Donald Trump's possible third shutdown is not about protecting Americans: Today's talker
The federal government is moving closer to its third government shutdown since President Donald Trump took office. This time, the president says he is not willing to sign a spending bill that doesn't include funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Shutdowns are a sham
By Jim Griesemer
I've been thinking about government shutdowns. The most recent threat to stop public services is about funding the expansion of the border wall with Mexico. But shutting the government down is hardly a new idea. Just 11 months ago, there was a several-day shutdown over childhood immigrants (DREAMers). Five years ago, there was a 16-day shutdown over the Affordable Care Act.
Before that was the granddaddy of shutdowns, a three-week period where Americans were without many public services because President Bill Clinton and House Republicans led by then-House speaker Newt Gingrich couldn't agree on a government spending bill. This came just one month after a five-day shutdown in another budget battle between the same antagonists. In total, over the past 42 years, there have been some 20 government shutdowns.
The news media often covers the battle over government shutdowns like a sporting event. The players — Congress and the president in this case — often seem to treat shutdowns as a tactical event, an exercise in one-upmanship, a battle to prove who is king of the hill.
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But it's not entertainment for regular Americans who are paying the price and suffering inconvenience. While it's hard to estimate the total cost of a government shutdown in terms of money, economic growth and impact on citizens, the Office of Management and Budget made a serious attempt to do so in a study of the 16-day closure in 2013. The report is extensive, but here are a few highlights:
► Federal employees were furloughed for a combined total of 6.6 million days, costing taxpayers over $2 billion for public services that could not be performed.
► The closure reduced U.S. economic growth, costing the economy between $2 billion and $6 billion during the period of the shutdown.
► Public services to citizens and businesses were dramatically affected, as well. They included: delaying almost $4 billion in tax refunds; preventing hundreds of patients from enrolling in clinical trials; delaying home loan decisions for 8,000 rural families; and slowing small business contracts with the Defense Department by 40 percent — and that is just a very small sample of the impacts detailed in the study.
The thousands of veterans, workers, taxpayers, patients and others denied important services during the 2013 shutdown might just be collateral damage in the minds of some in the political class. But those impacted are citizens, voters, taxpayers and fellow Americans, so they should count for something.
The budget brinkmanship that spawns most government shutdowns is nearly always wrapped in high-sounding phrases relating to important issues. The battles are purportedly about "securing the border," "saving taxpayer money," "protecting the unborn," "helping business grow," "creating jobs" and so on.
But, when the shutdown finally ends, the outcome is predictable: the big, important issues are not resolved. That's because such issues are not, at their cores, budget issues. The budget battle serves as a symbolic skirmish — creating smoke, sound and fury — while avoiding deeper issues. However, halting public services is not merely a symbolic act to American citizens. They are the ones who actually pay the price in wasted taxpayer dollars, economic decline and personal inconvenience.
Voters have every reason to demand genuine performance from public officials and reject the sham of shutdowns.
Jim Griesemer is professor and dean emeritus at the University of Denver, where he directs the Strategic Issues Program. The full column first appeared in the Las Cruces (New Mexico) Sun-News.
What readers are saying
Republicans are so dysfunctional that they will shut down the government, even when they hold control of all three branches of government, because of President Donald Trump's Twitter tantrums over a wall.
— Andrew Jason Neumann
Some people who patrol the southern border want the wall. I say shutting down the government to give these people what they need to help fight the illegal crossings is a great thing. So shut it down.
— Jim Creekmore
Trump failed to get Mexico to pay for the wall, so now he wants U.S. taxpayers to pay for it, and if not, he'll put a lot of government employees out of work. And all in time for Christmas.
— Mike Johnson
What others are saying
Stephen Miller, presidential aide, on CBS's "Face the Nation": "If it comes to (closing the government), absolutely. This is a very fundamental issue ... (Democrats must decide) whether they want to fight for America's working class or promote illegal immigration. At stake is the question of whether or not the United States remains a sovereign country."
Jennifer Rubin, The Washington Post: "If Trump is going to repeat his temper-tantrum performance in the Oval Office — which amounts to threatening to hold his breath until he passes out — Republicans will remain on defense for a good deal of 2019. It’s a bit of political karma given their complete subservience to Trump."
Curtis Ellis, The Daily Caller: "In Schumer Shutdown 2.0, the crafty senator leading is leading minions into battle to protect the paychecks of Washington bureaucrats rather than the security of American families. ... Chuck Schumer and his swamp-dwelling kin see a government shutdown as the end of the world because they think the government and the nation are the same thing. The American people know our country is more than the government."
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