Yeah so I wanna post this thread because I'm sick and tired of the BS surrounding the recent US government shutdown. This thread should provide a brief summary of the details surrounding this shutdown. Hopefully you readers will also see that some Americans like myself are totally dumbfounded by our disgraceful president's actions.
Since December 22nd 2018, two men, that's right, just TWO MEN, Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, have been holding the USA hostage. They refuse to accept any budget deal passed forward by Congress and the House. They want $5.6 billion to fund a border wall with Mexico. A wall that Trump himself has said would be paid by Mexico. The budget proposals that have been passed attribute something like $1.3 billion to border security, but Trump and McConnell wont budge.
On January 9th, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi held a meeting with Trump. He asked, "Will you agree to my wall?" and when she replied she would not, Trump said "bye bye" and walked out of the meeting. And despite this, Trump continually points his finger at Democrats and blames them for the government shutdown. He is totally unwilling to comprimise.
This shutdown affects nearly 3% of the labor force in the United States. These people missed their first pay checks last Friday. It has been estimated that the shutdown has cost the US economy $2.8 billion of its GDP, meaning that this shutdown has cost us MORE than what Democrats offered for border security, or exactly half of what Trump was requesting.
Our National Parks are at risk. Without workers there to monitor activity and ensure safety, anyone could walk right in and start causing chaos. That's exactly what happened to Joshua Tree National Park, where a group of people in offroad vehicles toppled protected Joshua Trees and vandalized others.
Finally, and most importantly in my opinion, There is a $3 billion contingency fund for the American food-stamp program, but if the shutdown continues through March 2019, those funds will be exhausted, leaving 38 million Americans without food.
All in all, this has been a very frustrating time for Americans. When I was young, I learned in elementary school that our government is set up with many "checks and balances" to ensure that one branch of government doesnt have too much power. It appears to me that this isnt true, because two men have held our country hostage for almost a month now. Im starting to think that this is almost some James Bond villain level of BS. I am very frustrated with this situation, and nobody knows when it will come to an end.
Since December 22nd 2018, two men, that's right, just TWO MEN, Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, have been holding the USA hostage. They refuse to accept any budget deal passed forward by Congress and the House. They want $5.6 billion to fund a border wall with Mexico. A wall that Trump himself has said would be paid by Mexico. The budget proposals that have been passed attribute something like $1.3 billion to border security, but Trump and McConnell wont budge.
On January 9th, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi held a meeting with Trump. He asked, "Will you agree to my wall?" and when she replied she would not, Trump said "bye bye" and walked out of the meeting. And despite this, Trump continually points his finger at Democrats and blames them for the government shutdown. He is totally unwilling to comprimise.
This shutdown affects nearly 3% of the labor force in the United States. These people missed their first pay checks last Friday. It has been estimated that the shutdown has cost the US economy $2.8 billion of its GDP, meaning that this shutdown has cost us MORE than what Democrats offered for border security, or exactly half of what Trump was requesting.
Our National Parks are at risk. Without workers there to monitor activity and ensure safety, anyone could walk right in and start causing chaos. That's exactly what happened to Joshua Tree National Park, where a group of people in offroad vehicles toppled protected Joshua Trees and vandalized others.
Finally, and most importantly in my opinion, There is a $3 billion contingency fund for the American food-stamp program, but if the shutdown continues through March 2019, those funds will be exhausted, leaving 38 million Americans without food.
All in all, this has been a very frustrating time for Americans. When I was young, I learned in elementary school that our government is set up with many "checks and balances" to ensure that one branch of government doesnt have too much power. It appears to me that this isnt true, because two men have held our country hostage for almost a month now. Im starting to think that this is almost some James Bond villain level of BS. I am very frustrated with this situation, and nobody knows when it will come to an end.