President Donald Trump has thrown down the gauntlet, that he will NOT sign any bill to fund the government, unless $5 billion is added to the budget for his planned Mexico Wall.
This is a massive waste of money, and the Democrats have made it clear they will NEVER agree to this.
Meanwhile, what has Donald Trump wrought, with two weeks and counting of this endless federal government shutdown?
800,000 federal workers will not be paid in the interim, despite their having rent and mortgage payments, health care insurance premiums, food and other basic needs to meet.
About half of this group of federal workers must report to work despite no pay, and the other half are furloughed, and may never get paid for what they have lost in work days.
Contract workers who do not work for the federal government, and vendors who service federal institutions, have no work or pay, and will not get recompensed for their loss of income, putting many already impoverished into a disastrous situation, which could lead to expulsion from their housing, and inability to afford food, medicine, health care, utilities and credit payments.
Federal facilities,including national parks and monuments, and such locations as the Smithsonian Institution museums, the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and the Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration, and so many other agencies are shut down and deny basic services to Americans, and will cause the loss of tourism and planned vacations and school trips for many Americans.
Garbage, basic cleaning of restroom facilities, and protection of the basic environment is set back by the shutdown.
Indian reservations will be harmed in a dramatic way, and poor people and sick people and the elderly and disabled will be harmed as the shutdown continues. One can be sure some people will lose job interviews and opportunities, and some lives will be lost as the shutdown continues.
The national economy will be harmed as economic output declines, and it will undermine our defenses as well, as many military people in the Coast Guard and other military locations are put under the restrictions of the government shutdown, and this includes the TSA, the Immigration and Custsoms Enforcement agencies, border guards, and even federal courts which will be held up in pursuit of justice, including investigation of the Trump scandals.
Does Donald Trump give a whit about any of this? The answer is NO, as he is a totally self centered, selfish, mean spirited, ego maniac with authoritarian tendencies, and he is holding the government hostage until and when the Republican Party puts the nation ahead of themselves, which might never happen.
So the constitutional crisis is accelerated, and yet, the question is what is the ultimate way out of this mess, without caving in to Trump, emboldening him, and wasting money on a wall that undermines our reputation and image, and will not resolve the issue of drugs or undocumented immigration. Only modern technology and drones can do that.