Obligatory Government Shutdown Post

There’s obviously a lot of he said/she said as to what occurred that caused the shutdown. Republicans blame Democrats

(Fox News) Republican leaders blamed their Democratic counterparts after the Senate failed to pass a spending bill by midnight Friday to avert a government shutdown.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the GOP needed 60 votes to pass a measure that would have kept the government running until mid-February, but not enough Democrats went along with the plan. The tally was 50-49, with five Democrats voting in favor of the measure and five Republicans voting against it.

“Most of the stuff we agree on. One reason we ended up here, the shoehorning of illegal immigration into this debate,” McConnell said after the vote failed, adding that the Senate would resume talks later Saturday to prevent a prolonged shutdown.

At the center of the soured negotiations was the Obama-era DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program, which has protected some young immigrants from deportation.

After the Senate adjourned for the evening, McConnell underscored that the shutdown was “avoidable,” while calling the Democrats’ decision to filibuster “irresponsible.”

And that’s it in a nutshell. Democrats were taking a hardline stance in putting people who came to the United States illegally over American citizens. They were demanding amnesty for them, and, they would want amnesty for the parents who committed the “sin” of bringing them. As someone noted in a reply to the Disney World CEO, if security caught parents and their kids who snuck into Disney, would they let them stay and get everything, all the rides, food, accommodations, for free? Or kick them all out?

A CNN poll had this to say

Overall, about half of Americans say they would blame either Trump (21%) or his Republican counterparts in Congress (26%) should Congress fail to fund the government by the midnight Friday deadline. About a third, 31%, say they would hold the Democrats in Congress responsible, and another 10% say they’d blame all three groups. Among Republicans, 62% would blame the Democrats in Congress, while 43% of Democrats would blame Republicans on Capitol Hill and 29% would blame Trump.

Still, 56% overall say approving a budget agreement to avoid a shutdown is more important than continuing the DACA program, while just 34% choose DACA over a shutdown. Democrats break narrowly in favor of DACA — 49% say it’s more important vs. 42% who say avoiding a shutdown is the priority — while majorities of both Republicans (75%) and independents (57%) say avoiding a shutdown is more important.

If this isn’t resolved quickly, Democrats should expect different language than they’ve seen in the past, what with Trump in office. He won’t sit around and take the blame, and he will be quick to make sure to blame Democrats. Many in the GOP will follow suit, rather than being meek like in the past.

Anyhow, remember the Barrycades Obama put up during his shutdown? What say we put some around Planned Parenthood? And, hey, how about the General Assembly building in Sacramento, California? If any elected Democrats want to fly home, let them pay for the ticket themselves.