5 Republicans Join Democrats to Cause Mythical Shutdown

graphic obtained from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/20/heres-how-your-senators-voted-on-the-government-shutdown.html

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

The Democrats are demanding more and more non-budget things on a budget bill, and they think all of their games have paid off.  Among their demands is DACA.  But, why is an immigration bill mixed into a budget bill?  It has nothing to do with the budget.

The Democrats did it to cause the shutdown, because history shows that when Republicans shutdown the government, it's the GOP's fault.  If the Democrats cause a shutdown, thanks to the media, it's still the GOP's fault.

Therefore, the Democrats made sure the government shutdown happened, and as of midnight the funding of the government has ended.

Or has it?

While the House-passed stopgap bill died in the Senate, does it really mean that the government has been shut down?

The vote was interesting. Five Democrats supported it, so it should have had no problem, but then five Republicans voted against it.

What?

The failed proposal would have funded the government through February 16.

Negotiations will continue.  Offers, side offers, counter offers and other political nonsense will go on so that you think the government is trying to work for you.

As funding the federal government looked like it would lapse at midnight, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders released a scathing statement blaming Democrats for the shutdown.

"We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators. When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform," she said.

The thing is, vital functions will continue.  Military paychecks will be printed.  Social Security checks will still be mailed out.  Navy vessels will continue to sail and Veteran Affairs offices will continue to service our military veterans.

The question is, first of all, is the government supposed to be intruding into internal issues in the first place?  How many functions will be shut down over this that shouldn't be among the authorities of the federal government in the first place?

The founding fathers gave the purse strings to the House of Representatives so that the people's representatives could shut things down by defunding it, if the federal government wasn't listening to them, or was acting unconstitutionally.  In other words, government defunding was created as a tool for the people to grab the reins of the federal government.  Now, they treat it as if it is some kind of bureaucratic nightmare.

Personally, I am sick of the theatrics.  Pass the blame, act like it is a horrible crisis, try to clean up the mess, and position yourselves for the election.  That's the reason for all of this.  It's politics as usual, and preparation for the mid-term elections.

Count me out.

Either, the Democrats are obstructionists, or the Republicans are gutless.  It might be both.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary