JUST RIP THE BANDAGE OFF!

Weekly Opinion Editorial

CREDIT OR BLAME?

by Steve Fair

   As the government shutdown enters the second month, it appears no end is in sight.  President Trump offered concessions to the Democrats for the ‘dreamers,’ the young illegal immigrants brought to the country as children, in exchange for funding of a border wall.  Thus far, no Congressional Democrat- House or Senate- has expressed support for Trump’s proposal.  The POTUS has vowed to continue the shutdown until funding is agreed to.  Democrat Congressional leaders have refused to negotiate with the president and vowed to not give in.

     First, Democrats have agreed in the past to most of Trump’s proposals.  Fox News delights in showing clips of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, (D-CA) and Charles Senator Schumer, (D-NY) publicly advocating for border barriers before Trump was president.  To a degree, that paints them into a corner.

     Second, President Trump has taken ownership of the shutdown. Unlike the Democrat congressional leadership, Trump admits his part in the shutdown.   According to the Washington Post, that is translating into the loss of support from Trump’s political base, but there is little evidence his supporters are abandoning him.  One of Trump’s primary campaign promises was the building of a border wall and to his credit he is trying to deliver on that promise.  The Democrats are committed to making sure he doesn’t succeed.  Like him or not, the POTUS doesn’t back down from a fight and is not the typical politician.  That has to be unsettling for career politicos.

     Third, Trump’s proposal on Saturday is eerily similar to one he criticized during the primary campaign.  During the GOP debates, Senator Marco Rubio, (R-Florida) was a frequent target of the other candidates for his views on illegal immigration, which included a ‘pathway to citizenship.’  Rubio’s ideas were attacked and Trump was the primary critic.  Just goes to show you that the theoretical often differs from reality.  Governing is more difficult than campaigning. 

     Fourth, a shutdown may be an opportunity to prune the federal government.  The POTUS has amazing leverage when it comes to putting the civil service workforce back to work.  If Trump wants to really shake things up, he could hold out for only partial reopening of the government.  Clearly, the federal government is bloated and a workforce reduction in one stroke of a pen would be painful, but it may be the only way to deal with it.  Just rip the bandage off!  The national debt is out of the control.  Pruning government would be a good thing and while ‘across the board’ is not the ideal way to do it, it is a way.

     The Democrat congressional leadership and their rank and file have shown remarkable solidarity through the shutdown.  They hope voters in 2020 will blame President Trump for the shutdown, and give them credit for opposing the wall.  That is risky because polls show most U.S. citizens are very concerned about border security.  The POTUS may get more credit than blame.