As Christmas dawns across the United States this year, the federal government remains partially shutdown due to lack of approved funding. Hundreds of thousands of government workers are indefinitely out of the job, while hundreds of thousands are indefinitely working without pay — and one Democratic Congressman wants his colleagues to focus on getting them back to work to the point of closing the Congressional gym and sauna.
This week, Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) introduced legislation to close the establishments while the government remains shutdown, a situation the White House has acknowledged could stretch into the new year. It’s not immediately clear what chance of passage Foster’s measure has, but in the meantime, he’s noted in outrage:
“During the Trump Shutdown, not only are members still able to access the taxpayer-funded gym, sauna, and steam room while tens of thousands of federal employees remain furloughed, but janitorial staff are still required to clean the gym and restock it with towels and other ‘essential items.'”
The left and right have traded jabs of blame for the shutdown, although neither side can erase the fact that in recent days, President Donald Trump insisted he would be proud to have the government shut down if he didn’t get the $5 billion he wanted for his long sought border wall blocking off Mexico. This past week, Congress presented the White House with a funding package to keep the government open until February, but Trump rejected it because it didn’t have money for the wall.
Subsequently, the House passed a spending package including the money Trump wants for the wall, but Democrats have long insisted they would not support a penny of funding and their support is needed for any spending package to pass the Senate.
Meanwhile, Trump has continued publicly melting down over his wall to the point of essentially confirming the reported comment from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that it’s like a “manhood thing” for him. Acting like he knows what he’s talking about, Sunday night, he ranted on Twitter:
‘We need Border Security, and as EVERYONE knows, you can’t have Border Security without a Wall. The Drones & Technology are just bells and whistles. Safety for America!’
The day before, he ranted before the world:
‘The crisis of illegal activity at our Southern Border is real and will not stop until we build a great Steel Barrier or Wall. Let work begin!.. I won an election, said to be one of the greatest of all time… based on Strong Borders which will keep our Country safe.’
Talk about a superiority complex. Unsurprisingly, Trump did not cite any names of those who’ve claimed his election was one of the “greatest of all time.” He’s just lost in his own nonsense.
He was originally going to go to Florida during the Christmas holiday, but he called those plans off thanks to the shutdown. This past Saturday, he hosted a meeting at the White House dealing with the shutdown — and only Republican lawmakers were invited.
In other words, negotiations aren’t exactly getting off to the best start.
Featured Image via YouTube screenshot
