Reprinted with permission from Shareblue.
Trump has made history by presiding over the longest government shutdown in American history. Jan. 12 marks the 22nd day of shutdown, exceeding the previous mark of 22 days that was set in 1995.
The government has been shut down for nearly a month because Trump demanded American taxpayers give him $5 billion to waste on a wall that most Americans don’t want and most experts say serves no national security purpose.
Americans are outraged and embarrassed.
A new poll from NPR/Ipsos found that 74 percent of Americans think the shutdown is “embarrassing for the country.” Even a majority of Republicans feel this way. A majority of voters — Democrats and Republicans — also think Congress should pass a bill to reopen the government immediately.
The House, led by Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has passed several bills to do just that. However, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has refused to even hold a vote on any of those bills.
The poll also shows that Trump’s prime-time address to the country on Tuesday was a massive failure, with only 10 percent believing that it did anything to bring the country closer to ending his shutdown.
Meanwhile, as Trump’s unpopular tantrum makes history, thousands of federal workers are not being paid and facing increasingly dire financial situations — something Trump and his fellow Republicans have shrugged off.
The shutdown is being slammed for hurting veterans, compromising national security, putting the food supply at risk, and making air travel inconvenient and unsafe.
Additionally, major museums in the nation’s capital have been shuttered while national parks are overwhelmed by human waste and trash.
Trump loves to boast about breaking records, but breaking the U.S. government for the longest stretch in history is nothing to be proud of.
Published with permission of The American Independent.
