We must be clear on one thing: The Republicans have the majority in both the House and Senate. It's on them to pass the CR. If they fail, it is THEIR fault.
If the Republicans keep hitting themselves, it's not the Democrats' fault for not stopping them.
"The balance of power envisioned by our country’s founders, three co-equal branches of government serving as a check on each other, has become tilted in favor of the presidency over the years,..."
Congress has been too generous in ceding it's responsibilities to the Executive, perhaps in a way to avoid the blame of their constituents, but more likely because they have become intransigient and lazy.
Government shutdown will be clearly in the hands of the MAGApublicans and on their heads. Also, tying yet another continuing resolution to the defunding/erasing of programs that help people is inhumane, nasty blackmail.
Mr. Stier is completely correct, but has Congress raised the debt ceiling? That is necessary to keep the government functioning at all. The US has never defaulted on its debts, but last year the House Republicans almost caused that. Now, with a President who never pays his own business debts, what happens?
"If Congress abdicates its responsibility and a shutdown occurs, ..."
You mean "When Congress abdicates its responsibility and a shutdown occurs, ..."
There, fixed it for you.
That said, we might not actually get to a shutdown, because Congress has shown itself to be a master at kicking the can down the road. But expecting the Republican majorities in the House and Senate to suddenly grow a pair and stand up to de facto President Musk and de jure President Trump is a waste of energy.
The current administration has already done damage to our institutions and reputation that will take years to repair; my sense is that the Republicans in Congress won't wake up until the damage is irreparable.
The Republicans are not going to wake up. They have been lulled into a stupor by the orange menace, and even an earthquake that damages their sleeping platforms will not be sufficient to bring them to consciousness. Project 2025 is their single focus, and we will rue the day we allow them to accomplish it. I say again, the greatest threat to our country is the loss of the separation of church and state.
They have not bn lulled, they have bn scared s__tless. They are terrified of MAGA voters & of being primaried by Trump's court jester, aka the richest man. But Congress has bn slowly turning over their prerogatives to the executive for a long time, imo b/c it spares them from having to make decisions for which they cd be held responsible. Now we see where that leads.
There is no reason for any Democrat to vote for Mike Johnson's continuing resolution. President Musk and the Felon continue to cut vital programs for the American people. Data kept by the Federal Government is being manipulated by DOGE to reflect the Felon's lies about government savings. To pass Johnson's continuing resolution is to continue to destroy the Middle Class, increase the number of poor people in America and make the rich richer.
I see where the argument is coming from, but it's misleading right now because the current congress has amply demonstrated that it won't stand between tr*mp and law. I am afraid that arguments like these help no other but the republican congress, as if we didn't already have too many Democrats voting for criminal nominees. If anything, a shutdown would allow public malcontent to rise and that is a *good* thing right now.
This is the only leverage that Dems have. The most important thing to note is that the Trumpian party won an enormous mandate (according to them) they can easily pass their resolution. All they need to do is vote for the bill Trump wants. Why is that is problem for them 😉
I think by this time Contrarian readers are aware of all the ramifications of the current government. There are so many things wrong; it's almost difficult to know where to apply energy and response. My emphasis is on preserving democracy. This requires functioning executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Does anyone know whether the USAid contractor funds have been released as per judicial order? Judicial seems to be working, so it's very important to know whether their rulings are being obeyed.
IMO, let the Republicans in charge of the budget shut down the government. It's apparently what PINO wants anyway. Give him what he wants and see what it gets him
The strategists must show us. I believe in using every strategy and pushing for legal accountability and holding every binding law tightly. We need to stay smart and WITH the Constitution.
Breakdowns are the access ot the future. Given that Republicans have all three branches, they will have no one to blame for a shutdown. With no one to blame, the chaos and uncertainty will be further exacerbated, and the response from the people will be strong and loud. The problem is that a genuine Democratic visionary leader who can convert the breakdown into a breakthrough is nowhere to be found.
I don’t see why Congress should appropriate any spending until the Executive Branch faithfully executes previous appropriation bills. If Congress does, the Executive Branch will continue to violate the Constitution and the Impoundment Act of 1974 and spend or not spend money any way it wants to.
Very respectfully, I completely disagree with this analysis. The author is vey naïvely understating that the fascist Musk-Trump-Vance regime has no desire to comply with the law regardless of what Congress does and that the Republicans in Congress have zero desire to do anything to hold it accountable for its lawbreaking, Constitution trashing, and flagrant abuses of power. That is why most members of the crazy and extremist House Freedom Caucus are going to vote for the continuing resolution that Johnson brings before the House, even though it officially does very little to cut spending.
Any funding of the federal government at this time will give the Trump-Musk-Vance regime far more opportunities to abuse its power. Most of the appropriated monies will be impounded by Trump, assuming Congress funds the federal government, and he will keep using the federal government as a weapon to crush political dissent.
And all of the appropriated monies impounded by the Musk-Trump-Vance regime will be specifically to funds earmarked for blue states and cities like Illinois and Chicago and for funding it deems as “woke” in order to punish Democrats and liberals and ram a fascist agenda that benefits only billionaire oligarchs like Elon Musk down the throats of the American people.
Sadly, the only chance of saving our nation’s 248-year-old plus experiment in democracy is for Democrats to enable the Musk-Trump-Vance regime and Republicans in Congress to cause so much misery and suffering for the American people by refusing to work with them to fund the federal government or even raise the national debt ceiling, should Trump and Republicans in Congress need the help of Democrats in Congress to do these things, that there is a popular revolt by the American people against the Musk-Trump-Vance regime and, as a result, Congress removes Trump and Vance from office.
Legally, there is already more than enough evidence to impeach and convict Trump and Vance for high crimes and misdemeanors. Trump illegally impounded monies appropriated by Congress and
both Trump and Vance provided aid and comfort to the enemy in the way of Putin and Russia by betraying Ukraine.
Being that Republicans have a government trifecta and should be able to fund the federal government and raise the national debt ceiling on their own, they will more than likely be blamed by most Americans if the federal government shuts down and the United States defaults on its debt obligations. So, it would be a colossal mistake for Democrats to do anything to enable the Musk-Trump-Vance regime to further abuse its power. Let the Republicans in Congress do that on their own.
Actually, even if Republicans are able to pass a CR and officially fund the federal government, the effects on the American people will mostly be the same as a federal government shutdown due to the Trump impoundments? Why would Democrats want any part of that?
There is essentially going to have to be a situation in the U.S. like there was in South Korea a few months ago where the South Korean people demonstrated peacefully, mostly, in front of their nation’s parliament building until its authoritarian leader resigned.
In the short term, shutting the federal government down and the United States defaulting on its debt obligations will cause far more misery and suffering for far more Americans and everyone else than funding the federal government and the U.S. fulfilling its debt obligations will. But if American democracy collapses, there will be far worse misery and suffering by the American people and everyone else over the long term.
Yes, this is what I'm afraid of. The Democrats are damned if they do, damned if they don't. They can't support this CR, but if they again sit on their hands and the bill fails, Trump will not blame anyone but them, and he will claim that Congress is dysfunctional, so he can step in and finish taking over everything.
We must be clear on one thing: The Republicans have the majority in both the House and Senate. It's on them to pass the CR. If they fail, it is THEIR fault.
If the Republicans keep hitting themselves, it's not the Democrats' fault for not stopping them.
"The balance of power envisioned by our country’s founders, three co-equal branches of government serving as a check on each other, has become tilted in favor of the presidency over the years,..."
Congress has been too generous in ceding it's responsibilities to the Executive, perhaps in a way to avoid the blame of their constituents, but more likely because they have become intransigient and lazy.
Government shutdown will be clearly in the hands of the MAGApublicans and on their heads. Also, tying yet another continuing resolution to the defunding/erasing of programs that help people is inhumane, nasty blackmail.
Our options are to give into fascists or shut the government down. I know which one I’ll choose.
Mr. Stier is completely correct, but has Congress raised the debt ceiling? That is necessary to keep the government functioning at all. The US has never defaulted on its debts, but last year the House Republicans almost caused that. Now, with a President who never pays his own business debts, what happens?
He must be removed from office NOW!
"If Congress abdicates its responsibility and a shutdown occurs, ..."
You mean "When Congress abdicates its responsibility and a shutdown occurs, ..."
There, fixed it for you.
That said, we might not actually get to a shutdown, because Congress has shown itself to be a master at kicking the can down the road. But expecting the Republican majorities in the House and Senate to suddenly grow a pair and stand up to de facto President Musk and de jure President Trump is a waste of energy.
The current administration has already done damage to our institutions and reputation that will take years to repair; my sense is that the Republicans in Congress won't wake up until the damage is irreparable.
The Republicans are not going to wake up. They have been lulled into a stupor by the orange menace, and even an earthquake that damages their sleeping platforms will not be sufficient to bring them to consciousness. Project 2025 is their single focus, and we will rue the day we allow them to accomplish it. I say again, the greatest threat to our country is the loss of the separation of church and state.
They have not bn lulled, they have bn scared s__tless. They are terrified of MAGA voters & of being primaried by Trump's court jester, aka the richest man. But Congress has bn slowly turning over their prerogatives to the executive for a long time, imo b/c it spares them from having to make decisions for which they cd be held responsible. Now we see where that leads.
There is no reason for any Democrat to vote for Mike Johnson's continuing resolution. President Musk and the Felon continue to cut vital programs for the American people. Data kept by the Federal Government is being manipulated by DOGE to reflect the Felon's lies about government savings. To pass Johnson's continuing resolution is to continue to destroy the Middle Class, increase the number of poor people in America and make the rich richer.
I see where the argument is coming from, but it's misleading right now because the current congress has amply demonstrated that it won't stand between tr*mp and law. I am afraid that arguments like these help no other but the republican congress, as if we didn't already have too many Democrats voting for criminal nominees. If anything, a shutdown would allow public malcontent to rise and that is a *good* thing right now.
This is the only leverage that Dems have. The most important thing to note is that the Trumpian party won an enormous mandate (according to them) they can easily pass their resolution. All they need to do is vote for the bill Trump wants. Why is that is problem for them 😉
I think by this time Contrarian readers are aware of all the ramifications of the current government. There are so many things wrong; it's almost difficult to know where to apply energy and response. My emphasis is on preserving democracy. This requires functioning executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Does anyone know whether the USAid contractor funds have been released as per judicial order? Judicial seems to be working, so it's very important to know whether their rulings are being obeyed.
IMO, let the Republicans in charge of the budget shut down the government. It's apparently what PINO wants anyway. Give him what he wants and see what it gets him
cutting off our nose to spite our face might be a bigger problem than we realize.
And when PINO ignores what Congress passes, is that any better?
The strategists must show us. I believe in using every strategy and pushing for legal accountability and holding every binding law tightly. We need to stay smart and WITH the Constitution.
Breakdowns are the access ot the future. Given that Republicans have all three branches, they will have no one to blame for a shutdown. With no one to blame, the chaos and uncertainty will be further exacerbated, and the response from the people will be strong and loud. The problem is that a genuine Democratic visionary leader who can convert the breakdown into a breakthrough is nowhere to be found.
We need leaders--plural--not singular. A strongman is not the answer for the Democrats.
I don’t see why Congress should appropriate any spending until the Executive Branch faithfully executes previous appropriation bills. If Congress does, the Executive Branch will continue to violate the Constitution and the Impoundment Act of 1974 and spend or not spend money any way it wants to.
Very respectfully, I completely disagree with this analysis. The author is vey naïvely understating that the fascist Musk-Trump-Vance regime has no desire to comply with the law regardless of what Congress does and that the Republicans in Congress have zero desire to do anything to hold it accountable for its lawbreaking, Constitution trashing, and flagrant abuses of power. That is why most members of the crazy and extremist House Freedom Caucus are going to vote for the continuing resolution that Johnson brings before the House, even though it officially does very little to cut spending.
Any funding of the federal government at this time will give the Trump-Musk-Vance regime far more opportunities to abuse its power. Most of the appropriated monies will be impounded by Trump, assuming Congress funds the federal government, and he will keep using the federal government as a weapon to crush political dissent.
And all of the appropriated monies impounded by the Musk-Trump-Vance regime will be specifically to funds earmarked for blue states and cities like Illinois and Chicago and for funding it deems as “woke” in order to punish Democrats and liberals and ram a fascist agenda that benefits only billionaire oligarchs like Elon Musk down the throats of the American people.
Sadly, the only chance of saving our nation’s 248-year-old plus experiment in democracy is for Democrats to enable the Musk-Trump-Vance regime and Republicans in Congress to cause so much misery and suffering for the American people by refusing to work with them to fund the federal government or even raise the national debt ceiling, should Trump and Republicans in Congress need the help of Democrats in Congress to do these things, that there is a popular revolt by the American people against the Musk-Trump-Vance regime and, as a result, Congress removes Trump and Vance from office.
Legally, there is already more than enough evidence to impeach and convict Trump and Vance for high crimes and misdemeanors. Trump illegally impounded monies appropriated by Congress and
both Trump and Vance provided aid and comfort to the enemy in the way of Putin and Russia by betraying Ukraine.
Being that Republicans have a government trifecta and should be able to fund the federal government and raise the national debt ceiling on their own, they will more than likely be blamed by most Americans if the federal government shuts down and the United States defaults on its debt obligations. So, it would be a colossal mistake for Democrats to do anything to enable the Musk-Trump-Vance regime to further abuse its power. Let the Republicans in Congress do that on their own.
Actually, even if Republicans are able to pass a CR and officially fund the federal government, the effects on the American people will mostly be the same as a federal government shutdown due to the Trump impoundments? Why would Democrats want any part of that?
There is essentially going to have to be a situation in the U.S. like there was in South Korea a few months ago where the South Korean people demonstrated peacefully, mostly, in front of their nation’s parliament building until its authoritarian leader resigned.
In the short term, shutting the federal government down and the United States defaulting on its debt obligations will cause far more misery and suffering for far more Americans and everyone else than funding the federal government and the U.S. fulfilling its debt obligations will. But if American democracy collapses, there will be far worse misery and suffering by the American people and everyone else over the long term.
Republicans own any shutdown. Period.
Government shutdown as Enabling Act. That's terrifying.
Yes, this is what I'm afraid of. The Democrats are damned if they do, damned if they don't. They can't support this CR, but if they again sit on their hands and the bill fails, Trump will not blame anyone but them, and he will claim that Congress is dysfunctional, so he can step in and finish taking over everything.