Trump thinks history will remember this shutdown as the president making a noble stand in defense of the nation's border. History will actually remember that a president increasingly embattled by investigations into his alleged criminal activity and having just lost his party's sole control of congress, went into a snit and shut down the government out of spite. What it really is is testing the waters to see if it will be possible to do an end run around the balance of powers. If successful it wil be as Donuel said "shut downs will be business as usual for dictators to take over funding duties that used to be the domain of Congress." I've heard people say "why not just buy the baby a toy so he'll quit throwing his mashed peas at the dog?" Oops, sorry, wrong quote. What I have heard people ask is "Why not just give him the 5 billion so he'll let government get back to work?" After all, it's costing the government nearly as much every day it is shut down. Well, just read the previous paragraph. That is why The House should not, must not and hopefully will not give him the money, and victory. Any film noir fan knows what happens if you pay off the blackmailer, he just comes back for more, over and over again. This country has long had a policy of not negotiating with terrorists, at least back to when Jefferson dealt with the Barabary pirates, and that should be The House policy now, towards the one sitting in the White House.
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