I say it's cheating to shut down the government and then decide to call back government civilian workers (to work with out pay) because gosh they actually preform vital services for the American people.
No pay, then no service. If Americans want their government open and running then they need to call congress and say fund the government and get it open.
Shutting down the government is enormously wasteful and disruptive. The silver lining to all this may be that people wake up to the fact that the federal government actually does do a lot for the American people.
Federal employees are required to get prior approval before taking a second job while a federal employee. This is to avoid conflicts of interest. I wonder if federal employee can even officially quit while on furlough since there is no one in HR to accept their resignation.
What a mess! An unnecessary wastefull mess.
10
if you call the white house comment line you get a recording that it is not operating due to the shutdown. the standard "feeling the temperatute" of the nation does not exist. our president is in a blissful state of ignorance.
8
If Tom Clancy had written a novel whose premise was that the KGB installed a puppet president in the US in order to shut down the US government and destroy NATO, we’d have called it way too far fetched for the writer of “Hunt for Red October”.
10
It is not and can never be considered a negotiation when one side says the government will stay in shutdown, with citizens being made to work for free, until and only until he gets $5.7 billion to build a wall.
Trump was ready to sign a bill until he was bullied by Rush Lindbaugh and his ilk into a stance that makes no sense based on what he and his followers have repeatedly said, that Mexico would pay for any wall. The cost of which, by the way, has not been completely ascertained. So, we could be in this same situation a year from now with Trump holding the citizens of this nation hostage to a demand that he himself was prepared to compromise on, $1.3 billion provided for border security.
Mitch McConnell, whose first exhortation in regard to the 44th president was to make him a one term president has yet again set the bar for obstruction. He disregards the fact that his job is service to all citizens, not just those who agree with him.
Finally and perhaps most ridiculous of all, is that those who would claim they want government out of the lives of citizens are supporting a man who has said eminent domain would be used by this administration to take property from citizens to build a concrete wall, something Trump himself said should never stop anyone.
" If there’s a concrete wall in front of you, go through it, go over it, go around it, but get to the other side of that wall.” Donald Trump 2004
10
This is as much or more McConnell than Trump. It could be ended right now. But proving political bravado and the ability to exert the facade of power is more important than doing the right thing.
7
This shutdown is really not fair to federal employees.. And, for the sake of argument, I think the President must come clean on his utterly ludicrous declaration that "Mexico will pay for the wall", an issue Republicans have somehow forgotten... However, in fair play, both Democrats and Republicans spent decades kicking the immigration-can down the road.. Democrats, unquestionably controlled legislation in the beginning years of Obama's administration and could have made meaningful advancements in immigration policy but chose the failed course of deportation.. Thus, I think its only fair we give the President support in trying something drastically different.. Will it work, I'm doubtful; is it worth a try; yes; after he comes clean on the Mexico will pay nonsense..
2
I suggested that government employees return to work - without pay for the time being - to show their love of OUR government and country. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and OUR democratic U.S. House will make sure they get back pay as soon as we get rid of The Con Don, Minister Pence and Traitor Mitch McConnell. She will be OUR President.
Now The Con Don is "calling them back without pay" to try to get himself off the hot seat.
There is a way to show our contempt for him and everything he stands for. The third annual "Women's March" is scheduled for this Saturday, January 19, in cities and towns across OUR United States of America and the world.
The link with information is below. Scroll down on the page to the "sister marches" to find a march near you. The media has not promoted the march - again - but it's one of the most important ways to show our contempt for The Con Don, his shutdown of OUR government and his corruption. All people may participate - it's not for women only. Every government employee, every educator and every military person - and their family members - should join the march to say NO. No more shutdown.
Please, Good People, help get the word out and let's march in numbers never seen before. Take a sign that supports your main concern. Let's show the world what really makes America great. WE THE PEOPLE.
NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL GOOD PEOPLE TO STAND UP FOR OUR COUNTRY.
https://actionnetwork.org/events/womensmarch2019
10
“And MEXICO is going to pay for it!”
11
Mitch McConnell needs a review course on civic responsibility; then, he needs to revisit the ath of Office, and study the phrase “to protect and defend the Constitution and its citizens against all enemies, foreign and domestic...” to insure he understands his responsibilities of governance. He should know that his inaction of dealing with the Democrats on the shutdown is placing this country in Great peril; the irony of this is that he is getting paid his salary to keep federal workers from getting their pay checks; that is not governing- that is thievery!
19
"Summoned" ?
7
Mr. Trump has always treated workers and contractors at his properties like chattel (his doorman won a suit for back pay, a cabinet marker in Atlantic City wasn't paid, he hires undocumented workers at his clubs). Now he's treating our government workers the same.
For all those who voted for Mr. Trump -- like soybean producers, coal miners -- he will dismiss you too. It is all about Trump, no one else.
22
Trump is willing to drag the shutdown on for "months or even years" but expects people to work without pay?
Federal workers should collectively stop working, full stop, until their checks are in the mail.
17
@Dave Martorana
I completely agree. No Pay then No Service.
Everyone should feel the pain of the shutdown. It's about time American citizens learn what federal employees actually do for them. Why should they do their jobs for free.
While civilian workers will most likely get their back pay (they always have so far). Contractors working for the government....they will get nada. They can't bill for work not done and they need their government counterparts to continue working.
In the mean time all of the mom and pop restaurants and stores that these workers would normally patronize...well many may go out of business. No one will compensate them for lost earnings.
How is this president for the little guy??????
6
I think the reporting of this story is party of the problem (with all due respect to the N.Y.T.'s)
In an effort to be fair and balanced somehow the story doesn't address the fundamental ludicrous nature of this conflict.
1. Trump reneged on an agreement he made with his own party.
2. The Republican controlled senate could at any time choose to re-vote on the short-term spending bill and potentially override a Trump veto.
3. Trump said in public that he would be proud to own this shutdown.
It seems to me the above three points are really the heart of the matter here. Trying to suggest that the Democrats should be responsible for negotiating under these circumstances borders on the absurd.
29
Sarah Huckabee Sanders: “It’s time for the Democrats to come to the table and make a deal.”
Translation: "It's time for the Democrats to legitimize our disastrous and ill-willed mistake, by sitting down with us so we can propose an imbalanced 'compromise'".
20
For all the people who voted for an ignorant administration that literally rules by bullying and having more money than anyone (which is the way Trump has done business for years), for all of those who chant "no more big government, I don't want government running my life"- here is your answer. Wait until there is another hurricane, flood, super storm or earthquake. And you will be the first crying for help that will never come. It will be of your making.
18
At the end of the day, should that ever come, millions of Americans are impacted by the obstinance of Trump and his Republican enablers in the Senate. This obstinance is paralleled by the Trump trade tariffs, where the same type of bullying behavior is also impacting millions of Americans. The impacts go beyond people going without paychecks, as anyone trying to do business with shut down Federal agencies or anyone with a shrinking portfolio can attest. It is time for the American people to rise up as one and protest this insanity.
10
Of course this President can "relate" to not being paid. His own daughter and son in-law have been working in the WH without pay for over two years now. Moreover, Ivanka has had to shutdown her apparel line...
This impasse is a terrific failure of the Presidency and a disgrace to the American federal workers who have worked so hard just to make ends meet. Kevin Hassett has no place in government. https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/16/politics/kevin-hassett-shutdown-economic-growth/index.html
5
It bears repeating and reporting that the $5.7 Billion is NOT the complete cost of Trump's proposed wall.
15
If at least 290 representatives and 67 senators vote Yes on a bill to reopen the government, with or without the Beautiful Wall, then the president's willingness or lack thereof to sign that bill does. Not. Matter.
Oh, that's right, senators would have to actually be able to vote on the bill to see if this would happen.
The fact that this story continues to be framed in the national media as "if only the Democrats and the president could find a way to agree" just amazes me.
Especially when the real story is the fact that the very mechanism put in place in the Constitution to deal with this sort of thing is, very conspicuously, not being applied, due to deliberate inaction by a single senator.
43
@C. Austin Hogan
A+. It's absurd that the House bills are not coming before the Senate.
6
I've got news for Trump: You're looking foolish right now!
10
Why does this article say, over and over, that the Democrats refuse to negotiate??
It is the PRESIDENT who will not budge even a molecule, over his demand for 5.7 BILLION for his stupid wall. The President is the one who refuses to negotiate, abetted by Mitch McConnell, who refuses to even talk about a way out of this. The Democrats have tried several different compromise proposals and the Republicans and the President offer nothing but pointing fingers.
Stop falsely accusing the Democrats!
20
@Madeline - TY. Completely agree. In an effort to be fair and balanced the NYT's creates a false impression that Dems have any fault at all.
12
When my husband went to work for the Department of Justice, I expressed concern about the integrity of this administration. We believe deeply in the importance of public service, and he told me that regardless of who is in office, it is essential to have people in the federal system who will stand up for what is right to protect the citizens of this country. He has worked every day of this shutdown with countless other Justice employees to uphold the laws of this country, and we are among the millions (it is so far beyond 800,000 at this point) suffering financially.
Yet I cannot stomach the idea of giving in to Trump--who is essentially a hostage-taker; a man holding our livelihoods hostage because he is not getting his way. At this point, I believe it is my civic duty (though I don't remember agreeing to this) to make ends meet until that man backs down from his demands. If he gets his way, it is clear we have absolutely nothing to stop this from happening again. Because make no mistake, not everyone has lost a paycheck, but we are all being held hostage, and ultimately the fate of our nation is at stake.
29
Good point. Well said... I must ask, "not everyone has lost a paycheck", did that include the President?
3
@Kdloan
Trump apparently donates his salary or returns it to Treasury, our taxes do fund that big white house where he doesn't pay a mortgage or any other bills.
2
Here's how to get the government back to full working status - the House and the Senate pass separate bills that fully fund the agencies currently on furlough, absent the cash Trump wants for the wall but with funding for "border security" which both parties agree is necessary. Having done that, the conference committee works out the differences and sends the revised bill back to both houses for approval. The final appropriation bill is presented to Trump, who vetoes it, as he has promised. The Congress then votes to over-ride the veto, the bill is enacted and everyone goes back to work. The U.S. stops looking like a third world country, at least for a while, and Trump and his opponents can squabble about the wall without making a mess out of the country.
Of course it will never happen since Senate Majority Leader McConnell has promised not to allow any legislation to be presented to the Senate that Trump will not sign if passed. He has abdicated his responsibility as an officer of an independent branch of government and instead serves to meet the needs of the president. But we all knew that anyway.
24
It is shameful that the American worker has such low self esteem that we are willing to work without pay for a president who has absolutely no regard for our welfare or our country.
TSA, air traffic control, border security and every worker not getting paid should walk off the job immediately. When Trump & Mitch McConnell have the "gall" to simply ignore Dem overtures, they have proven unworthy & disrespectful of the American worker.
We, the American worker, need to retake control of our gov. We need to stop listening to liars, end Citizen's United, address Climate Change, income inequality, and institute health care for all US citizens.
We will never achieve these goals if we are willing to work as slaves.
66
@R DeSoto
So blame the victims? Are you really suggesting that any responsible adult with others to support should quit their job, with no other immediate income alternatives, and tell their family to eat self esteem for dinner?
It is a terrible situation for so many US workers and for all of US. But let's just keep the blame where it belongs--with Trump, McConnell, the Republican Party, and most of all, the 40% or so of US who still support Trump think the shutdown is just fine.
7
It is not a matter of self esteem. It is actually illegal for them to walk off the job. Air Traffic Controllers did that when Reagan was president and they were all fired. I agree that this president has no regard for the welfare of our country, but government workers going on strike is not a viable way to end this shutdown.
4
Trump & McConnell take the servant part of "public servant" literally (except, obviously, when it comes to themselves).
I hope federal airport employees realize the substantial power they have if they're willing to organize & refuse to work without pay.
& it doesn't even need to be nationwide. Walk outs at just one or combination of a handful of airports--LAX, ORD, ATL, the 3 NYC airports &/or MEM (FedEx HQ)--would bring this country to a standstill.
15
The question is who is benefiting from this. The answer involves following the money. Not necessarily the money that is not being spent, rather, the company's, business people, and international players who's actions aren't being reported/tracked. So again, an old movie line "...follow the money..." seems to be the advice of the day. When is the "fake news" media going to get to work on it?
2
And what happens when the unpaid employees have no money to pay for the gasoline in their car to drive to work?
10
Feds should pledge to donate a dollar a day each to a PAC to defeat McConnell for each day of the shut down.
(Then, in the spirit of Trump, not pay up.)
6
Stiffing contractors and people who work for you is standard operation procedure for Trump. Why let becoming President of the United States change that M.O.!
I hope the House asks Cohen about Trump's business ethics when he testifies. That might wake his "base" up.
15
How do they afford gas to drive to a job that doesn't pay? Not to mention, food, house payment, car insurance, car loan, etc. If they can't do it, then what? They get fired? That's crazy. This whole thing is crazy, another manifestation of the failure of Trump and his posse to honor the social contract and rule of law.
25
That's what it comes down to: mr trump's chest-beating and bellowing. Nothing more.
10
Here is a deal; Trump gets his wall and resigns without any conditions of amnesty or pardon.
12
@Cdb
I’d settle for him simply agreeing to stay on the other side of his wall.
7
Trump really doesn’t want a shutdown, see. He just wants to save money!
3
@John Brews ..✅✅
There is no money being saved, only lost. Congress has already passed a bill that guarantees back pay when gov. reopens.
On the other hand, millions are being lost in the overall economy. The estimate of how much just doubled.
1
Maybe it’s just me but if I wasn’t getting paid I probably wouldn’t answer the phone or read the email. Call me old fashioned but I was taught an honest days pay for and honest days work
20
trump will not consider budging on a compromise because:
"the president has repeatedly ruled out doing so, and privately told Democrats this month that such a move would make him look foolish."
Um, someone tell president mayhem that he passed looking foolish a long time ago so not to worry.
But dining lavishly on steak and potatoes while federal workers can't buy groceries makes you look a whole lot worse than foolish. The word can't be printed here.
26
Can workers refuse to return. If it was me, I'd use sick leave.
3
Just one question for all the supporters of the wall?
Why didn't the GOP get this done in the past two years when they had all the power? For two years they controlled all three houses, no wall funding. Why? They didn't want it either, they waited until the break before Dems took over and then blamed the Dems. How dim is his base? Never mind....
30
It is so sad to see our country unraveling before our eyes.
The 100 people who can stop the stupidity of a government shutdown tomorrow - our US Senators - must get together and stop this nonsense. Put through a veto-proof budget bill to re-open the government and back down the executive.
The Senate works for us and we the people, not the executive, are their bosses. I am writing my two Senators today and hope everyone else does the same.
12
To trump it's just a game. He already looks foolish to everyone but his cult followers and the republicans in congress who are terrified of him.
Forcing people to work without pay is an admission that they are doing the wrong things. It's time for McConnell for one time in his life to put the country first. They can force the government open without trump's assistance. It's time to let the baby king play with his toys somewhere he can't destroy people's lives.
8
This is so unbelievable to me. Trump often reminds me of an evil King who eats well and then throws out rotten food to the people. When will this madness end?
6
Trump still has time do the honorable thing and announce that furloughed government workers will be “served McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger Kings with some pizza,”
7
"tens of thousands of federal employees back to work without pay"
This cannot be legal.
Slavery was outlawed quite some time ago.
16
@CarlFig:
In Trump's mind slavery has never ended.
3
This makes no sense! Transportation isn't free. Trains, buses, gas all cost money. If I'm not making any, how the heck do I afford the commute?!
12
The irony of the situation is that the US is now more vulnerable, and less secure because of the shutdown. Dear Lord! Women and children, looking for a better life invading our southern border! Trump does not understand what it means to be an American.
16
It costs money to go to work, transportation or commuter costs, gas, dry cleaning uniforms, lunches etc...
Why did they (Republicans) wait until two years into Trumps Presidency (after the Democrats won the House) to make an issue of the wall funding even though they could have easily funded it with a majority in all legislative branches?
Well....we all know the answer to that...
Make no mistake this not just Trumps doing. Shutdowns have always been a Republican strategy when they are not in power, and even now that they are in power...it seems to work for their anti-US government faction.
The People have become pawns in this craven quest for power and dominance politically and culturally.
Shame on them all. But you can’t shame the shameless.
28
2020 furloughed fed workers and contract employees- cast your votes to unseat trump, McConnell, McCarthy and the rest of the Reps.
This may sound like heresy but whoever the Dems nominate has to be better than what we have now.
10
@Dorothy
You just figured that out?
Who in their right mind would work for no pay because Trump tells them too? Its time for all unpaid federal government workers to go on strike.
16
@allan slipher remember when reagan fired the ATC for going on strike?
2
Trump once said that he could shoot someone on main street and his supporters would still vote for him. That is both an exaggeration and a lie. The real question is, how long will it take for his supporters, who work for the federal government or a contractor, to stop supporting him? Only then will we be able to open our government. That is unless McConnell all of a sudden has the guts to do what is right and allow a senate vote. It appears that real pain is required of both the guilty and the innocent before justice can be done. So we keep our eyes on the polls for Trump until they take a major dip. But if Trump supporters are willing to lose their homes, their credit and their cars, perhaps things are really hopeless.
10
“In a closed-door meeting of House Democratic leaders on Monday, Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Hoyer said they had no problem with the idea of rank-and-file Democrats meeting with Mr. Trump. Ms. Pelosi said such a session would give lawmakers a sense of “what we’ve been dealing with” in a series of tense meetings with the president in the Situation Room since the shutdown began. “They’ll want to make a citizen’s arrest,” she added at one point, . . . . “
I love this woman. In a few words, she captured the whole picture. No bombast, just shrewd intelligence.
30
I think it may be time for a national strike in solidarity with federal workers and perhaps the House could cut funding for this Administration, Senators, the House and the Supreme Court because if some federal workers have to work without pay, the big guys and gals should too, until the shutdown is over.
10
The shutdown will end when the low occupancy rate in Trump Hotel DC causes deeply discounted room rates
5
Uhm, here's an idea Dems -- how about playing a little offense as well as defense? After all, Dems just took back the House by campaigning on the damage done by Trump/Republicans to the ACA over the past 2 years, and yet all we've been talking about for the last month is Trump’s wall...
How about inserting $10 or $20 billion into the House bill to reverse the damage done by Trump and the Republicans to the ACA over the past 2 years? And make the issue as “non-negotiable” as Trump’s wall. After all, that was the issue that Dems ran on and won big in the Nov. 2018 midterms.
Elections should have consequences, but you would never know that the way Dems are letting Trump run riot and define the debate. Dems need to step up and use the tools they now have to take the fight to Trump and the Republicans on behalf of their constituents.
10
@Dan88 they can add stuff to the bill but if the senate doesn't vote and the president would just veto, what's the point?
@David Konerding The point is to take the initiative on the issues they campaigned on and were voted back into the majority in the House. So that when they are "negotiating" with Trump, one of the issues they are bargaining over is their issue, not just Trump's wall. And to build a record for November 2020.
2
@David Konerding
Even if the Senate grew a pair and brought a bipartisan spending bill to a vote, and it passed, and trump vetoed it, it would be up to the Republican held Senate to override the veto. They and the non-Republicans would probably have the votes to do so, but really it depends on McConnell.
"Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, have refused to negotiate over border security until the government reopens."
That is a lie and you know it. Trump has rejected every attempt at compromise.
41
Trump kept his promise to run government like he runs his businesses. Bankrupt them, shut them down, don't pay the workers. Sad.
48
I hope the workers refuse and go on strike.
14
Wait a sec. I'm reading Congress passed a bill that the workers will receive back pay when the shut down ends.
Seems misleading to say they're being forced to work without pay.
Without pay for now but they will be paid for their work. Isn't that accurate?
Technically Trump has not signed the bill yet, so no. But even so, no other company would be allowed to force their employees to work without pay. That is the definition of slavery.
Just quit then? Or find another job? Not that easy. The process to leave government employment is long and cumbersome. Not to mention the HR people are not there to process. And some positions have conflicts of interest that limit the ability to work in other positions.
11
@Kim C O, come on. The workers are going to be paid. And no one suggests they "quit."
Slaves? Really?
Trump wants the political leverage of a shutdown but wants federal workers to pay for it. He doesn’t have one iota of courage n the face of his own miserable convictions. Shame on him.
25
Trump is worried about looking foolish. In other words his vanity is why government remains shutdown.
Why in the world would dems bother to show up and negotiate with anyone who makes it clear that there is no room for negotiation? No room for an in-between, for compromise.
The vast majority of Americans recognize a need for improved border security measures but they don't see a nonstop wall as the answer. Nor do they consider Trumps gut as the ultimate word on the matter.
Trump and the Republican Party will be the big losers on this one before all is said and done. People whose vanity is so thick that they can't tolerate losing should not make promises and tell lies about policy they cant create.
Trump foolishly created his conundrum, let him soak in it. He and the right deserve the after affects.
30
Two facts are immediately obvious from this shut-down. First, Donald Trump is totally incompetent and unsuited to be President. Second, the Trump Party (formerly the GOP) is completely unable to govern. Both Trump and the feckless members of his party should be removed from office. Remove Trump through impeachment or the 25th amendment. Remove the Trump Party enablers through recall or in the next election cycle. Enough of shooting ourselves in the foot; there is work to do and we need competent people doing it.
31
All essential federal employees who have been called into to work should not go to work! There needs to be a total walkout of federal employees not getting paid. The more that go back to work, the more that our society feels no real impact, then the longer this shutdown will go. For my science-based agency on shutdown we'd be the last to go back to work because this administration does not believe in science. Please, let's band together and not work unless we have a budget and can get paid. We need to act now! Just a couple of days of sick leave:)
17
My two cents:
1) The shutdown is intended as a distraction from the Trump-Russia investigation, which is working.
2) Every article on this topic should highlight the fact that Congress can end the shutdown on it's own, by overriding Trump's veto, thus the real villain here is McConnell.
55
For decades, Republicans have very publicly said we need to shrink the size of government.
This shutdown, started by Trump refusing the sign the bipartisan deal forged by the previous Congress, and refusing to sign the exact same legislation passed in the House by Speaker Pelosi, is doing what decades of Democratic pleading could not: show many people how government affects their lives in the background, and how a lack of it could hurt them.
Democrats have offered to fund individual departments so they can reopen; Republicans have refused.
Trump said this shutdown was his responsibility. He refuses to consider anything less than total capitulation by Democrats to be a suitable compromise, showcasing his lack of actual bargaining skills.
We need better governance. Democrats have been abiding by their deals. Republicans have not. I know who I trust with my government.
21
Don't show up. No pay, no work.
21
@kz
Good thought, but see my post below.
1
@kz Or work and get paid for it when shut down ends. I'd prefer that to not working and not getting paid later.
@Mike D nyc Be sure to tell your boss that you are willing to work and be paid say once a year.
2
Every headline provokes a new ulcer for the American people. Trump created a problem where there wasn't one, pretends like he did not create it and is now trying to back out unscathed. His shifting responsibility and accountability onto everyone else but himself shows him to be the coward that he is. Same goes for Mitch McConnell, perhaps even more so because he is FULLY aware of the idiocy of this "commander in chief." The repercussions of this shutdown will be felt for a long time. In the short time, I really do feel for the unpaid workers. I live paycheck to paycheck as is so cannot imagine having to wait for who knows how long to get back pay. This isn't a vacation for them, it is a nightmare and shame on the Congressional Republicans for allowing this travesty to continue.
29
So after Trump froze federal workers pay & undermined their agencies, he now expects that they will feel that it's their duty to work without pay?
27
This makes me so upset. Trump can't have it both ways. And furloughed workers called back to work, unpaid, lose unemployment benefts, putting them and their families in further jeapoardy.
I'm guessing that Trump will keep this up until the econmy tanks, and then blame someone else for the problem. He's trying really hard to be the worst president ever.
19
@Eric
I don't know that he's "trying" to be the worst president as much as he's watching out for himself (needing approval from his base will be overshadowed by never appearing to back down), and doesn't care about anything else. As his dementia gets worse and he feels cornered, his "misery loves company" will take over and he won't care about the economy or stock market. And if Republicans (esp McConnell) aren't willing to side with a majority about this shutdown, I don't think they'll be willing to 25A Trump when his mind is completely gone - it's all about getting votes from Trump's rabid right supporters (20%-30% of voters).
Someone said this is the difference between being selfish and self-centered. Selfish people want more for themselves.. a self-centered person doesn't consider anyone else even exists.
7
@Eric
That may be the only award he’s legitimately won.
2
Stop whining!
Politically, Trump is behaving rationally, and Coulter and Limbaugh have their fingers on the pulse of Trump supporters.
Quinnipiac says 86% of Republicans think there's a "security crisis" at the border; 88% of Republicans want a wall; and 2/3 of Republicans "support shutting down the government for border wall funding."
The New Hampshire primary is less than thirteen months away, and next door Massachusetts' favorite son is starting to breathe heavily.
If you were Trump, what would you do?
1
@ellen1910 - My job, which is "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." - Self promotion is not mentioned there. And Trump doesn't just works for Republicans, he works for all Americans.
23
@ellen1910
Call Putin and ask for advice? May be Repubs should get on the train called reality, and may be worry about air quality, water quality, habitat protection, a different approach to agriculture - and investing in clean energy and non-fossil fuel cars, use vegetable-based plastics, and stop eating so much meat, especially toxic meat from tortured pigs and caged poultry. You'd think their own health might be of a concern to them, especially their immune systems, their sugar levels and their exposures to pesticides, exocrine hormones (via the meat and pesticides), sulfur particulates, and carbon monoxide and heavy metals, all of the latter leading to neurodegenerative diseases and very expensive in terms of care and human personal costs.
11
Why didn’t they fund it when they had the chance ? Elections have consequences.
1
The Problem Solvers Caucus should:
1)negotiate with Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Russ Limbaugh, Carlson Tucker and the crew of FOX and Friends;
2)when the deal is done with them, present the deal to the President for his approval.
After all the real advisers of this administration are FOX News and the pundits of the right.
16
It's illegal to require someone to work without pay. Perhaps a government-wide strike would move things along.
23
The Democrats will not capitulate to political terrorism. Whatever Trump's specific demands are, they are irrelevant. You can not allow a president*, especially one with such obvious authoritarian tendencies, to set a precedent of harming the nation in order to extract their demands.
20
Wow! Thank the evangelical god of Jerry Fallwell, Jr., et. al. that oil and gas leases will continue to be sold. We wouldn't want Big Oil to suffer or for there to be any relief from the devastation of climate change. And, I won't use the "S" word because the reality of that travesty is too heinous. But, isn't being forced to work without pay at the very least indentured servitude? The callous inhumanity to man practiced by Trump, McConnell, and Republicans is legion.
22
The country is realizing what NYers have known for years: Trump wants the work done but doesn't want to pay for it.
28
Time for a NATIONAL STRIKE. I won't work not knowing when I will get paid, why should anyone?
The trumpettes want disruption -- time to give it to them. That will end ttrumps shutdown in hours.
13
So Trump is living off the back of unpaid workers, something he is extensively familiar with from his numerous bankruptcies. But forcing an increasing amount of government workers to work without pay for an indefinite period so that Trump can ease the political pressure on him from his "shutdown" adds an element of cruelty and indifference to the plight of working people that defines Trump's twisted mind and values. The GOP Senate should end this "shutdown" farce immediately by requiring that government workers forced to work during the "shutdown"at least get paid.
45
I have an idea about how we can end this indentured servitude and government shutdown. If the wall is so important to Trump, the crisis so grave, let’s trade him the $5.7 billion for his border wall for his notarized letter of resignation. THAT I would pay money for. Win-win.
I would also, of course, pay federal workers to get back to doing the work of the people.
12
Any "exempt"Federal employee who is ordered to report for duty must do so or be found AWOL. The benefit to the employee is that they are guaranteed to be paid for services rendered. The problem for most employees is - what do they do in the meantime for current and ongoing financial needs. Trust me- Trump does not care.
Unlike prior shutdowns when "non-exempt" employees were made whole, I fear that it might not happen this time around. Forget what was approved by Congress- he'll try to welsh on the deal.
I've said this before- when this is all over, any Federal employee worth his/her salt will leave the service, and those old enough to do so will retire. Then the services that really are essential, as well as those that are merely important, will no longer be completed with a proper degree of accuracy and integrity. We will then be reduced to the status of a third-world backwater.
19
Federal workers being obliged to work without pay, an interesting form of malicious governance, is an evident violation of the 13th Amendment. The 13th bans not only slavery, but also involuntary servitude (except for felons). I do not know what else to call enforced work without a guarantee of pay enforced by potential demerits or loss of a career for refusal to comply. These workers agreed to take the job in return for stated compensation. This is "theft of services", a.k.a. involuntary servitude.
Note that Congress did pass the funding measures, which Trump refused to sign. The decisions to not pay and require work since are his responsibility.
23
Democrats are right. There are too many photo ops already. All Trump has to do is open the government first with employees getting their regular pay. After that, he can put on his pony show.
17
Rather than refuse to bring bipartisan bills to Trump, McConnell should be bringing a bill a day to him. He should be working as hard as he can to end the shutdown instead of sitting back and watching millions of Americans suffer.
Of course, he's getting his check as is his wife who sits in Trump's cabinet.
24
How long can some of these workers go without pay? I know in my own case, I would be looking for other work about now, and I assume many federal workers will have to do the same. At least they will know that in a civilian job they will have the law on their side and be protected from exploitative employers like Trump.
9
America does need to invest 5.6 billion in a wall, although not a border wall but rather a FIRE WALL! The greatest threat to the United States at the moment is not border security, it's cyber security, as evidenced in the last election. If President Trump makes it to 2020, the threat of meddling in that election has increased significantly and I imagine the Democrats would unanimously approve of the spending for that kind of wall.
Having said that, my heart goes out to all of the innocent federal employees who are being victimized and used as pawns by this administration, they own this immoral shutdown and the rest of the world knows it. I was heartened to learn that some of my fellow Canadians in aviation have shown their sympathy and support by sending pizza to their comrades. I hope their fellow Americans are taking initiative to help them out in some fashion as well.
17
how can they now claim these additional workers are critical, when they weren't a week ago?
11
Isn't involuntary 'working without pay' also called slavery?
51
Every worker should refuse to return to work until they are paid.
41
Not paying workers. Stiffing contractors.
Yep. Trump has kept one of his promises. He’s running the country just like his businesses.
When do we file for bankruptcy? We won't have trump's daddy to bail us out though.
61
I should be remembered that cruelty is always a part of every move that Trump makes and that the suffering of others is a feature, not a bug. Always.
47
Get over it. This is not work without pay. They will be paid once the government sorts out its problems. I can see no bank calling a loan in default under these circumstances, or credit card companies foreclosing. To call this a communist labor camp is truly Fake commentary.
4
@Confused: Totally concur. They'll get paid retroactively in short order. This is just one of the hazards of having a federal job, which by most standards are quite comfy and laden with benefits.
3
Don’t kid yourself. Congress has to pass legislation. I can see the Republicans saying “Why should people be paid for doing nothing?” Banks are in business to make money. They are not a charity. They demand payment when due.
11
@Confused
Right. We all know how forgiving banks and credit card companies are when mortgage and credit card payments aren’t made on time. And grocers, drug stores, gas stations, auto repair shops, etc. will happily accept a promise to pay in the future from federal employees.
23
Kentucky Air traffic controllers and TSA airport personnel will not report for work Thursday morning 17 Jan and we will see how long it takes for the Senate to vote on opening up our government (veto proof majority).
41
This is even worse than the "starving the beast" approach to government reduction advocated by people such as Rand Paul and Paul Ryan.
This is the Trump Organization modification of "starvation" by reducing the number of government workers by expecting them to work for free.
36
Work for free with no benefits or safety net? Rather like Communism in practice.
21
That is such a good question...what has happened to federal workers’ benefits?!
1
Actually, it’s not like communism at all. The rudimentary tenets of communism promote the group over the individual, whereby, all work for a common cause and all share in the fruits of one’s (collective) labor.
I’m pretty certain that you meant to compare the current state of employment of our federal employees to fascism.
3
This is what Donald Trump really meant when saying he was going to Make America Great Again ... get people all across the country to work for him for free, just like the good ol' days.
57
It is unconstitutional to make people work without pay. The terms commonly used are "indentured servitude" or else 'slavery.'
30
Perhaps we should all call in sick and shut down the economy until the government is opened. When you can’t get gas or food or transportation etc...
Seems like a shutdown where everyone is working isn’t a shutdown
18
@Rob
Which, unfortunately, is probably the only way the working class will wrest control from the wealthy.
6
@Rob Hear hear! Some years ago I thought about "what if we all just refuse to play?" I'm thinking that again. It would be an historic moment for all Americans to simply stop participating in this token economy anyway. Give us a dry run for how to survive in a real barter economy.
I know we could do it.
4
Trump is worried about "looking foolish." He ought to be worried about looking like a dictator. Like a puffed up monarch. Like King George III, a man whom our ancestors rejected soundly.
I offer in evidence this passage from Tom Paine's "Common Sense" with "the king" and "England" replaced by "Trump":
"The powers of governing still remaining in the hands of (Trump), he will have a
negative over the whole legislation of this continent. And as he hath shown himself such
an inveterate enemy to liberty, and discovered such a thirst for arbitrary power; is he, or
is he not, a proper man to say to these colonies, "You shall make no laws but what I
please." And is there any inhabitant in America so ignorant, as not to know, that
according to what is called the present constitution, that this continent can make no laws
but what ( Trump) gives leave to; and is there any man so unwise, as not to see, that
(considering what has happened) he will suffer no law to be made here, but such as suit
his purpose. We may be as effectually enslaved by the want of laws in America, as by
submitting to laws made for us by ( Trump)."
Our forebears would not stand for it. Will we stand for it?
17
@McCamy Taylor It does not worry Trump that he is "looking like" a dictator. It is--and always has been--his aim to be precisely that. What Trump says goes.
7
@McCamy Taylor
Very good.
Take a look at the Declaration of Independence and see if you find any of the conditions listed among their grievances that are present today.
Of course, the American revolutionaries recognized the threat and were willing to do something about it.
Take a look at the empty streets across the country and the same blood that ran through their veins has apparently been diluted to a point of apathy.
2
Is President Trump actually trying to foment civil unrest? Even if he's not working directly for Russia, I'm sure the Russians couldn't be happier with their asset in Washington. I think of bin Laden and al-Qaeda terrorists gleefully watching the Twin Towers collapse, an unexpected but divinely inspired result. And I imagine Putin and his circle of oligarchs laughing uproariously as President Trump continues to destabilize the government he was elected to lead, a result far better than they expected.
Here's a suggestion: if President Trump believes in his shutdown so much, why doesn't he shut down all his businesses in sympathy with the 800,000 federal employees? After all, he says he's heard from many, many government workers who support his wall and are willing to give up their homes for it. Perhaps the President can put his own money where his mouth is.
28
This brings to mind the teddy bear in the yard scene in Breaking Bad.
3
So, Trump calls back workers and doesn't pay them. This is business as usual in the Trump Organization. Sadly, Mitch McConnell hates Americans so much, that he's not letting the House bill (his bill) come up for a vote. Why? Because he knows that his Republicans will jump ship and pass it and likely override a Trump veto. In any event, chaos is certainly what Putin wanted and Trump and McConnell are delivering big time.
74
This is not about a shutdown, this is all about Donnie Moscow and his band of grifters finding their chance to tear down and destroy the US government, using the wall as a convenient pretext. It's merely the token, if not this issue, then some other, as they have long desired. "Destroy it all", please remember Bannon's oft repeated, perverted libertarian/Populist desire, by no means is he out of the picture here. My unfortunate belief is that they will never bring everyone back and declare that they have "slimmed down" the government. Who is going to enlist for government service after this ? Another nail in the coffin of a Democracy by and for the people, I am not an alarmist, but "Aux Barricades!" approaches.
43
@John
Absolutely right, John.
The evidence is indisputable the country is under attack.
5
@WishFixer:
This country has been under attack since Trump
took the oath of office as President.
2
This will be unpopular, but true, post.
Work w/o pay is a trademark of communist labor camps.
The difference is the America capitalist system, w/ a foundation based on the starvation principle similar to the labor camps, has workers going back for more abuse against their best interests.
That must be icing on the cake of Putin's low cost attack on the United States and other western countries that only have an appetite for military action when it involves a lesser enemy. Though many Americans have proven very good at it, don't delude yourself, like the Soviet Union before it Trussia is an enemy of the United States.
That Americans sit by and "remain calm" while an obvious Trussian operative dismantles their country from w/in the White House is simply unfathomable.
A slow motion ambush Americans don't even realize is happening, yet.
The country has slid to the right for 40 years led by Republicans all too willing to provide aid and comfort to an extension of the enemy out of fear of kompromat or the promise of riches.
Those Republicans, the party of nat'l defense slogans, has "deactivated the defense systems."
The United States is confused, divided, w/ a morale level so low there is little to no esprit de corps among its disorganized and poorly deployed military.
So, dear reader, tell U.S.: How could an enemy do better to soften up their target before an attack?
Wake up, my fellow Americans, recognize new military tactics. Your country is under attack.
#RESIST
31
Doesn't mean a thing to the US President, considering that his companies have stiffed so many people for payment
32
What happened to the pride Trump was going to exhibit over the shutdown? He looked prouder to be showing off the McDonald’s spread that he fed to the Clemson team. Of course, McDonald’s also has a clown as a spokesman, so there’s a natural affinity.
53
If Trump is telling people they have to come back to work without pay because they are essential, he's even more disgusting. I can see him continuing to deny Federal employees a paycheck without any concern to their welfare while saying he can relate to them proves how much he does not care about them. I am thinking that his next step will be to deny them back pay if and when the government re-opens, justifying that move by calling the lazy, saying the government cannot afford it, as if the back pay was a bonus, and reminding these employees that 'they had a nice long vacation'.
16
" The Trump administration said Tuesday that it would summon tens of thousands of federal employees back to work without pay to get the government running ..."
This has been part of Trump's business method for decades. In NYC, he's famous for not paying his workers. He actually enjoys it.
Another key aspect of his business method has been going bankrupt,-- but only after he's already taken money out of the project thereby stiffing his business partners and bankers. It's why business partners and banks stopped working with him. Everything he touched became a disaster for those working with him. (Mitch McConnell -- are you listening?)
Trump is a human wrecking ball. And, seems to enjoy it. He is a mentally and emotionally damaged human being. Hundreds of thousands of government employees, good people, are now suffering, economic growth is slowing, and Trump holds junk food parties in the White House. (Why am I getting images of Nero fiddling while Rome is burning?). Mitch McConnell can end this. It is his Constitutional responsibility to take action, now.
38
Time to shut the airports down and GOP support will really plummet.
Mitch McConnell and Trump are on the Russian payroll via NRA and both are Russian assets. Shutdown and deadlock are their payback to Putin.
27
The Air Traffic Controllers union sued the government saying that they were in violation of the 13th amendment and while a judge dismissed the case it does seem that the government is doing exactly that.
It's against the law to make someone work without pay and while they are supposed to get paid at sometime at this time they are basically slaves.
19
This kabuki theater is getting old. The Democrats and GOP don't need to find a deal that Trump will accept. They can just pass CRs with a veto proof majority and be done with it. The real problem are the craven republican toadies in the Senate, particularly McConnell. Don't make this out to be another both sides issue, because it's not.
48
“The Interior Department is bringing back at least 40 federal employees tasked to work on a plan to sell oil and gas drilling leases off the entire United States coastline.”
Seriously? Our National Parks are being desecrated and this is the priority???? May our children and their children forgive us.
56
Shut down the airports: no TSA, no FAA etc. And then see how fast the shutdown ends.
18
I would work without pay if I thought it was necessary to create a better nation.
I don't hear any of these federal employees voicing support for Trump's wall.
Shame on the GOP in Congress for letting this travesty continue.
20
@Panthiest I just keep wondering why if it was so important to the GOP, why didn't they get it done when they had all the power for the past two years? Political posturing.....
8
It's time for this $# million dollar trust fund baby President who has told government workers to "make do", and the Chairman of his Economic Advisors Kevin Hassett that those workers are "on vacation" to immediately donate their salaries to those workers. and give them a few million in additional donations since they are receiving their salaries, and are already rich from their Trump swamp!!!!
It's time for them to experience life and stop telling others how to live theirs!!!!
20
Summoning some workers back defines them as essential. This also makes it impossible for them to hold temporary jobs to close their income gaps.
Why aren't they being paid?
27
@David
#NoPayNoWork
Why does no one see this as a coup?
17
override of a veto - The process by which each chamber of Congress votes on a bill vetoed by the President. To pass a bill over the president's objections requires a two-thirds vote in each Chamber. Historically, Congress has overridden fewer than ten percent of all presidential vetoes.
Why is McConnell blocking this? Let democracy work.
44
The Republican Party failed to act when they controlled both the Senate and the House. Now the myopic view of the President and his lead accomplice Senator McConnell are harming the economy overall, our national infrastructure, and hundreds of thousands of individual lives. This is not leadership.
44
This is called "slave labor". Forcing employees to works without pay or benefits is just that, and nothing more. You can try to justify it, or excuse it, or find fault, but our government leaders are now forcing its work force into slave conditions. Donald Trump chose this path. He could end it in a minute by agreeing to open the government and negotiate with the Congress over the Southern border. He will not. This is morally wrong.
178
@Patrick Stevens
It's not slave labor; it's a coup.
Why does no one see this as a coup?
8
@WishFixer
Of course it is a coup--with McConnell leading the charge for the new US dictator.
4
I use to negotiate employer-employee contracts before I retired a few years ago. The basic premise was to never back yourself into a corner and always leave room for some give and take. Trump has backed himself into a corner and does not appear to know how to handle the situation.
183
@JKP DJT doesn't understand negotiating at a functional level. He has been surrounded his entire life by enablers who,hoping to strike it rich, shake their head yes at whatever outrageous demand the boss is making today. There is no negotiating with a bully. the best way to handle a bully is to punch him in the nose and tell him how it will be going forward. Waiting on our legislators to deliver the punch
5
My brother is a federal employee for the Department of Health and is being required to work without pay. Because he is working, he is not eligible for unemployment. Because OPM is largely shuttered he cannot even apply to take an emergency distribution or loan from his government managed 401K. To take away their income at the whim of a president who wants nothing but a public fight with Democrats is reprehensible, but to also effectively deny access to benefits or savings that are rightfully theirs smacks of a government taking akin to eminent domain. Perhaps if the President were required to make these people whole, by paying late payment fines, additional interest assessed, compensation for time spent pursuing emergency lending options, etc, he might be less motivated to use them as pawns and more motivated to seek funding for his wall based solely on its merits.
235
@kimj I am sorry for your brother, and for everyone caught up in the Trump shutdown. When I read the article, my first question was how people would get to their unpaid work if they cannot afford fuel or public transport. What happens then? What happens to those who have caring responsibilities and cannot afford outside help because they don't have a paycheque but are being told they must come into work?
I'm sure the President is of the view that there's no excuse (paying for fuel is something your driver arranges with your accountant and that it's the nanny's job to deal with children), but in the real world, what really will happen to people ordered to work who genuinely cannot get there?
95
Workers need to organize better , they can’t fire everyone. Slowdown and do your job carefully and to the letter .
5
@kimj. Only if he has to pay them out of his own pocket.
4
It is no surprise Trump is ordering thousands of people back to work without pay.
Stiffing workers has been one of Trump's business strategies for years.
It's why he hires undocumented workers at his resorts - so easy to underpay them!
Trump also thinks bankruptcy is a "useful business tool".
Something those 800,000 workers should keep in mind.
Just think of the tax write-offs they will get!
Why anyone thought Trump running the country like one of his business scams would make America great, is beyond me.
Democrats need to stay strong and not give in to Trump's blackmail. If there are any decent Republicans left in Congress, they need to stand with them.
McConnell shirks his duty. I hope Mueller is taking a good look at him. Lots of questionable campaign donations, too many Russian "coincidences".
256
Rep. Slotkin seems unaware that just last year, Sen. Schumer and Speaker Pelosi thought they had a deal for wall funding and DACA, but it was sabotaged and Trump reneged. He reneged on other agreements also.
For two years, Republicans totally controlled government and did not build a wall. No Wall funding was ever proposed in their budget or Trump's budget. Only 6% of previously authorized funding was used.
This is a contrived crisis that comes out of petulance, politics, and an obstruction by McConnell so that he sits on the sidelines instead of exerting the coequal power of Congress, passing the same bill that the Senate passed unanimously a few weeks ago and overriding any veto.
Whenever Trump has gotten himself into a mess before, his father's money or his fixer lawyers got him out. Often he simply declared bankruptcy and left behind a destroyed business with workers, contractors and others unpaid.
This exercise in futility was just to test how much total power he wielded, simply to see if he could stop government and get his way. It isn't about the wall Mexico was going to pay for. The man is unfit.
Nero fiddled while Rome burned.
322
@smb
one presumes that "fiddling" took some modicum of talent.
don the con "tweets" while the US burns - and is talentless. and mcCONnell looks like he could star in the remake of Weekend at Bernie's
54
@smb
You're right, so very right: It's NOT about the wall.
Your country is under attack by a known enemy aided by a Trussian operative in the White House. A slow motion ambush Americans apparently don't realize, yet.
Republicans continue to dismantle the defenses.
Tell me, how could an enemy better weaken its opponent before an attack?
6
@brian
That was hilarious! Weekend at Bernie's :)
3
Both the U.K. and USA have a leader who takes an extreme position on a major issue, magnifies the salience of the issue by the extreme position, and when they stumble in the legislator they start by pretending the obstacle isn’t there, and then reach out for dialogue and compromise but do so in such confined terms that the opposition has no reason to engage, because to engage is necessarily to concede.
It’s very odd. Why both countries? Why now?
11
@Martin Deutz - Both countries essentially have a two party system that for many years now have descended into tribalism and seeking no compromise with the other side. Incompetent and amateur like PM and President running the show, in UK's side the opposition leader has no chance of getting elected either. Both the SNP and Liberal Dems are only parties acting as adults in the room.
1
Why are we going to get tax rebates, while these workers are forced to work for no pay? The pain should be shared by all. Perhaps that would speed resolution! Democrats should fight the restoration of these IRS workers to their jobs until the issue is resolved..
Democrats stand strong... NO WALL!
21
My husband is a furloughed federal employee. I work full time also and have a small home based business too, so I do work 2 jobs already. I have made calls begging creditors to hold off or help with January payments. Most have been amazing. Now my husband may be told to work for free, for how long? We choose to live about an hour from his office, drive a great gas saving vehicle. Now along with trying to figure out how to make the house payment, food, utilities, oh and we have a senior in high school so paying for the senior package that was ordered in November (didn’t pick the big one) NOW I have to figure out gas to and from a job that he isn’t being paid to do? Please don’t go on about savings. What
Little we had was used up when husband had open heart surgery a few years back.
Unemployment is out there IF he isn’t called back to work for free. But, if we file for unemployment once the shut down is over we are expected to pay every penny back. I keep reading that a bill was passed for us to receive our missed pay. Ok I still read the president has to sign it and as far as I know he hasn’t. He said he would sign it. My fear, among many, get unemployment but no back pay. Pay resumes as usual. How do I catch up on creditors and pay back unemployment if I don’t get back pay??? This president flip flops on things he says he will do, so until I see that he has signed the bill for back pay benefits I’m not counting my chickens.
49
Limbaugh and Colter need to tell Trump to reopen the government and then figure out his border wall thing. They supposedly have no Russian connections. Putin has weakened our country . Americans like Limbaugh and Colter have helped him. Trump was set to sign a reasonable bill until they taunted him.
The Senate needs to pass a bill reopening the government and needs to override Trump’s veto. Figuring out the wall can come later. People’s lives are being really hurt by this shutdown-.
44
My number one rule, I don’t work for free. This is unjust and wrong! I hope no one comes back under these circumstances.
29
Charles and David Koch have actually done it.
They have actually managed to drop the minimum wage to $0.00/hour for some workers.
66
At this point, our economy and our health and the health of our environment are much more important than political theater about a small slush fund earmarked for the wall. Trump will not back down so the Democrates should be the adult in the room and just give in.
@Stefan: In that case, Trump will do it again. He’s a child testing his parents’ limits. A firm “NO” is required here.
15
@Stefan Noppity, nope, nope, nope. If it weren't the wall, it would be something else. This is about Trump and Russia and his efforts to distract. Democrats should stand rock, solid firm.
9
@Stefan
I live in a state where there are a lot of bad effects from this- for Reservation Native Americans particularly but also for farmers and for public lands and their employees. It is very real pain that alters lives.
I have thought of your point. Then I thought of all the harm Trump has done to our country and its people- and all the facts about the uselessness and harm of a wall. And I read that government is already looking at how to seize people’s lands on the border.
Trump is a threat to the basis of our democracy. Our Senate needs to pass a bill opening the government and figuring out the wall later- and needs to override Trump’s veto for such a bill.
What I appreciate now are articles telling of the pain this shutdown is causing people. A Russian compromised president is doing this just to try to get re-elected so he can continue to do Putin’s bidding and can continue to make money off of his presidency.
2
it's really McConnell they need to publicly pressure. He is simply acting as an arm of the Trump administration, rather than an independent check and balance.
83
When I was a Fed during the 2013 shutdown, our agency couldn’t incur one penny of expenses during the work stoppage. How on earth are Trump’s actions this time around legal under the Anti-Deficiency Act? For example, I just don’t see mortgage processing by the Department of the Treasury as an “emergency” activity requiring essential personnel to work without pay.
29
I find the inability of our politicians to understand that it costs employees money to get to work and then expecting people to do so without pay shows how far removed they are from the daily life of our citizens. Here are some examples of daily costs: utility bills because one turns on electricity, gas and water to get ready everyday, public transportation or gas for a car (maintenance when required), laundering your clothing, child care costs (have you seen how much this costs!) food to fuel your family and I'm sure our readers can add to this short list. In addition to the costs of getting to work add the recurring costs of life: rent or mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, car loans, student loans, credit card payments etc. So please explain why anyone would be motivated to go to work when it costs them money to get there just to receive a zero paycheck.
49
Section 1.
13th Amendment
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Time for lawyers to get involved- an argument could be made that Trump is in violation of the 13th.
77
If Congress and Senate members didn’t show up for work it’s likely that no one would notice an impact. Civil servants make the government work as is evident during this dispute. Congress and the Senate should be ashamed of their disdain for other civil servants and the meaness to deprive men, women, and children a sense of security.
18
We now have state legislators in Montana and West Virginia initiating legislation to allocate state funds to build "The Wall".
Perhaps they will next consider allocating money to make whole the people of their states who were impacted by the shutdown and lost money.
24
@Allen82 Montana? Really -Is Montana really concerned that without a wall their state would be in danger. Tell me that is not absolute crazy.
9
@Den: Montana is just South of Canada. So may be there are planning to build a wall on the Canadian border. And Canadians being so nice people they are expecting Canada to pay for it.
6
Give me a break. Trump and the Republicans own this fiasco so Democrats are loving it. Right from the start Pelosi said "Go ahead...make my day."
5
@John And Donnie Two Scoops isn't having a field day with all the press coverage? Which is what fuels his day?
Right.
2
Forcing people to work without pay. Sounds like slavery to me, but wasn't that done away with in the 19th century? Apparently republicans long for those good ol' days.
78
At some point in this shutdown the thirteenth amendment will spring to life.
67
This is not a shutdown with workers being recalled in droves. This is another Trump stunt. How is this possible? Who is maintaining their workplace, paying their travel to work and their food? Is there heat in the buildings? Are security services working? And Trump lWhite House lunches! Cold fast food for the Clemson football team and steak and potatoes for Congress! Was the man lighting the candles paid? Who cooked and served the steak and potatoes? The invited Democrats were from states that voted for Trump- they were correct in not participating in this disgraceful use of power. Where was Mitch yesterday? It’s a national disgrace and the US is the laughing stock of the world. Huckster Trump!
123
This is what happens when POTUS runs amok. This couldn't happen in a Westminster style parliamentary democracy – only in the USA.
Despite the checks and balances designed to prevent the President of the United States from behaving like a petulant teenager, Trump has shown in stark relief just what can happen when a malignantly narcissistic demagogue seizes the reins of power.
This should be a wakeup call to all Americans who smugly believe that the US democratic system doesn't need fundamental change.
59
@Colenso
I am extremely cautious about calling for fundamental change in a time of extreme fundamentalism on both the right and left. Three reforms might do it:
1. Reform the Senate by requiring 60 votes to pass legislation.
2. Reform the House by adopting rational demographics to end gerrymandering.
3. Do away with the Electoral College. The balancing of regional interests (Senate) with proportional representation of the people (House) does not apply to electing a president. The president is supposed to be the president of the country as a whole.
34
In Canada Trump would not have outlasted the first no confidence vote, plus the system does not produce star ratings because the elections are relatively quick. Politicians on both sides of the isle tend to work together if they need to. They also tend to remember that that are public servants.
35
Yes, our system of governance is facing a stress test, and we are failing. The consequences are monumental.
5
Trump is using extortion, not negotiation, and McConnell is right behind him. And all for a very expensive measure that many have argued does not solve the problem it addresses.
The Democrats should not cave to blackmail.
If the GOP wants the government to re-open, bring forward a bill that can pass a veto. There are compromises out there - because most Americans are not sold on the Wall but are strongly in favor of clear immigration rules; increasing means to verify legal status of workers; increasing penalties on people like Mr. Trump who bemoan immigration, but hire illegal workers; and beefing up all sorts of security measures from inspection, patrol and surveillance at the border and ports of entry.
This is Mitch McConnell's shutdown, because Ole Mitch has the power to end it and has instead firmly retreated into his shell. I assumed Trump would have a tantrum. I hold McConnell responsible as the parent who sat nearby and just watched.
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@Cathy - "Trump is using extortion, not negotiation…" - He's a "developer", it's what they do.
1
1) This article was published around 11p.m. yesterday (Jan. 15). As I write this, it is 6:30a.m. Wednesday morning, January 16. There are four (4) comments. Perhaps Americans are getting just a little sick and tired of this "game."
2) If your plans include big-time cheating on your taxes, this is the year to do it. With only half its usual contingent of employees and with those employees not so eagerly working for nothing, odds are good tax cheaters won't get caught.
3) Speaking of disgruntled employees, it takes only one looney to pay less-than-close attention to the radar screens in an airport control tower to cause some serious horror in the skies.
4) Trump is a very sick man but it's time for the Democrats to allocate funds for his stupid, useless wall. Let him gloat. Let him preen. Let him brag to the high heavens. Get the government up and operational again so the tax cheaters get caught, so our transportation system runs safely, so the lettuce we eat isn't encrusted with e-coli. Just don't appropriate the money for the wall. Let Trump win and then slam the door in his face (which God willing, the voters will do as well in 2020).
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@Chip Steiner - There's a very good reason why the U.S. government doesn't pay kidnappers and extortionists. Even if the victim is released after you pay their extortion they'll inevitably be back for even more using the same 'negotiation' tactics.
The TSA needs to form a union and go on strike.
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@Chip Steiner The problem with your logic is why are in deep kimchee. DJT is a career bully who for his entire life has been surrounded by enablers hoping to strike it rich. The enabling currently comes from the GOP and has to stop. Just let DJT "win"and he will go away is the problem It's that thinking that got us into this mess and it will only get worse if the enabling continues...
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@Chip Steiner Good points, Chip. It's time to get the trains running on time. Perpetuating this dysfunction walks right into the trap set by Republicans who hate government and want to further dismantle it.
2
Ivanka, Jared, and Melania are all working without pay. Maybe federal employees can also find ways to monetize their jobs so we can accelerate the country's descent into total corruption. Need an EPA approval? Pony up! Need a clean restaurant license? Pay. Need a liquor license? Here's your protection agreement. What was that book again: The Art of the Shakedown?
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@Lon Newman But won't that eat into the graft that the Cabinet member heads of those agencies are getting?
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This shutdown could end in one week or less. Have all of the office cleaners refuse to empty trash bins, replenish toilet paper, clean toilets and sinks, sweep floors and all other essential cleaning routines. This includes WhiteHouse staff. I doubt if Melania knows how to make a bed.
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@J Mitchell
She is probably still at Mar-a-Lago!
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I’m sorry the House Democrats didn’t attend the lunch. They could have sat down with Mr. Trump, told him flatly they won’t support funding for his wall, and watch him storm out.
If this nonsense is going to on we might as well get some theater out of it.
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@ERT - The scene you describe has already occured.
I've never watched even 1 minute of 'The Apprentice' but I don't think Trump believes in re-running 'repeats'.
5
Many Americans have yearned to reinstate slavery. Trump has succeeded. NB: International definitions stipulate that “forced labor may only be exacted for public purposes,” so this probably counts as exempt. But it also identifies any “System of compulsory labour, public or private, paid or unpaid” as slavery. This situation is, at best, marginal.
8
Trump' can't negotiate in good faith even if he wanted to. He's established that anything he agrees to in principle to must pass muster with Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh, and no Democrat will sign up for that. (No Republican should either, but that's another story.) Trump is hoist on his own petard.
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Lincoln and Trump are paired for all history:
- Lincoln proclaimed slavery unlawful,
- Trump declares slavery lawful.
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"If we don't get what we want ... I will shut down the government. And I am proud to shut down the government for border security.... I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I'm not going to blame you for it." -- Donald Trump on December 12.
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Are the president and congress working without pay?
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@Pwilson0825
Of course not.
4
I think right about now I would be looking for another job. Trust is gone.
29
Trump's modus operandi is to stiff workers. He did it it in the private sector and is doing same to federal workers.
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I’m not feeling too safe flying or eating with rightly disgruntled unpaid air traffic controllers and food safety inspectors forced to do their jobs.
36
Let me understand. People are being told to work for free? A new definition for Free Market Capitalism.
The Republican must be proud of themselves. We will see how the loss of money circulating in the system will affect our economy.
Putin is smiling as his puppet causes economic havoc.
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@Allen82 - Excellent! The Koch's are green w/ envy!
3
Trump and the GOP are really a disgrace and I hope this starts to dawn on their supporters. To force more people to work without pay is just terrible. I guess their plan is to open the government with unpaid employees. Trump should forget this free lunch business and just open the government.
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Working without pay built this country. Perhaps Trump will consider overturning the 13th Amendment to MAGA.
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I seem to recall that the 13th Amendment, which was ratified in December of 1865, abolished slavery in the United States. What happened?
35
Want to end the shutdown?
Tell unpaid TSA and air traffic controllers to stop coming in.
The shutdown would be over in a day.
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DJ is exactly right! Reagan couldn’t even fire that many federal workers. It wouldn’t take 24 hours for a veto-proof majority to vote.
9
I'm a white mid-western (born in Indiana, living in Ohio) male over 50. I feel that the President should open the government (all of it) as soon as possible. I don't think this will make him look foolish. It will simply make him look practical and pragmatic.
IMHO, he can negotiate with the congress without losing face once the government is open.
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@GHthree
How is your race, location, and age relevant?
Ah, I guess it’s because your demographics are responsible for the destruction of our country.
1
The Democrats created fodder for Trump by refusing to attend his lunch. They should have agreed to attend on the condition that no reporters or their cameras be present in order to nullify the photo-op purpose of the lunch. Then, if Trump had refused that condition, he would be the one who looked uncooperative.
4
I can only agree to some extent. Trump is well known for twisting events to suit his purpose. It is very possible that even without the photos, he would still say that the democrats are with him on the issue since they came. I'm not sure though.
4
@MikeG
Normally I would agree. You need to keep talking. But nothing is normal with trump. Dealing with trump is always about looking for the trap.
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