Discussion: Trump Admin. Looks To Soften Shutdown's Impact As It Braces For Political Fallout

“The military will still go to work. They will not be paid. … folks will still be fighting the fire out west. They will not get paid,” he continued. “Parks will be open this time and they weren’t before. … The post office will be open, the TSA will be open.”

We’ll make everybody work, we’ll just save money by not paying them for their time. So basically we’re going to operate the federal government as if it were the Trump Organization.

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Damn, you beat me to it!!

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“This is exactly what they accused the Republicans of doing in 2013,” he said.

Yes, and…?

You claimed it was a legit strategy then. Suddenly you’ve realized it’s not?

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The Dems counter messaging has to be about Trump and the Republicans taking hostages to force their unpopular program onto the country and to make Dems go along with it as ransom. DACA Dreamers have 89% support in the country, and Trump and the Rs are holding them hostage. Childrens health insurance has 90% support in the country, and Trump and the Rs are holding them hostage. In both cases, the Rs killed those working government programs as leverage.

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So all those government workers are necessary after all, the ones who don’t do anything useful and should be cut?

What do you want to bet that congress “forgets” to pass legislation to pay workers who were forced to come in during the shutdown.

So here’s a question: when the government is shut down, do all the contractors and consultants and so forth also stop working, or do they say on the job until their companies run out of money?

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So keeping parks open to avoid public backlash is no deemed “essential”.

Got it.

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The shutdown is necessary and worthwhile, and we’re doing it to show we are serious and tough, and it’s not that big a deal, though, and it’s ENTIRELY the democrats’ fault!"

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My mother and sister drove to the Smokies to go to to the national park there and were turned away during the last shutdown. My mother is STILL talking about it as a huge disappointment.

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“We’re going to manage a shutdown differently, we’re not going to weaponize it,” Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters

“As opposed to how we’re managing the de facto shutdown of the CFPB,” he added.

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Which is why the shitheals in the WH are rationalizing that keeping parks open is “essential” because it seriously pisses people off who have taken time off, planned vacations, etc.

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Depends on agency. In some, contractors cannot work without gov supervision.

ETA: An example: Spouse was contractor for NASA in last shutdown. He continued to work since his hours had already been contracted for–even though invoicing wasn’t in yet. However, he could not contact any NASA employees about his project. This is all pretty much decided agency-by-agency depending on the type of work. And if an agency has user fees…folks keep working through shutdown.

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There will be no political fall out for Republicans, there never is. The best we can hope for is that Democrats only get 50% of the blame, rather than all of it. Everybody knows the shut down is the fault of the GOP, they have ALL the cards and they can very easily avoid a shutdown, could have weeks ago, but media narratives always start with “What the GOP did right and what the Democrats did wrong” and then they write the week’s political narratives from that point.

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This didn’t need to happen, but it’s the Republicans who weaponized government shutdowns during the Obama administration. Time to reap what they’ve sown.

I’m just waiting for the Dems to take charge in the Senate (hopefully), then deny Trump SCOTUS nominees, because this one is clearly illegitimate.

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Democrats Did it ! Benghazi, Benghaz,i Benghazi, BENGHAZI!

The Democrats need to come up with their slogan. The republicans already have theirs: Shumer Shutdown. You have to admit it’s pretty catchy and catchy is what seems to rule the day. It doesn’t really matter whose fault the shutdown is, the party with the catchier message wins. Sad but true. It’s where politics is these days.

Just watching Mikey Pence talk to the “March for Life” folks for the
“45th” year, Funny they have been Marching for 45 years but it
only took 10 months to Eliminate the Estate Tax for Millionaires???
Roe V Wade has been around 45 years, Republicans for over twenty
years had complete control of the Government, These Foolish Marchers
think Republicans will Eliminate the March for Life Voting Block??
Good Luck with that!

So Trump continues his penchant for not paying people he owes money to!

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When you’re relying on Mick Mulvaney to save you, …

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They look to ‘soften’ it by lying right to the faces of the American public? They pretend the bill is ‘everything’ the Dems asked for (except for the stuff they are mentioning) and they promise that they will address any extra stuff ‘later’? ‘Believe me’? They are ‘softening’ the shutdown by tell us how Obama never worked to keep the government open and what a rotten person he was? Really? If I were wealthier I would send each one of those lying twits a dictionary.