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Thread: The government shutdown.....

  1. #11
    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jp1 View Post
    If this is how he runs his business it's no wonder that he went bankrupt 6 times and that the only people will do business with him anymore are Russians who figured out they could get something from him that he didn't realize he was giving them. Just a year ago he could've had $25B for a wall and all he had to give up was DACA. Now he's in a really weak position and has little hope of getting even $5B for a wall.
    Thank You, jp1. All this has really been getting to me lately and you just gave me some hope with your post here. What I mean is that you are right - Trump is now in a weak position. At least I can reap solace from this. Rob

  2. #12
    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
    I really feel sorry for the lower paid workers that live in expensive areas. These are the people least able to afford this crap. At this point I don’t care what happens to trump. He let people die in Puerto Rico by not giving enough aid. He just doesn’t care. The republicans need to grow a backbone and vote to open the government. Luckily we are not flying until the end of February.
    I am unable to forgive Trump for how he shortchanged Puerto Rico. I can only hope that whenever he passes into whatever is next he is held accountable for causing these deaths in Puerto Rico. At least I can take solace in that Europeans are fully aware as to how Trump treated Puerto Rico - the rest of the world is learning what America truly is all about under Trump. Rob

  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Williamsmith View Post
    It is not a good thing for the general day to day operation of a country but no country should be at the complete mercy of government workers. Nor should it be at the mercy of one chief executive. Congress should shoulder the blame for a lot of this. They sit on their hands and do nothing. This is what government looks like when it is run like a business. This is “The Art Of the Deal” 101. We have gotten here because of what was done or not done long before Trump ever became a symbol of disgust for political status quo and establishment types. Now, we will see how we can handle turmoil. Both sides need to be put in time out until they can play nice in the sandbox.
    I think you are right on both counts.

    We wouldn’t want to grant too much power, political or otherwise, to public employees. Many countries privatize airport screening or make it a local responsibility. Canada essentially privatized air traffic control twenty years ago. Maybe incidents like this are a good time to reconsider the role of the central government, if only for resilience reasons.

    I also think you’re right about Congress ceding too much power to an increasingly imperial presidency and administrative state. That’s been going on at least since Wilson.

  4. #14
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    Would it not take years to complete this Great Wall of Trump and if so, what would he do in the meantime with all those waiting at the border if they can't deal with them now? None of it makes any sense to me. Another thing that strikes me when the media does stories about federal employees not receiving pay is how close to the edge many are living. Just missing one paycheck seems to throw them into all sorts of financial difficulty or perhaps that's just "fake news".

  5. #15
    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gimmethesimplelife View Post
    ... TSA agents are starting to quit - not in huge numbers (yet) but it's taking longer to get through security lines and the morale is utterly non-existent. Way to go Mr. Trump - obviously aviation safety and the lives of the flying public mean a great deal to you ...
    I am unconvinced that TSA has anything much to do with aviation safety or the lives of the flying public....

  6. #16
    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jp1 View Post
    Just a year ago he could've had $25B for a wall and all he had to give up was DACA.
    It's worse than that - in the time it took to walk the non-partisan bill the few hundred yards to the White House, Trump changed his mind and sunk the whole "deal".

    I worked in a startup once that had a CEO like this. Briefly. We fired him.

  7. #17
    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    And.....

    There's a Federal grant program that helps fund fire departments, providing for gear purchases, training, and some amount of stipends for smaller departments.

    My department relies upon it as part of our budgeting process.

    The people responsible for processing the grant stuff are out-of-the-office due to the shutdown. So no grants, and our yearly budget now has to remove or delay some essential items. My SCBA, the breathing gear I use for structural firefighting and HAZMAT situations, is out-of-date and not compliant with current legal requirements, and was due to be replaced from this grant cycle.

    So....

    I think I have a s'mores recipe somewhere.

  8. #18
    Williamsmith
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    Well, if Trump wants to take $40 billion from the military budget and build a fixed fortification on the southern border, I won’t b*tch. As long as somebody in the future doesn’t decide to use it to keep us in...rather than keep them out.

  9. #19
    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Williamsmith View Post
    Well, if Trump wants to take $40 billion from the military budget and build a fixed fortification on the southern border, I won’t b*tch. As long as somebody in the future doesn’t decide to use it to keep us in...rather than keep them out.
    I'm thinking 5 minutes with the gear on my heavy rescue rig and you could drive a semi through the wall.

  10. #20
    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
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    Anyone who thinks a wall is the answer for border security has never seen the Shawshank Redemption. I suspect the mexicans have more effective tools than a prisoner would so it won’t likely take them 19 years to figure out how to breach it.

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