaps more than the president. He's done nothing at all to reign in a reckless president and is willing to sit by while millions of families and federal workers must do without simply to avoid confronting the president. The Senate is not the president's personal weapon and branch of government with which to abuse and punish his political adversaries.
McConnell was quick to deny Merrick Garland a hearing for a Court seat in 2016 but now seems disinterested in using his powers as Senate Majority Leader. He is merely the president's political tool and is guilty of a dereliction of duty.
453
Hah, imagine if the Secret Service walked off the job because they aren't getting paid. Think Trump would keep the government shut down?
Come on guys, take one for the team.
108
Don't forget -- like all previous government shutdowns, the workers now not being paid (and most not working) will get full back pay for the period of the shutdown. But the government contractors (which outnumber the government workers affected) get no back pay -- so that equals millions of workers who will get no relief. Yet the government workers will be paid -- for no work. Could corporate America survive on such a policy? Pay workers for weeks of no work? How is such a policy benefiting anyone? How much more $$$ will "the wall" cost when you factor in the cost of all of this back pay?
16
@Aengus absolutely The Federal government itself directly employs upwards of 2 million workers. Add in the contractors and subs such as Booz Allen, Deloitte, McKinsey et al and you have roughly another 2-3 million who depend on government contracts to feed their families. Just wait until layoffs at these companies start to ripple through the economy
4
@Aengus
This time around I am concerned that with the anti-government sentiment fomented by Trump and his lackeys the workers who were barred from performing services may not be paid. The workers who were mandated to work MUST by law be paid.
It’s disgraceful that the major networks are giving Trump a platform tonight to try and con the nation...again! I, for one, won’t be watching!
87
@Suellen Blackford
The Networks do not control what we watch in my house. Trump will only get his platform if we watch. If we don't watch he has achieved nothing. I would rather watch paint dry than Trump at the best of times.
47
I hope that those who voted Trump now realize that he couldn’t care less about their circumstances.
109
@Jill O.
No hope. They don't get it.
If the only the Americans feeling the economic pain of the Trumpdown were Trump supporters then they would be getting exactly what they deserve.
If the only Americans feeling the economic Trumpdown were the employees and shareholders of the the Trump Organization they would also be getting exactly what they deserve.
Why is the whitestream media carrying Trump's White House partisan political address tonight when they refused to carry Barack Obama's White House immigration reform address in 2014 on the grounds that it was too partisan?
118
@Blackmamba Tnx I forgot that. I was hoping that networks would refuse this ploy, knowing that treating this as a national emergency when it is a self created one that he could end in a moment, and another piece of partisan buffoonery aimed at his "base."
14
A suggestion for the networks broadcasting the president’s speech tonight:
During the speech, have real time fact checking in the scrolling chyron at the bottom of the screen.
They earn extra credit if they add a “dishonesty” counter as well.
100
@Tom Love your suggestions and would like to add one more: how about fact checkers banging a gong with every lie he utters? Of course, that would put the nation's hearing at risk, but that's better than allowing Trump to continue putting the nation itself at risk.
10
First of all, shouldn’t he be shutting down Mexico’s government over this? But no. And tax refunds will get processed? What next, a shutdown only in the blue states?
27
@Peter If 45 could figure out a way to make the shutdown only occur in the blue states, he'd definitely do it!