Mr. Trump: Keep The Government Shut and Build The Wall

In the "old days," let's say pre-1970, government employees were not paid as much as private sector employees and a consolation perc they have enjoyed in perpetuity has been that the chance they will ever be fired are very slim.  This under-pay status is no longer the truth. I suspect that government senior managers are not paid as much as senior managers in the private sector but that is not true in the case of line staff. Why on earth the Feds, including Trump, raise their hands and pronounce that all furloughed employees will receive back-pay is beyond me. It is a betrayal of the taxpayers and a disgrace.  The cause of a shut-down does not matter. The fact is (those that were sent home) did not work and thus should not get paid. If a fire in a local Taco Bell causes employees to lose work for three weeks, how much do you think they get paid? Some owners may have “business interruption” coverage for such loss of income but I suspect most don't. A paycheck is not a constitutional right. You produce, you receive a paycheck.

Based not on only this but including this I won't vote for Trump again.  I was a diehard "deplorable" but he has been quite weak in using his power to, as he says, "drain the swamp." (notice he does not say that much any longer.)  Of a hundred government employees, especially in and around D.C. (look at 2016 voting results in DC and neighboring Virginia counties) how many do you think voted for him?  I am going to guess 40% or less. If Trump were to keep the government shut and announce the employees could use vacation time for pay until that runs out, it is the Dems the employees will go after.  In other words it is the Dems who will receive the pressure from the furloughed employees. What on earth does Trump have to lose (and I don’t care about the Republicans in Congress)? So the people who already suffer from TDS don’t vote for him...no loss and let’s suppose some of the Republican voters don’t vote for him.  Not significant.

Since his presidency Trump has faced opposition, often hostile, from the other two branches of government, especially the Dems and the regional courts.  Trump is one branch and he has the awesome power of veto and it is litigation proof and probably safe against the override power of congress.. It really is that simple:  veto any funding bill that includes back pay for government employees and does not include $25 billion for the border wall. The border wall was a signature issue and it is now diluted to nearly nothing of importance.  First, Mexico was going to pay for the wall; not so much. Then tariffs would pay for the wall. Guess what? Then he signed a usurious spending bill that tragically increased debt but yet again included no funding for the wall.  Then he said $5 billion which, by one account covers 265 miles out of 2,000. Dems, to a person did not support that. Now it is $1.6 billion and the dems will have nothing to do with it. I really cannot vote for him again. Admittedly he has made significant achievements in many areas (taxes, trade, military) but he has failed horribly to drain the swamp or build the wall, two oft-repeated campaign promises, and two of my “signature” issues.

And this all the while he has the power of veto.

I worked for Washington State government for 25 years and am aware first-hand how the state tried to never reduce staff (successfully).  The most significant was when Clinton signed the scam we call “Entitlements as we know them are gone.” Immediately the state lost 20% of its welfare grant workload and I know damn well why.  That 20% always was employable and decided to scoop up the better jobs before others did the same thing.

The state reduced its workforce by not one employee.

After two tries, the voters approved an initiative taking the state out of the liquor business.  What exactly happened to the liquor store employees I don’t know but I would bet they did not lose their jobs. The state was VERY quiet about that. As were the unions.  This is what the Feds are doing. At our expense they are making financially comfortable government employees who are not working.

Watched a You-Tube video, as I am often given to do, in this case on the “ten worst neighborhoods in Detroit.”  I have watched similar videos like “Ten Worst Cities in The Country.” In some of the Detroit neighborhoods, nearly 50% of the population did not complete an 8th grade education.  Any bets how many of these people are on welfare? Yet the states only sporadically devise litigation-proof laws that force people receiving my money to go to work. And, I understand the recent agriculture bill (food stamps are funded via the Department of Agriculture) on Trump’s desk REMOVED a requirement to work.

Examples are available ad nauseum.  In his defense,Trump had a lot to do.  I recall Obama once saying “changing government is more difficult than I thought.”  That does not excuse Trump’s failure to drain the swamp and build the wall. Those were his campaign promises and I voted for him thinking he would work on those like a pit bull..

Quit being afraid of being president.  Write a things-to-do list and use your executive power to keep the government shut until that list is completed...which you can work on while you are busy being impeached. Shame on you for betraying people who put all their faith in you as our last chance.  You lost my vote though in New York I concede that won’t matter much.