McConnell missing in action, stage fright or a bad case of laryngitis. Surely he must be huddled with some other Rethugs trying to figure out what they could possibly do to end this.
Itâs been over 3 weeks and McConnell blocked 2nd attempt at vote. And GOP senators arenât in a hurry to rebell. So, no. The GOP doesnât want to end it.
It seems that the new Trump strategy is to bring back the federal workers ⌠without pay. That way the government is âopenâ to the public, and the only ones being hurt (in the short run) are the workers who are not getting paid.
Isnât there a word that describes forced work without pay?
This is such an obvious question that it has probably already been asked and answered, but are members of the House and Senate being payed during the shutdown? If they are, they shouldnât be.
Makes me proud of our Congress that they will skip the planned recess. 
Maybe you could work on the slavery issue.
Forcing people to work without pay. 
This is actually a good call. They donât need to be on recess right now, and Iâm sure that they arenât particularly anxious to go to an airport. Imagine the welcome they would get.
Give me âWhat is slaveryâ for $500, Alex.
Surely you jest
That would imply that he gives a shit about anything
Republicans have shown over and over they have absolutely zero interest in governing.
They listen to the 35% and no one else and in their twisted world view see this a viable option
Wonder how many cancelled skiing trips there will be as a result?
That, if nothing else, might force some wavering for a few folks. Whatever doesnât produce unpleasantness for themselves doesnât exist.
Yes! I did.
That 35% is not enough for the re-election of many of them.
But your observation that their world is twisted may have something to do with why they ignore that.
Russian compromise is another.
The people who have enough power to get anything done also have enough money so they donât care when or if they get their pay check. Their real money comes from elsewhere.
Some lawmakers are reluctant to return home for next weekâs planned recess â some were planning their first town halls of the new year â as the standoff deepens.
What is this âtown hallâ of which the AP speaks of? Never witnessed such thing here.
The House and Senate announced Tuesday they would stay in session, canceling an upcoming recess week at home if the shutdown continued, which seemed likely.
Well, sure, after all, theyâre federal employees, so this has all been a vacation, right?
âThe president â who is not well-known for flexibility â has been more flexible than the other side,â said Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of GOP leadership.
And yet Trump has explicitly rejected every attempt to actually negotiate, including all of those that were presented by his own people. There has been zero flexibility from the White House. None.
For two-thirds of Congress, the ONLY WAY to get home is to fly. Do you think that TSA agents are going to speed members of Congress through security lines? No â theyâll be sent to the back of the line â multiple times. And how are the planes supposed to take off when there are NO AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS? And what pilot will be loath to announce that a Congresscritter is on board? Think of all the constituent services theyâll be able to perform while trapped in an aluminum tube. They are SCARED to fly, because the shit will hit the fan.
But all this makes President Putin and his boy toy Trump smile.