Monday, January 15, 2018

Will DEMs Shutdown Government?

The days are slipping away towards the deadline, what will the moderate DEMs do?  Will they vote for the continuing resolution? Or stand up for the DACA kids and shutdown the government?  Then one can not forget those on the Far Right who may vote No also...

Since I am usually a fan of gridlock and don't work for the government, this is fine with me...  It will be interesting to see how the week proceeds.

21 comments:

Laurie said...

The GOP is in the majority and if the govt shuts down they will rightly get the blame.

Laurie said...

Why Trump Killed the Immigration Deal: Because Democrats Made Him Look Bad

John said...

Laurie,
It seems to me that you owe me some rationale over here.

As for blame, do you really think that the GOP voters will be upset that government shut down?

I am guessing most are like me, hopefully they shutdown for a month and save us some money.

John said...

Unfortunately it looks government shutdowns cost the tax payers.

What type of entity furloughs employees and then gives them back pay for all their days off?

Bloomberg What Actually Shuts Down?

"4. How many federal employees stay home?
In the 2013 shutdown, the number of executive-branch employees who were furloughed on a given day peaked at 850,000, or about 40 percent of the workforce.

5. Do federal employees get paid?
Eventually. When a shutdown happens, most federal employees -- there are about 2.8 million of them now -- are placed on unpaid furlough. Though there "appears to be no guarantee" that they will eventually be paid, in practice they always have been, retroactively, via legislation passed by Congress, according to the Congressional Research Service."

John said...

CNN Pointing Fingers

Anonymous said...

We don't control any branch of government. It's up to Republicans to keep government open. For myself, I am just not that interested in accepting the burden of negotiating Donald into doing what's right.

--Hiram

John said...

Now that certainly is the cop out being used by the DEMs.

But as long as the Senate requires 60 votes, the DEMs have about as much control as the GOPs.

Anonymous said...

My understanding that things were proceeding quite nicely at the White House meeting before Cotten and Perdue showed up and the language started getting blue. There are lots of deals out there that would receive significant Democratic support. The problem is Trump can't deliver Republican support, and heaven knows we can't deliver it for him.

--Hiram

Sean said...

"But as long as the Senate requires 60 votes"

The Senate only requires 60 votes for this because the Republicans spent their reconciliation bullet on the tax bill.

"the DEMs have about as much control as the GOPs."

You didn't seem terribly troubled by Republicans using their leverage in 2013. Why are you upset now?

It seems to me that the President owns a lot of this, doesn't he? Last Monday, he held the big shindig in his office where he boldly announces that he'll sign whatever Congress puts in front of him as it relates to DACA. Then, Congress presents him with a bipartisan DACA deal and he rejects it. It seems to me Democrats lived up to their part of the bargain and Trump walked away from it.

jerrye92002 said...

What will be most interesting is to see if any new government shutdown will cause the public to blame Republicans, as before when Obama commanded his cabinet to "make it hurt," compared with Trump who has said maybe it would be a good thing to show the country how "unessential" the unessential workers really are. One wonders if the Dems are really willing to make DACA the hill they die on? Especially when Trump has said he will sign what Congress sends him. HE is willing to compromise and keep the government open. Where does that leave them, in public opinion?

Sean said...

"Especially when Trump has said he will sign what Congress sends him."

He rejected the deal they brought to him on Thursday!

Anonymous said...

The president lost the popular vote, and his popularity has declined since then. One of the upshots of that is that he doesn't get cut any breaks.

Democrats are perfectly willing to negotiate on these matters. There was apparently a deal between Durbin and Graham before it was blown up. But Trump can control his own party and his own instincts and that is a deadly combination for him. His lack of experience with negotiating from weakness catches up with him time after time.

--Hiram

Sean said...

Never before in American history has there been a government shutdown when one party controlled both houses of Congress and the White House. It's clear where the blame will lie.

John said...

Sean,
I am not upset by any of this in the least. As one of my annoying bosses used to say... "I don't have a dog in this fight." I am more curious than anything.

From my view it is the DEMs demanding that the budget be tied to the DACA issue, the GOP will separate them since negotiations broke down on immigration, and now DEMs own whether the government shuts down or not.

And if DEMs choose DACA over keeping the Gov't operating, I have no idea what citizens will think.

Sean said...

"And if DEMs choose DACA over keeping the Gov't operating, I have no idea what citizens will think."

Donald Trump, Paul Ryan, and Mitch McConnell all asked for a bipartisan deal on DACA. Durbin-Graham delivered, and then those Republicans tore it up. All Democrats are asking is for Republicans to live up to their word.

John said...

Apparently Durbin and Graham's solution was not supported by enough bi-partisanship.

Now they are separate issues again.

Sean said...

Recent polling shows ~80% support for DACA recipients to stay in the country. Good luck with that.

John said...

Liking DACA and liking a government shutdown over DACA may be different things.

I assume the DEM voters will blame the GOP, the GOP voters will blame the DEM and folks like will just think that everyone is somewhat crazy. :-)

John said...

Comment from MP Dreamers for a Wall

I would have cross posted Bill's comments however he is to verbose... :-)

"You asked what sent it to the top of the list? My concise answer seems accurate to me.

Now I do support making Dreamers citizens, however I also support:

- Absolutely STOPPING illegal border crossing and smuggling. (ie walls, technology & personnel) To many Americans die from the drugs and too many jobs are filled by illegal workers. Not to mention the human trafficking and Central American people risking their children's lives to cross Mexico.

- Sending all other illegal residents / workers home where they can apply for legal immigration. (ie no line budging allowed) America is a country of law and order, these people violated those to get here in front of legal immigrants which is not acceptable.

- Prioritizing skills based immigration over extended family reunification (ie chain migration) We do not need to stop family reunification or refugee assistance, however it should come second.

The problem as I see it is that if the Far Right gives in on DACA, the Far Left will refuse to pursue the other common sense changes I have noted above. As you have noted in the news and in the comments, the Left continues to argue that the DACA folks should "not be used as a negotiating issue". If the Left is hesitant to make a deal for them, what could convince them to act without them? I am guessing nothing..." G2A

jerrye92002 said...

I'm willing to cede this to the DACA supporters. Let us allow those for whom the US is "the only country they know" to stay. That is, kids who were brought here (illegally) by their parents prior to age 5, have kept themselves out of legal trouble, and either find a job or join the military after graduating high school. Everybody else, out.

jerrye92002 said...

There's your compromise.