From: Kermet Merl Key
Columbus
The government is shutdown for one reason: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, will not allow a vote on the House spending bills. These bills, designed to open the government, were written by the Republicans. Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats are giving the Republicans everything they want except for Trump’s wall. McConnell claims he won’t even bother with a bill that Trump won’t sign, but the House and Senate can override his veto with a two-thirds majority vote.
There is only one conclusion to draw: the GOP is holding federal workers hostage for a wall. When they’ve been handed everything else but won’t even hold a vote, it’s the same as refusing to hold a hearing for a Supreme Court nominee (Merrick Garland) It’s Mitch McConnell’s go-to play: do nothing.
Whether we believe we need a wall or not is immaterial when it comes to urgency. There is no reason to hold federal employees hostage while we debate a manufactured crisis. No one closed the government for solar panels and wind mills to deal with the very real crisis of climate change despite the immediate urgency.
If Senate Republicans refuse to do their job when the House Democrats give them everything except Trump’s wall then perhaps House Democrats should demand a Green New Deal, Medicare For All, abolish Student Debt, Marijuana legalization, comprehensive Gun Control, and a Living Wage in exchange for the wall. My guess is the results will be the same, but at least the Democrats are willing to compromise.
