The US government is always shutting down. Why?

At the end of every year, the U.S. Congress and White House play a game of chicken with the federal spending bill, getting closer and closer to a shutdown of the United States government. It’s usually avoided in the final hour, but sometimes they don’t agree on a spending bill and the federal government actually shuts down. No other country does this. WTF?

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Trump Tantrum Prolongs His Government Shutdown

As the end of the year approaches, President Donald Trump has thrown a temper tantrum, shutting down the federal government, and barricaded himself in the White House until his extortionate demands are met. If congress wants to reopen the government, he wants $5 billion for a border wall of undetermined design. No wall, no government.

Seeking new threat targets, Mr. Trump now says he’ll shut down the southern border if he doesn’t get his way, a move that would violate international law and cost U.S. businesses billions of dollars.

The chief executive continues to sulk in the White House, foregoing a planned Mar-a-Lago New Year’s party.

More:

“Trump struggles to make a coherent case for his border wall,” Steve Benen, MSNBC

“More Americans blame Trump for government shutdown: Reuters/Ipsos poll,” Chris Kahn and Ginger Gibson, Reuters

“Most Americans would rather spend the $5 billion Trump is demanding for the border wall on infrastructure, education, or healthcare,” Bob Bryan and Walt Hickey, Business Insider

“About That Wall Trump Said Mexico Would Be Paying For: QuickTake,” Mark Niquette, Bloomberg, via Washington Post

“No Deal in Sight: Shutdown Here to Stay Amid Border Wall Stalemate,” John T. Bennett, Roll Call

“Trump: Give Me a Wall or I’ll Engineer a Recession,” Eric Levitz, New York Magazine

Related:

“Trump admin to unpaid federal workers who can’t make rent: beg, barter, and get a lawyer.” Boing Boing

“Taxpayers Are Subsidizing Mar-a-Lago’s New Year’s Eve Party Despite Trump’s Shutdown,” Ryan Bort, New York Post

“Five lessons that never seem to be learned from shutting down the government,” Leon Panetta, Washington Post

“The Border Wall Is a Symbol of Our Symbolic Politics,” Jonah Goldberg, National Review

Update:

“Trump Gripes About Lonely Xmas With No One But ‘Machine Gunners’ Who Don’t Smile,” Nicole Lafond, TPM Livewire

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Merry Christmas: Trump Shut Down the Government

“I am proud to shut down the government…I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not gonna blame you for it.” — Donald Trump, December 11, 2018

“The Democrats now own the shutdown!”  — Donald Trump December 21, 2018

President Trump has shut down the federal government because Congress didn’t fund his imaginary border wall. The senate had passed a wall-less continuing resolution funding the government through February, but Mr. Trump turned it down, so the federal government can’t pay its bills past midnight tonight. It’s no big deal to Donald Trump, who has a habit of stiffing people who work for him and has been bankrupt six times.

Donald Trump promised to make Christmas great again, but all we’ve got so far is much greater drama. Somebody’s getting a stocking full of beautiful clean coal on Tuesday.

More:

“Trump last week: I’ll own the shutdown. Trump now: It’s the Democrats’ fault.” German Lopez, Vox

“‘He takes no ownership — that’s just Trump’: President eschews responsibility for a shutdown he once craved,” By David Nakamura, Washington Post

“The ‘all-I-want-for-Christmas-is-$5-billion-for-the-wall’ shutdown,”  John Bresnahan, Politico

“From Parks to Airports, How a Shutdown Would Affect Federal Agencies,” Glenn Thrush and Mitchell Ferman, New York Times

“She wanted to buy her grandkids a bike for Christmas. But now the shutdown looms.” Washington Post

“Why Trump Can’t Build His Wall,” Jonathan Bernstein, Bloomberg

Updates:

“Partial shutdown likely to extend past Christmas,” Associated Press

“‘Very possible’ shutdown could last into new year, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney says,” Erica Werner, David Weigel, and Philip Rucker, Washington Post

“Trump Gripes About Lonely Xmas With No One But ‘Machine Gunners’ Who Don’t Smile,” Nicole Lafond, TPM Livewire

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Border Wall: Art of the Threat

After being schooled on TV by Nancy Pelosi, President Trump is conducting his latest extortion campaign via Twitter and White House Staff Creature Stephen Miller. The Trump Doctrine: Gimme $5 billion for my border wall, or else:

“If we don’t get what we want one way or the other, whether it’s through you, it’s through military, I will shut down the government.”

The deadline is Friday.

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If the Government Shuts Down

What happens if the federal government shuts down due to lack of an appropriation? The Associated Press explains.

Related:

“Looming shutdown raises fundamental question: Can GOP govern?” Damian Paletta and Erica Werner, Washington Post

“Report: Shutdown could cost U.S. economy $6.5 billion a week,” Christopher Matthews, Axios

“More Americans blame Republicans than Democrats for potential government shutdown, Post-ABC poll finds,” Scott Clement, Washington Post

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The Art of the Threat

Borrowing a stratagem from every petty thug with a protection racket, President Donald Trump has threatened to shut down the federal government in October if he doesn’t get his way:

“President Trump on Tuesday called for a government shutdown later this year and suggested the Senate might need to prohibit future filibusters, dramatic declarations from a new commander in chief whose frustration is snowballing as Congress continues to block key parts of his agenda.

‘Our country needs a good ‘shutdown’ in September to fix mess!’ Trump wrote in a series of tweets Tuesday morning. He likely meant a shutdown in October, as the current spending bill lawmakers have agreed to would fund government operations through Sept. 30.

Trump’s call for a shutdown, which appears to be unprecedented from a sitting president, come as his problems are mounting within the House and Senate, chambers that are both controlled by his party.”

— “Trump raises prospect of government shutdown to leverage better budget for GOP in fall,”  Damian Paletta and John Wagner, Washington Post

More:

“Trump Says U.S. Needs Government ‘Shutdown,'”Julie Hirschfeld Davis, New York Times

“President Trump Wants a Government Shutdown,” David A. Graham, The Atlantic

“Trump May Be Spoiling For A Shutdown Fight, But It Could Spell Disaster In 2018,” Jessica Taylor, NPR

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Price of the Tea Party Tantrum

The Tea Party Republicans in Congress shut down the United States Government for over two weeks. They did it to protest … something. In the end, it gained them … nothing. Federal employees will be paid retroactively, but government contractors and retailers serving public employees and their families had no business this month. Of course, the salaries of cranky congressmen continued uninterrupted.

The shutdown is over, at least for now, but what has this Republican hissy fit cost America? The total tab won’t be complete for another couple of months, but Standard & Poor’s puts the loss to the economy at $24 billion, $1.6 billion a day.

More:

“Gridlock Has Cost U.S. Billions, and the Meter Is Still Running,” Annie Lowery, Nathaniel Popper, and Nelson D. Schwartz, New York Times

“Was the Point Republicans Made in the Shutdown Worth the Price?’ Gerald F. Seib, Wall Street Journal

“What You Can Get For The Price Of A Shutdown,” Bryce Covert, Think Progress

“House Republicans Hold Hearing on Why Their Shutdown Shut Things Down,” Tim Murphy, Mother Jones

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October 14, 2013: Federal Holiday

Today the Federal Office of Management and Budget observes the invasion of the Americas by Cristoforo Colombo, a Genoese private contractor working for the government of Castille. U.S. Government employees and contractors have Monday off, even at the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Oh wait. The Republican Tea Party Caucus already shut down the government two weeks ago. Party at the Ted Cruz house!

Today is also Native American Day In South Dakota and Indigenous People’s Day in Berkeley, California. Think about it.

More:

“Native History: Columbus—Icon and Genocidal Maniac—Lands in New World,” Christina Rose, Indian Country Today

Truc(k)ulence

A week into the Tea Party petulance that shut down the U.S. Government, a group called “Truckers Ride for the Constitution” threatened to roar into DC during morning rush on Friday October 11th with enough tractor-trailers to shut down traffic on the Capital Beltway surrounding Washington. The trucks would then drive to the White House and arrest President Obama for … well, something-or-other.

Virginia and Maryland state troopers were mobilized. DC Metropolitan Police, Capitol Police, National Park Police, and Secret Service were on high alert Thursday night and into the wee hours of Friday. Then came the dawn.

Signs & Portents

Here’s the word on the street about the government shutdown. Yesterday the vendors of Havana Banana Breads chalked an open letter to Members of Congress. The message may have reached them; the sign was at Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. The bakery’s owner is a service-disabled veteran.

More street signs here.

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