Gov't Shutdown Brinkmanship

From this Brit's perspective, I see the machinations of your Congress and Senate as they each seem to propose conflicting ways forward on government funding and I wonder when the brinkmanship will go too far. Even a short shutdown would be likely to do lasting damage to the US's credit rating and ability to run it's economy. Wouldn't it? It might even cause uproar in the world's stock and bond markets, where our own pension funds and savings are ultimately invested.

Without arguing the rights and wrongs of the various 'sides' and 'interests' can anyone tell me if these standoffs are getting more frequent, and more consistently getting closer to the abyss? Last time was June, and they bought enough time to reach today. The one before that was December? Current Senate proposals would seem to only avert a shutdown till some time in November??? That seems a rather limp bit of kicking the can down the road?


No-one on this forum seems too bothered by the standoff. Is it just that it's seen as meaningless posturing that won't affect your real world, day to day life?

Quote: OnceDear

From this Brit's perspective, I see the machinations of your Congress and Senate as they each seem to propose conflicting ways forward on government funding and I wonder when the brinkmanship will go too far. Even a short shutdown would be likely to do lasting damage to the US's credit rating and ability to run it's economy. Wouldn't it? It might even cause uproar in the world's stock and bond markets, where our own pension funds and savings are ultimately invested.

Without arguing the rights and wrongs of the various 'sides' and 'interests' can anyone tell me if these standoffs are getting more frequent, and more consistently getting closer to the abyss? Last time was June, and they bought enough time to reach today. The one before that was December? Current Senate proposals would seem to only avert a shutdown till some time in November??? That seems a rather limp bit of kicking the can down the road?


No-one on this forum seems too bothered by the standoff. Is it just that it's seen as meaningless posturing that won't affect your real world, day to day life?

Meaningless posturing.

The key social safety nets, except WIC, are evidently going to be fine through at least October.

Besides, there are soup kitchens even if the social safety nets aren't funded due to the shutdown going into December, which will never happen anyway.

I just hope that they posture long enough for the following two things to happen:

1.) That the Government might save some money, which can hopefully pay down the national debt.

AND:

2.) For there to actually be some level of suffering amongst the public.

Because, if there is significant suffering, then the people won't put up with it anymore. They'll get these representatives out and perhaps we can go back to having a country that is not led completely by the mental ward inmates who are constantly at each others' throats over social issues.

Yeah, they hold the Government hostage every one or two years now, on average. The people who are holding the gun to the Government's head usually depend on who is POTUS, so whoever the POTUS is, it's typically the opposite threatening to shutdown the Government. It's nothing more than a tool.

I really don't know how long until healthcare is impacted, but ideally, it would last long enough for some people to die. I think you'd pretty much see us flush out all of Congress and replace them with others if that happened.

But, all of this is moot anyway. I don't even think the shutdown sees November, so really almost nothing is impacted, and if it does see November, it won't be more than a few days.

Maybe it's a coincidence.

_Coastguards pay stops at shutdown.
We already had one Republican senator blocking senior military promotions.
Rep Majorie Taylor Green just got an amendment passed to reduce Secretary of Defense's pay to $1

Quote: Mission146

Meaningless posturing.
...
I just hope that they posture long enough for the following two things to happen:

1.) That the Government might save some money, which can hopefully pay down the national debt.

AND:

2.) For there to actually be some level of suffering amongst the public.

Because, if there is significant suffering, then the people won't put up with it anymore. They'll get these representatives out and perhaps we can go back to having a country that is not led completely by the mental ward inmates who are constantly at each others' throats over social issues. .

Interesting perspective. thanks.

I don't know how long your politics has looked so dysfunctional, but nice that someone agrees that it does.

There were lots of deaths from Covid, and that didn't seem to get many ousted, from any side.

And before someone says it, UK and European politics are a sh17show too.

I'd be all for these shutdowns if they accomplished anything but getting the Republicans blamed for it

I guess they have it coming. Only problem with that is we have a two party system, and now that means you vote for the Jack-offs or the Jacobins .

Both pronounced kind of similar, just realized, so that makes a good verbal remark, I'm going to use it!

Quote: odiousgambit

I'd be all for these shutdowns if they accomplished anything but getting the Republicans blamed for it

I guess they have it coming. Only problem with that is we have a two party system, and now that means you vote for the Jack-offs or the Jacobins .

Both pronounced kind of similar, just realized, so that makes a good verbal remark, I'm going to use it!

The shutdowns DO accomplish something..... Well maybe accomplish isn't the right word.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66965019
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/moodys-warns-us-government-shutdown-would-be-credit-negative-2023-09-25/
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/9/29/with-a-us-government-shutdown-imminent-what-happens-to-the-economy

To those dependent on functional government it could be the difference between food and famine. With damaged credit ratings, the Fed might need to bump up interest rates, driving families and businesses to their own funding crisis.

Quote: odiousgambit

I'd be all for these shutdowns if they accomplished anything but getting the Republicans blamed for it

I guess they have it coming. Only problem with that is we have a two party system, and now that means you vote for the Jack-offs or the Jacobins .

Both pronounced kind of similar, just realized, so that makes a good verbal remark, I'm going to use it!

It is going to accomplish something. It is going to make TSA a nightmare tomorrow and I have a flight.

Quote: odiousgambit

I'd be all for these shutdowns if they accomplished anything but getting the Republicans blamed for it

I guess they have it coming. Only problem with that is we have a two party system, and now that means you vote for the Jack-offs or the Jacobins .

Both pronounced kind of similar, just realized, so that makes a good verbal remark, I'm going to use it!

I don't know whether you can count your two parties as only two, because with factions, you seem to have parties that pull themselves apart and sabotage their own efforts. Your voting system seems a bit broken in that national elections can be decided by a few tens of thousands of votes in very few swing states.


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/17/newly-drawn-district-lines-safe-seats-congress

"Thanks to new congressional maps, most Americans’ votes won’t matter
As many as 94% of representatives may be running in safe districts, fueling polarization as candidates play to their bases"

Just a little bit of redrawing the electoral maps can 'rig' elections, better than any canvassing of public opinion.

One can only hope this fiasco will be the "death knell" for its proponent, that fop Matt Gaetz.

Quote: missedhervee

One can only hope this fiasco will be the "death knell" for its proponent, that fop Matt Gaetz.

Haha yeah right.

He’s running for governor of FL next.