The Shutdown: Who Is to Blame?

So now our federal government is in shut down mode once again because the politicians cannot agree on a budget that doesn’t include this or that. I recall several times during my DEA career when this nonsense came around, and we had to worry for days over whether we would be coming to work because there was a threatened shut down.

Everybody is blaming each other, and today CNN is blathering the Democrat talking points that Trump is the villain. Let us remember that the president doesn’t pass a budget. Congress does. In this case we have the Democrats demanding an agreement on the DACA “Dreamers” before they will agree to a budget and now even negotiate a temporary measure that would keep the government going pending further negotiations.

Since the Republicans control both houses of Congress as well as the White House, it is easy to blame them. But it is the Democrats in the Senate, aided by a handful of Republicans, who are blocking a budget bill. Now, because of the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to break, the Republicans simply don’t have the votes to override.

I am no expert on the convoluted machinations of Congress. I don’t write for The Hill or Politico, but the way I see it is this: The Democrats are holding up passing of a budget principally for one reason: DACA.

What that means is that our government has been shut down for the benefit of one class of people, young people who are in this country illegally. Yes, their circumstances are unique and compelling in that they were brought here by their parents illegally when they were kids. Yes, I believe there should be some way to get their status legalized but with a careful examination of each case to prevent an abuse of the system by those who only claim to be in that class.

But let the record show that the Democrats have put the interests of these people ahead of the country’s interest in having a budget passed and a fully functioning government.