The government shutdown.....

[jp1]

I just think they would pay for cars or something. Or commandeer (sp?) a train.

I doubt my senator or any from a state near me would opt for that. Not everyone is able to do like joe biden, who famously always took amtrak to work every day when he was a senator.

[dmc]

No THEY'RE not.

Maybe not when they start, but it seems to be a very lucrative career for the majority.

[Tybee]

When they had to evacuate Parris Island in a hurricane, they lined up Greyhound buses from all over and sent the recruits out. I'm sure the Marines could send Congress home via Greyhound.

Or they could just stay.

[Williamsmith]

This again is all grandstanding by both sides. The government shutdown affects only approximately 8% of the federal government. All the rest of government is chugging along quite nicely on our debt. The military is still launching airplanes, social security is writing checks.....etc. For the most part, Americans don’t see any change in day to day life. And he should they, all these areas that are affected shouldn’t even be part of the federal government to begin with. The money for the wall is a drop in the bucket. This is a simple banana republic. Nobody is functioning as an adult. At least, the establishment has been exposed. Just hope this thing is resolved peacefully and the rest of the world holds off calling on our debt for a while longer.

[Lainey]

Although most Americans don't "see" the effects in the day-to-day life, I disagree that we are not all affected.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...-calendar.html

I also disagree that this work shouldn't be done by the federal government in the first place. Do you really want to see a privatized National Science Foundation; National Parks Service; Environmental Protection Agency; National Transportation Safety Board; Center for Disease Control; etc.

Not me.

[jp1]

We have a president who was only elected with 46% of the vote. He views the presidency the same way he views being a CEO. As a dictator. He has only one major legislative victory, a massive, irresponsible tax cut for the rich and corporations, which is quite unpopular with the voters. The voters responded by hammering his party in the midterms. Elections are supposed to have consequences. If the sad sack president won't admit that then it's up to others in his party to act like adults and admit it for him. The democrats have nothing to gain by caving on the unpopular president's unpopular signature issue. All they would accomplish is that they would convince their voters that elections don't matter. This isn't just about $5b. It's about who is going to inspire their voters to come back again in a couple of years and vote.

[Chicken lady]

I heard somewhere that the White House isn’t paying its water bill. It would be nice if the water company shut it off like they do for regular people.

[Teacher Terry]

Yes CL that would be awesome!

[Lainey]

Also noted that e-Verify is one of the services not being provided during the shutdown. Oh, the irony ...

[razz]

This again is all grandstanding by both sides. The government shutdown affects only approximately 8% of the federal government. All the rest of government is chugging along quite nicely on our debt. The military is still launching airplanes, social security is writing checks.....etc. For the most part, Americans don’t see any change in day to day life. And he should they, all these areas that are affected shouldn’t even be part of the federal government to begin with. The money for the wall is a drop in the bucket. This is a simple banana republic. Nobody is functioning as an adult. At least, the establishment has been exposed. Just hope this thing is resolved peacefully and the rest of the world holds off calling on our debt for a while longer.

WS, when speaking to my sister living in North Carolina yesterday, she was describing the ripple effect that she is seeing in businesses experiencing slowdown, especially small businesses. North Carolina residents who experienced severe storm damage similar to Texas and other states are very distressed that funds earmarked for their aid might be used for the 'wall'.

The loss of pay checks is a lot of revenue that is being taken out of circulation in normal daily transactions and not easily replaced, is it not?