After 35 days, the partial government shutdown is over. President Donald Trump conceded to an increasingly painful reality Friday afternoon, signing a bill to reopen the government until Feb. 15, during which time he will continue to try to persuade Democrats to negotiate for a border barrier. They won’t. And then the president will “really have no choice” but to declare a national emergency so he can allocate funds to build a couple hundred miles of barrier. There’s little question that Friday’s deal was a temporary defeat for Trump and a big victory for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But there’s a lot more to this fight than meets the eye, and it’s certainly not over yet.
Trump arguably mis-stepped when he told “Chuck and Nancy” in their December meeting that he’d happily take responsibility for a shutdown. That sound bite only made blaming him for the shutdown easier for the media. Two other factors strengthened the Dems’ position. First, Trump Derangement Syndrome means anything Trump pitches — and he campaigned heavily on a “big, beautiful wall,” paid for by Mexico — is anathema. Second, Pelosi had taken to calling a border wall “immoral,” and there is simply no compromise when an issue has been made that black and white.
So what was Trump’s play in forcing the shutdown?
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If this is truly a "National Emergency", Trump needs to get off the pot and quit playing. It is negligence otherwise, and it's reprehensible to play it as a bargaining chip, or a card in a poker game.
ReplyDeleteHe lost. The majority of Americans don't support his applause line project.
Come on POTUS
ReplyDeleteMexico is supposed to pay for the wall
Do what you said you would do!
Now, Pelosi cannot hold the SOTU address hostage. She has to let him tell us the truth. Meanwhile, border patrol, TSA, and Coast guard get their paychecks & back pay with a fair warning that in 3 weeks when the Dems refuse to give us the wall, they will shut down the Government again, so save up.
ReplyDeleteThen, Trump will call the emergency, fund our wall, re-open the government, and hand the Dems a bag of ice for their collective black eyes.
CHECK, AND CHECKMATE!