Will Congress Spoil Thanksgiving and Christmas this Year? (Opinion)
Jerry Falwell Jr and Donald Trump (Photo: Shealah Craighhead)
by Preston Brady III, MobileTribune.com 2023
In case you haven’t noticed, the American Congress – the Senate and House of Representatives – is having the worst time of its 234 years life. For the first time ever, they booted a Speaker of the House out of his position – a position that is only second in the line of succession to the President of the United States. Congress is the body of government responsible for coming up with a budget so the country can continue to operate, and to send it to the president to sign. There’s a serious problem brewing and if it is not solved by November 17, a lot of Americans could be looking at a depressing pair of two major holidays: Thanksgiving and Christmas. But the truth is we Americans are the real culprits because we voted these people into office. Polarization by a group of far-right Senators is fueling a fierce disagreement over the budget. There is no sign things will get better by the next deadline and this time it seems more conceivable most of the federal government will shut down. Obviously, a shutdown could not come at a worse time. The longest shutdown in history was 34 days, beginning a few days before Christmas on December 21, 2018 and lasting until January 25, 2019. This shutdown seems to have the potential to last even longer. Like a tropical wave thousands of miles from the U.S. Coast, there isn’t a lot of front-page news about it until it grows and gets closer to the reality of being a major storm causing a tremendous amount of damage. Before the stopgap it was front page news. It won’t circle back to that position again probably until late October or early November. We as Americans who voted these people into office can do very little to stop the train. you can’t just fire a representative or congressperson. It takes an act of Congress to do that, ironically. Tens if not hundreds of millions of people are directly affected by a government shutdown, including citizens who have suffered damages from natural disasters, contractors and sub-contractors with federal government contracts, federal workers who are considered essential but still have to work but do not get paid until there is a budget. The questions some of them may be asking is how long can I go without a paycheck? The majority of working people cannot go very long without being paid. The bills roll in every month like clockwork, government shutdown or not. I saw a comment on a news site that appeared to be by someone living in Israel. They ask: why aren’t you Americans marching in the streets, screaming at the top of your lungs? I thought about it and decided that’s just not the way we operate. Sure, we have picket lines and demonstrations from time to time, but a very major uproar over the government shutting down – it’s not in our cards. We leave all this nasty business to the politicians we elected and who we pay. If they fail, then we failed and we have to suffer the consequences. In other words, we deserve what we get. We made our bed and now we have to lie in it. Around the holidays this year it might be a very cold, hard bed we lay in. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Those clowns on Capitol Hill show no signs of letting up. Looking forward to next November and the election. I have the memory of an elephant, and hopefully you do to.
Jerry Falwell Jr and Donald Trump (Photo: Shealah Craighhead)