Me personally, I kind of wish Trump would have kept a lower profile and quietly done what Chaffetz has proposed. I’m betting LIBs would pretty much have ignored the activity. Unfortunately Trump’s ardent base supporters might not have noticed and might have accused him of reneging on his promise.
Unfortunately now we seem to be between a rock and a hard spot. Both sides have dug in and I’m not sure how it will end.
Can the government spend money that has not been specifically authorized by Congress? In theory – no. In practice? Absolutely.
Each year the government spends hundreds of billions of dollars on things that are not specifically authorized by Congress. Both Democrats and Republicans have been complicit in this practice.
I don’t think libs would have ignored the activity. They are hell bent and dug in on not having a wall.
What I don’t get is we can build bridges, airports and such in foreign countries with our military but we cannot build a wall in our own country when we are being faced with criminals, drugs and illegals crossing our border on a daily basis?
By ignore, I mean not make a big deal of it. Currently both sides have drawn very visible lines in the sand, which they can’t easily cross without angering their respective bases.
I’m not sure how either side can move forward without being seen as caving.
I still am hoping they are able to quietly work something out where Trump will be able to move forward with border security using a combination of Chaffetz’s proposal, maybe national emergency, etc…
The liberals have become rabid, open border, globalists. There would be no quiet deals or working things out.
We have polar opposites both dug into their positions. Trump was elected in part to build a wall and curb illegal immigration. That is clearly what the majority of American people want.
Yet the liberal democrats snub their nose at this and continue onwards with what they want for the country, not what the majority of Americans want for this country.
This is a can that has been kicked down the road since Reagan was President. I think this is our last shot to get a wall constructed. I have no doubt that Trump is reviewing every aspect he can to legally circumvent Congress and I do hope he finds a way.
Trump has said time and time again that he wants to do things the right way. If he doesn’t then Democrats will say that his use of the funds is ground for impeachment and some activist judge would probably freeze the accounts ruling the transaction unconstitutional.
The thing is though no matter what Trump does the Democrats will do exactly the same thing. So, the question is why bother trying to follow the rules when no one else does?
Could it be that Trump doesn’t want to build the wall and is using the rules of his system to achieve that goal?
Or, is Trump going through this exhaustive process so be can say he tried EVERYTHING in his power to get the wall built following the process. After all, this is what the people wanted. So when he goes his own way he can cite the shutdown and the obstruction by the Democrats. I’m hoping this is the correct assumption.
I think Trump is very much invested in building a wall. His reasons may be ego driven due to opposition, very much like telling him he can’t get a permit to build a parking garage. Saying you “can’t” to him I suspect is very much a challenge he will take on come hell or high water.
I also don’t think he is going to go “his own way” unless he finds a legal means to do so.
I don’t think Trump is going to move an inch at this point. He was trolling out of work federal employees this morning
The government is going to re-open until the wall gets built. Things are going to get really interesting when the government runs out of money to pay for food stamps next week.
Unfortunately, I strongly believe a prolonged shutdown would work against Trump. It simply wouldn’t be practical to expect the very people he needs to work for nothing - long term.
There are already too many federal employees sucking off the government teat. By doing this for a long time, Trump will ensure that they have to go out and find other jobs. Once they have been settled in their new positions long enough Trump will re-open the government.
I think of all of the responses there were only a couple that supported him.
The US Department of Agriculture will still send out Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, benefits for January despite the shutdown.
The USDA’s Child Nutrition Programs will also be funded into February.
They may not have a choice if this drags on long enough. They have bills to pay and mouths to feed. If the nanny state isn’t going to take care of them they will be forced to go into the private sector. So not only is Trump draining the swamp by doing this, he is improving the lives of so many.
Those who don’t support him are not going to change their minds.
Those that do support him are not unhappy he is holding his ground.
The people dependent on the government are going to eventually turn on the democrats for holding out because that is what they expect after all is to be taken care of no matter what.
What’s unfortunate here is that the people we are talking about are the border agents, ICE agents, etc…
Those people are on the front lines. If they all upped and left for better opportunity, who would be left to protect our sovereignty? With no pay, there certainly won’t be anyone knocking down the door to take their place should they decide to leave their job.
Putting myself in their place. No matter how much I might love my job and my employer, if I was told that I would be expected to work for nothing for the foreseeable future………………….
Unfortunately we are talking about border patrol agents, ICE agents, etc… They really aren’t part of the swamp. They have families to feed and many are living paycheck to paycheck. No matter how much they might support our President, they have to feed their families and meet their financial obligations. That is a cold hard reality.
