Tag: Government Shutdown

Come One, Come All….We Are Open For ……

Finally those toadies in DC have a deal and it has been signed (with a Magic Sharpie no doubt) …..now we await the next piece of crap with the next shutdown looming on the horizon.

The just-returned House passed a bill Wednesday to end the nation’s longest government shutdown, sending the measure to President Trump for his signature after a historic 43-day funding lapse that saw federal workers go without multiple paychecks, travelers stranded at airports, and people lining up at food banks to get a meal for their families. Republicans used their slight majority to get the bill over the finish line by a House vote of 222-209; the Senate had already passed the measure, the AP reports. Trump, who planned to host Wall Street CEOs for dinner, per the Hill, scheduled a signing ceremony for 9:45pm at the White House.

Six House Democrats voted for the bill, while two Republicans—Thomas Massie and Greg Steube—voted against it, per the New York Times. Democrats wanted to extend an enhanced tax credit expiring at the end of the year that lowers the cost of health coverage obtained through Affordable Care Act marketplaces, and they refused to go along with a short-term spending bill that did not include that priority. But Republicans said that was a separate policy fight to be held at another time. The GOP eventually prevailed, but only after the shutdown took an increasing toll on the country.

“History reminds us that shutdowns never change the outcome, only the cost paid by the American people,” Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said Wednesday. It was the first House session in 54 days. An administration official said paychecks will be issued starting Saturday, per the Washington Post.

WE can all issue a sigh of relief (for now)….

Donny makes an appearance….

President Trump signed a government funding bill Wednesday night, ending a record 43-day shutdown that caused financial stress for federal workers who went without paychecks, stranded scores of travelers at airports, and generated long lines at some food banks, the AP reports. The shutdown magnified partisan divisions in Washington as Trump took unprecedented unilateral actions—including canceling projects and trying to fire federal workers—to pressure Democrats into relenting on their demands. The Republican president blamed the situation on Democrats and suggested voters shouldn’t reward the party during next year’s midterm elections.

So I just want to tell the American people, you should not forget this,” Trump said. “When we come up to midterms and other things, don’t forget what they’ve done to our country.” The signing ceremony came just hours after the House passed the measure on a mostly party-line vote of 222-209. The Senate had already passed the measure Monday. Democrats wanted to extend an enhanced tax credit expiring at the end of the year that lowers the cost of health coverage obtained through Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Without it, premiums on average will more than double for millions of Americans, and more than 2 million people are projected to lose coverage altogether. Democats refused to go along with a short-term spending bill that did not include that priority. But Republicans said that was a separate policy fight to be held at another time.

“We told you 43 days ago from bitter experience that government shutdowns don’t work,” said Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “They never achieve the objective that you announce. And guess what? You haven’t achieved that objective yet, and you’re not going to.” Democrats said Republicans raced to pass tax breaks earlier this year that they say mostly will benefit the wealthy. But the bill before the House Wednesday “leaves families twisting in the wind with zero guarantee there will ever, ever be a vote to extend tax credits to help everyday people pay for their health care,” said Rep. Jim McGovern.

Now that it is over what did all this drama actually do?

Just wondering.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Clowns Go Back To Work

The House is set to return to work and get to fixing the shutdown…….

After a 54-day recess, the House of Representatives is finally getting back to work, convening to vote on a bill aimed at ending the nation’s longest government shutdown. The Senate has already approved the measure, and President Trump has signaled his support, putting the bill on a fast track—if House Republicans can muster the votes. House Speaker Mike Johnson is under pressure to deliver after nearly two months with no legislation, hearings, or debate, as millions of Americans faced shutdown-related disruptions, per the New York Times. The legislation at hand would fund most of the government through Jan. 30, and some departments and programs, including SNAP, through next September, per PBS.

The bill promises to restore jobs and provide back pay for furloughed federal workers. It also provides millions in security for judges, Supreme Court justices, and members of Congress, and some $844 million for military construction, per PBS. As NBC News reports, it also includes a provision to allow senators to sue the federal government if their data is obtained without their knowledge. This would seem to lay the groundwork for eight Republican senators to sue over phone records subpoenaed in 2023 as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the 2021 Capitol attack.

The path to passage isn’t smooth. Republicans hold only a slim majority, and most Democrats are firmly against the bill, citing the absence of a crucial extension for federal health care subsidies. Johnson is relying on Trump’s backing to keep his caucus together, but even a small group of fiscal conservatives could throw up last-minute hurdles. Democrats, meanwhile, are hoping to minimize defections and ramp up pressure on the GOP. Their numbers will grow to 214 (versus 219 Republicans) with the swearing-in of Adelita Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat whose seating Johnson delayed. Action is expected to ramp up late Wednesday afternoon, though it could be slowed further by travel snags—the same ones plaguing the public.

Keep in mind that they got full pay for 54 days with no work.

Will this act help the shutdown be reversed?

History tells us that it is not over until it’s over.

Speaking of history….when did all this silliness begin?  Has it been a ‘thing’ this whole history of the country?

Before the early 1980s, federal agencies simply kept operating when appropriations had expired (known as a funding gap). The agencies minimized all nonessential operations and obligations, believing Congress did not intend for agencies to close down. Some of the activities that agencies would refrain from during this period were hiring, grant-making, and nonemergency travel.

In the 1970s, appropriation legislation started getting tied to contentious policy issues such as abortion and school integration. That caused six funding gaps in fiscal years 1977 to 1980, which ranged in duration from eight to 17 days. In 1980, reacting to those increasingly frequent funding gaps, President Carter asked the United States Attorney General, Benjamin Civiletti, to provide an opinion on how to interpret funding gaps in the context of the Antideficiency Act. The Antideficiency Act prohibits agencies from obligating or expending federal funds before an appropriation is enacted or above the amount specified in law.

Civiletti issued two opinions about the interpretation of the Antideficiency Act in 1980 and 1981, which shifted the norm from government agencies operating with limited capacity. The opinions state that federal agencies may not spend money when there are no appropriations, with a few practical exceptions. One exception is for spending money to close agencies in an orderly way. Another exception is to allow spending when there is a connection between the agency’s functioning and the safety of human life or the protection of property.

So this has not been a ‘thing’ for very long but it does play into the political games that Congress plays.

So the real shutdown has been that of Congress these momentarily lapses are just part of the game Congress plays with our lives.

Earlier shutdowns—Clinton’s fight with Gingrich in 1995, Obama’s battle with House Republicans in 2013, Trump’s 2018 border wall standoff—were disruptive but contained. Agencies furloughed workers, parks closed, markets wobbled, and then the government reopened, usually with a compromise. What makes this shutdown different is what’s at stake: not just funding, but Congress’s very capacity to function as a coequal branch of government.

For years, lawmakers have relied on short-term funding patches instead of passing real budgets. Each delay weakens Congress’s control over spending and strengthens the executive. Now, as some Republicans begin to break ranks, the deeper problem remains: a Congress afraid of blame, a GOP unwilling to confront Trump, and a presidency eager to fill the vacuum.

The real shutdown isn’t confined to darkened federal offices. It’s unfolding inside Congress itself—an institution that has slowly, and perhaps irreversibly, shut down its own ability to govern.

https://thefulcrum.us/governance-legislation/real-shutdown-congress-surrender-power

This silliness is unnecessary and the only thing truly accomplishes is to penalize the population with the hope that it will effect voting in the future.

It is a game played at our expense.

Thoughts?

Peace   Out

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

This Is Why Moderates Suck!

The news has broken that there may be a deal on the longest governmental shutdown in our history…..and the reason for this ‘miracles if miracles’ are those moderates that always throw a monkey wrench into to any plans the Dems may have.

Here is what is known as of this typing….

The longest government shutdown in history is now on track to end soon after a key procedural vote in the Senate on Sunday. Eight Democrats—technically seven Democrats and an independent who caucuses with the party—broke ranks and joined Republicans in the vote. Some key details:

The eight: They are Democrats Dick Durbin of Illinois, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, and Jacky Rosen of Nevada. Joining them was independent Angus King of Maine, per the AP.

No concession: Democrats did not win the key concession behind their holdout—a guarantee to extend health care subsidies, notes the Hill. But the eight moderates bucked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, arguing the shutdown is causing too much pain.

  • In common: Politico sees “few obvious threads connecting the group who broke the partisan impasse,” and its piece has details on their particular reasons. But a New York Timesanalysis sees one big thing in common: None are up for reelection in 2026 and could afford the “political hit.” Two, Shaheen and Durbin, are retiring.
  • Anger: Many Democrats, especially progressives, are seething over the moderates’ decision. Republicans have promised to hold a vote on the subsidies after the government reopens, but critics are skeptical it will result in an extension. It was “a very, very bad vote,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders in a video, per Fox News. “I think it’s a terrible mistake,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren. “The American people want us to stand and fight for health care, and that’s what I believe we should do.”
  • Justification: “I understand that not all of my Democratic colleagues are satisfied with this agreement,” said Shaheen, one of the eight. “But waiting another week or another month wouldn’t deliver a better outcome. It would only mean more harm for families in New Hampshire and all across the country.”

These eight have nothing to lose for they are not up for re-election so they would not have to answer for any transgressions they have.

This is why I hate moderates…..they are cowards and are only in it for their personal gain.

I lean Left and have never liked the crap about bi-partisanship….it is moderates that are keep this country down even when they are in the drivers seat.

And my leaning is getting further to the Left with each passing election.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Hey What’s That Sound? A Deal?

As long as were are on the shutdown meme it appears there maybe a break in the stalemate on finding an answer to the country’s longest shutdown….

The Senate voted to break the shutdown stalemate Sunday, paving the way for the government to reopen as soon as later this week.

The 60-40 vote to take the first step toward ending the shutdown came hours after enough Democrats agreed to support a package that would fund multiple agencies and programs for the full fiscal year, and all others until Jan. 30, 2026.

In exchange, Democrats have a commitment from the Trump administration to rehire government workers fired at the start of the funding lapse, and the promise of a Senate floor vote in December on legislation to extend expiring Obamacare tax credits.

The vote will pave the way for consideration later this week of a legislative package that would fund the Department of Agriculture and the FDA, the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction projects, and the operations of Congress for all of current fiscal year — the product of months of bipartisan, bicameral negotiations between top appropriators.

All other agencies would be funded through Jan. 30, according to the text of a continuing resolution released Sunday. The agreement still needs to pass the House before the government can be reopened.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/09/government-funding-deal-on-track-to-advance-sunday-night-00644110

I knew the Dems would cave eventually and as usual they do not disappoint.

Cool!

Is this a good sign or just a momentary lapse trying to make the people feel more like there could be an end to this misery?

Any comments in waiting?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Oh SNAP–Part 2

There has been a yo-yo battle going on between Donny and the courts about the payment of SNAP funds….finally it is settled but Donny has other plans….

The Trump administration has ordered states to halt the distribution of full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for November, promising consequences if they don’t.
In a memo, the Agriculture Department authorizing state governments to make only partial disbursements to the more than 40 million people enrolled in the program—roughly 65% of the usual amount. State officials were told to “immediately undo any steps taken” to provide the full amounts, the Washington Post reports. If they don’t comply, the memo said they could lose federal funding that helps cover SNAP’s administrative costs.

SNAP is the country’s largest anti-hunger program, serving primarily children, seniors, and adults with disabilities. While benefits are federally funded, states are responsible for administering the program and share administrative expenses with the federal government. The memo follows a legal back-and-forth in which a Rhode Island judge had ordered the administration to release the full benefits despite the government shutdown. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson temporarily blocked that order late Friday, allowing the administration’s directive to proceed for now.

The administration’s order was sent out last Saturday night, per the New York Times. By Sunday morning, officials in several states said they were unsure what the effects would be. Some states had already released the full amount to recipients who hadn’t gotten payments due at the beginning of the month. Trump administration officials are “demanding that food assistance be taken away from the households that have already received it,” said the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee in a statement. “They would rather go door to door, taking away people’s food, than do the right thing and fully fund SNAP for November so that struggling veterans, seniors, and children can keep food on the table,” said Rep. Angie Craig.

This d/bag gets more disgusting by the day.

How can anyone call themselves an American support this a/hole and his merry band of fools?

In a time when people could go hungry and this moron is worrying about naming a stadium after him….cannot get more disgusting in my opinion.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Oh SNAP!

AS of Saturday there should be no funding for the SNAP…..but a couple of judges has told Donny to find the funds….

Two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously on Friday that President Trump’s administration must to continue to fund SNAP, the nation’s biggest food aid program, during the government shutdown, per the AP. The rulings came a day before the US Department of Agriculture planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown.

The administration has said it wasn’t allowed to use a contingency fund with about $5 billion in it for the program, but the judges rejected that. A federal judge in Rhode Island ruled that the program must be funded using at least the contingency funds—and asked for an update on progress by Monday. A Massachusetts-based judge also gave the administration until Monday to say whether it would partially pay for the benefits for November with contingency money or fund them fully with additional funds.

We await Donny’s to respond.

In a disturbing move the USDA(Trump Administration) has cautioned grocery stores on trying to help people…..

As the Trump administration continued its illegal freeze on food assistance, the US Department of Agriculture sent a warning to grocery stores not to provide discounts to the more than 42 million Americans affected.

Several grocery chains and food delivery apps have announced in recent days that they would provide substantial discounts to those whose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits have been delayed. More than 1 in 8 Americans rely on the program, and 39% of them are children.

But on Sunday, Catherine Rampell, a reporter at the Washington Postpublished an email from the USDA that was sent to grocery stores around the country, telling them they were prohibited from offering special discounts to those at greater risk of food insecurity due to the cuts.

“You must offer eligible foods at the same prices and on the same terms and conditions to SNAP-EBT customers as other customers, except that sales tax cannot be charged on SNAP purchases,” the email said. “You cannot treat SNAP-EBT customers differently from any other customer. Offering discounts or services only to SNAP-eligible customers is a SNAP violation unless you have a SNAP equal treatment waiver.”

The email referred to SNAP’s “Equal Treatment Rule,” which prohibits stores from discriminating against SNAP recipients by charging them higher prices or treating them more favorably than other customers by offering them specialized sales or incentives.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/usda-tells-grocery-stores-they-can-t-give-discounts-to-people-hit-by-trump-s-food-stamp-freeze

Just how bad does the Donny regime hate people?

A disgusting move from a disgusting pack of animals.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

And The Game Goes On

The governmental shutdown shows no signs of a comprise to return workers to their chores…..plans offered….plans defeated….plans offered…..on the beast goes on….

Efforts to resolve the ongoing government shutdown stalled again on Wednesday, with the Senate rejecting both Democratic and Republican proposals to restore funding. Both parties remain firm in their demands, extending the deadlock that began eight days ago, the Guardian reports. The vote on a stopgap funding bill already approved by the House was 54-45, with no new Democrats in favor, CBS News reports. In the sixth vote on the rival spending bills, the Democrats’ measure also failed to get the necessary 60 votes. Senate Majority Leader John Thune plans to hold a seventh vote on Thursday.

The shutdown has resulted in closed federal offices, shuttered national parks, and thousands of furloughed workers. Remaining federal employees, including military personnel, could soon miss paychecks if the impasse continues. Democrats insist any funding deal must include health care measures, particularly an extension of Affordable Care Act premium tax credits set to expire at the year’s end. Without renewal, roughly 20 million enrollees face higher costs. Republicans favor a short-term funding approach through Nov. 21 with no guarantee of health care provisions.

The situation has led to pointed remarks on both sides. House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed Democrats are “worried about the Marxist flank” in their party and said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is “terrified” of a challenge from the far left, the Guardian reports. Schumer, in turn, argued Republicans are to blame for refusing to negotiate on health care, maintaining that both reopening the government and addressing health costs should happen together. “We can do both: fix health care and reopen the government. This is not an either-or thing, which Republicans are making it,” he said. “The American people don’t like it.

How long will this worthless song and dance continue?

What is this stupidity accomplishing?

You know all this can be avoided all these spineless dicks have to do is sign a continuing resolution and the government keeps going.

This whole affair like all others is nothing more that a political game played by people that have nothing to lose.

It is disgusting and most of all truly pathetic.

But who will get the blame?

Meanwhile, a separate YouGov poll of U.S. adults conducted on Oct. 2 found that 45% think Trump is “very responsible” for causing the shutdown. That’s compared to the 22% who felt the president was not at all responsible.

The figures were similar to sentiments toward congressional Republicans, where 43% of U.S. adults said they were very responsible for causing the shutdown, compared to 19% who said they were not at all responsible. Congressional Democrats fared somewhat better in the early October poll, with 36% saying they were very responsible for the shutdown, while 14% said Democrats were not at all responsible.

(desertsun.com)

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

MTG Is At It Again

There have been some wild swings in the stands that MTG grapples with and they swing from batcrap crazy like chem trails to her newest thing….healthcare…..the later being a question for the rest of the GOP.

Republicans did not vote to extend the subsidies in July’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). And if they are allowed to expire at the end of 2025, KFF estimates that the average recipient’s insurance premiums will more than double, from $888 to $1,906 per year, which will result in about 4 million people losing their insurance due to unaffordability, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

This is on top of the roughly 10 million expected to lose insurance coverage due to the GOP’s massive cuts to Medicaid and other ACA marketplace spending in the Republican budget law.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) have maintained that they would not negotiate on extending the subsidies unless Democrats vote to reopen the government, thereby sacrificing their main point of leverage.

…

In a blistering post on X, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said that while she was “not a fan” of the ACA and blamed it for “skyrocketing premiums,” she was “going to go against everyone on this issue because when the tax credits expire this year my own adult children’s insurance premiums for 2026 are going to DOUBLE, along with all the wonderful families and hardworking people in my district.”

“No, I’m not [toeing] the party line on this, or playing loyalty games,” Greene continued. “I’m carving my own lane. And I’m absolutely disgusted that health insurance premiums will DOUBLE if the tax credits expire this year.”

Greene lamented that “not a single Republican in leadership talked to us about this or has given us a plan to help Americans deal with their health insurance premiums DOUBLING!!!”

She then turned her attention to the tens of billions of dollars worth of military aid sent to Israel and Ukraine in recent years: “All our country does is fund foreign countries and foreign wars, and never does anything to help the American people!!!”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/mtg-scolds-gop-over-healthcare

I agreed with her on the Israel stand she took and now I find myself thinking that she has learned a thing of two since joining Congress.

Yet deep down I feel that this is just a temporary thing for her that the batcrap crazy will return and return with a vengeance.

But if it actually starts a real conversation on the subject then I say bully for her.

What say you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

This Amazing Shutdown–Update

We are in a battle of ideologies which has been the same for decades…..this group is at fault…..that group is unyielding….blah, blah….

But as my usual style I like to keep my readers as up-to-date as I can…..

Twice they tried….twice they failed…..

In what may become a daily occurrence while the government shutdown continues, rival stopgap spending bills were voted down in the Senate on Wednesday. A Democratic proposal to fund the government until Oct. 31 failed in a 53-47 vote, with Republicans united in opposition, the BBC reports. A House-passed Republican proposal to fund the government for seven weeks also failed to advance after a 55-45 vote. Both measures, which needed 60 votes to pass, failed by the same margins Tuesday night, leading to the shutdown at 12:01am. As in Tuesday night’s vote, Democrats Sens. John Fetterman and Catherine Cortez Masto voted for the GOP proposal, as did independent Sen. Angus King, while Republican Sen. Rand Paul voted against it.

There were no signs of a breakthrough that would end the deadlock on Wednesday, the New York Times reports. Both sides blamed each other for the shutdown. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats were “reflecting what the American people really want” with their push for healthcare funding, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune refused to link the issue to keeping the government open. “Everybody’s now asking the question, ‘How does this end?'” he said, per the Times. “It ends when Senate Democrats pick this bill up passed by the House of Representatives and vote for it.”

And true to form the Senate takes a break (but from where I sit they seem to always be on break) and slink off to pout and bitch.

The Senate adjourned for the day on Wednesday with no resolution on how to reopen the government. Blame was being cast on all sides on the first day of the shutdown. A vote to end the government shutdown failed earlier Wednesday, as Democrats in the Senate held firm to the party’s demands to fund health care subsidies that President Trump and other Republican leaders have refused to extend, the AP reports.

  • At issue are tax credits that have made health insurance through the Affordable Care Act more affordable for millions of people since the COVID-19 pandemic. The credits are set to expire at the end of the year if Congress doesn’t extend them—which would more than double what subsidized enrollees currently pay for health insurance premiums, according to a KFF analysis.
  • Republicans including Vice President JD Vance accused Democrats of holding government services “hostage” and said they would be willing to talk about extending the credits, but only after the shutdown ended. “Let’s reopen the government before we have our negotiation about health care policy,” Vance said Wednesday, per the Washington Post.
  • Senate Majority Leader John Thune says that his message for senators trying to cobble together a bipartisan solution for funding the government is “when you have critical mass, come and talk to me.” That means any bipartisan fix will need support from at least eight Democrats. Thune gave no sign a negotiation was happening among leaders and appeared resigned to allowing the funding bill to sit in the Senate for at least several days, the AP reports.
  • Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska confirmed Wednesday that he is part of a group of GOP senators working on a plan to extend the subsidies, Politico reports. He said that talks have been ongoing for weeks and that the group’s proposals are not being raised in negotiations to end the shutdown.
  • The New York Times reports that the administration moved to “maximize the pain” of the shutdown for Democrats on Wednesday, with officials preparing for mass layoffs and moving to halt or cancel $26 billion in funding for projects in Democratic-led states.
  • On video screens in the White House briefing room, the Trump administration played videos depicting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero. One of the deepfake videos, which had been shared by Trump on social media and were widely condemned as racist, began playing on monitors in the briefing room Wednesday afternoon. One deepfake video has Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer implying that Democrats seek to give free health care to immigrants in the country illegally while Jeffries, standing beside him, is depicted as wearing a Mexican sombrero and fake mustache. A second video, showing a clip of Jeffries condemning the first as “disgusting,” again depicts him that way, with an all-Trump mariachi band playing behind him.
  • Vance played down the videos at the briefing Wednesday, the Washington Post reports. “The president is joking, and we’re having a good time,” he said, adding that if Jeffries helps “reopen the government, the sombrero memes will stop.” In a post on X, Jeffries said, “JD Vance thinks we will surrender to the Republican effort to gut healthcare because of a Sombrero meme. Not happening Bro.” He shared a meme of his own superimposing an image of Vance with a fat head and curly, long hair on a video of him in the briefing room earlier.

This is where the saga ends for the day…..accusations, pouting, and bitching…..all things Congress does exceptionally well.

Stay tuned there is more to come….more antics, more accusations and more fun for us analysts.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Not Everyone Will Be A Loser

It is official we have ourselves a shutdown…..people will work without pay, checks may be slow in coming and other services will be impacted….but there is one group that will continue doing what they do with no fear of losing income….

The first government shutdown since December 2018 is now in effect, meaning hundreds of thousands of employees are furloughed, and many more “essential” workers must clock in without pay. (The New York Times has a detailed visual breakdown here.) One group that will keep getting paid if the shutdown drags on? Congress. That’s thanks to the Constitution, which locks in congressional salaries—congressmen are currently paid $174,000, more if they’re in leadership—and keeps the money coming even if the rest of government grinds to a halt.

Not everyone on Capitol Hill is comfortable with that setup. Some lawmakers, like Democratic Sen. Andy Kim and GOP Reps. Kat Cammack and Rob Bresnahan, have publicly asked that their pay be withheld during the shutdown. But NBC News reports not everyone is following their lead. “I’m not wealthy, and I have three kids. I would basically be missing, you know, mortgage payments, rent payments, child support,” Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego told the network. The president gets paid as well during a shutdown, though President Trump donated his salary during his first term and says he intends to do so again this time around.

So the do-nothing Congress will continue to roll in the cash…..why is that?

These people have done very little substantive work in decades and it is their fault that the shutdown occurred then why should they be exempt from the consequences?

I say screw them!  Let them go without income until they find an answer to this silliness.  They should feel any pain that they inflicted on the people….they will not but it is a thought for a later day.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”