As of this writing, the government is in the midst of the longest self-imposed shut down in history. Approximately 800,000 workers are out of work or going without pay, national parks are closed, and all “non-essential” government services are on hold. The reason for the shutdown is because the government does not have an approved budget in place and the president says he will not sign a budget if it does not include the requisite funds to build his monument, I mean border wall… I think you can all guess where I stand on the issue, so I won’t go into that. The question instead is how will all of this end? Apparently, there are budget bills that have bipartisan support that would open the government immediately if the president was willing to sign them. That is encouraging. Both sides are willing to include additional funds for border security including technology and additional personnel — which could actually make a difference. What is most unfortunate besides the fact that 800K government workers are going without pay, is that lost in the political posturing is a legitimate budget debate about the issues that matter most such as education, healthcare, housing, and national defense. I predict that a resolution will eventually come when the final budget includes something about border security that the president can say is the equivalent to a wall, and the Democrats can say is definitely not a wall. This is the world we now live in.
Let me state a few facts on the subject: 95% of illegal drugs enter the U.S. through legal ports of entry. There is not a single documented case of a terrorist who entered the U.S. illegally through the Mexican border, and unauthorized immigration from Mexico is at an all-time low.
Inflation has impacted all of us. The price of almost everything has spiked faster and harder than at any time since the 80s. Few things can obliterate a modern economy more than out-of-control inflation.
For most people, there is little upside to writing about the January 6th hearings, but as you probably know by now, I don’t worry about those things. We all must stand for something. The hearings have almost everyone taking sides before a single witness is called. Democrats believe that the events of January 6th were a calculated effort to undermine our democracy by demolishing two of the most sacred tenants of our nation, free elections, and the peaceful transition of power.
Most people consider themselves either a conservative or a liberal. I think if we forget political parties, which flip their positions on things all of the time, and instead focus on the actual definition of what it means to be a conservative and what it means to be a liberal, we might be able to temper the emotional reactions some of us have with political discourse.