What a liar! The employees didn’t strike. He prevented them from working. This is disgusting. Let’s see if any cowardly Republicans correct him. Sad!
Category: Shutdown
Shutdown impact
You can’t negotiate with Trump
First, he signaled he would sign the continuing resolution passed by the Senate which did not include money for the wall. Then, pressured by Fox News, he said he wouldn’t.
The Vice President floated the idea of compromising in $2.5 billion for the wall. Then Trump said he wouldn’t do it.
Trump would have had a deal last year with $25 billion for the wall in exchange for taking care of the DACA immigrants and others but then he decided he wouldn’t do it.
Trump believes in winning. That means someone will lose. This deal will require a compromise where both sides get something and give something. Trump does not appear to be willing to give anything.
Why should the Democrats give in? The wall is a poor idea – there are better ways to protect the border. Polls show the public does not want the wall. Only the Trump cult, which is a minority, wants it. The public blames the Republicans for the shutdown which is correct when both houses of Congress and the White House were controlled by them. Trump doesn’t care about the people hurt by the shutdown. He says, with no factual basis, that the employees are mostly Democrats. Trump only cares about his cult members, not the whole country.
Federal workers should be used as political pawns by Trump. Democrats will pass continuing resolutions and Trump should sign them. McConnell is gutless and won’t bring up a bill similar to the one previously passed.
Trump’s non-stop lying doesn’t help either.
The Trump shutdown
He owns it.
The majority doesn’t want the wall and more people blame Republicans than Democrats for the shutdown.
Trump blames Pelosi for the shutdown – another lie
Republicans control the presidency and both houses of Congress. They’re just trying to put Schumer vs. Pelosi. They are also lying when they say she doesn’t have enough votes to be elected Speaker.
Trump is using the shutdown as a distraction
Good point:
Trump’s lawyers are trying to delay the emoluments case because of the shutdown
Shutdown update 12/27/18 – Trump says most affected employees are Democrats
I think this shutdown will last a long time. I don’t see any way for both sides to save face and I don’t think Trump likes to compromise. I think the end will come when the polls show the public overwhelmingly blames one side. So far, the public blames the Republicans.
Now Trump says (with no basis) that the employees affected are mostly Democrats. He earlier said that he would use shutdown money for the wall. I would not be surprised if he tries to prevent furloughed employees from ultimately being paid. He is priming his base for this by saying the employees are Democrats anyway.
There Are More Republicans in Federal Government Than You Might Think
Shutdown issues
When I was a federal employee, I was part of two major shutdowns.
The first time, I was considered non-essential and only worked the last couple of days before everyone went back to work. It doesn’t make you feel good about yourself to know that your employer thinks you are not essential. It wasn’t a vacation in the sense that you couldn’t go anywhere – you may have to go to work the next day. I am not complaining – I got paid for time I didn’t work and I am sure many private sector workers would not have if their business was shut down temporarily. I am fortunate that I didn’t live paycheck to paycheck but this was a hardship for some people – rich people in Congress don’t understand this.
The second time, my agency got smart and a much higher percentage of employees was essential. I worked the whole time and that’s fine. That’s what I was there to do.
There are some good points below.
- Congress is not required to pay employees who were furloughed. They always have in the past though. Contractor employees are screwed because they don’t get paid directly by the government.
- Trump’s tweet that employees said they wanted the government to stay closed is almost certainly a lie. We had no way to contact the president. I guess they can tweet at him which was not an option in the old days.
- Is Trump going to stiff the furloughed employees? Who knows what he will do.
Sad! 