By Hanif Ghaffari

The government shutdown: Another Trumped-Up problem

January 2, 2019 - 12:8

TEHRAN - Donald Trump has recently threatened to close the U.S. southern border with Mexico entirely if devoting the sum for building a wall there is not accepted.

The increasing threats were announced seven days after the government shutdown. Trump is still demanding billions of dollars in federal spending for wall construction along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall & also change the ridiculous immigration laws that our Country is saddled with,” Trump said on Twitter.

“The United States looses [sic] soooo much money on Trade with Mexico under NAFTA, over 75 Billion Dollars a year (not including Drug Money which would be many times that amount), that I would consider closing the Southern Border a ‘profit making operation,’” Trump said. “Either we build (finish) the Wall or we close the Border.”

Last week, many government agencies were shut down in the United States. That was due to their funding being expired as a result of Trump's decision.

About 800,000 of federal workers who have been furloughed or forced to work without pay were most directly victimized by the political play-acting between the Trump White House and the Democratic Party over the U.S. President's demand for a border wall. The U.S. President emphasized that he would not accept an extension unless it contained $5bn for his border wall.

The circumstances are turbulent inside the country. Sara Sanders, the White House press secretary, has accordingly said; “They’ve (American Democrats) left the table altogether, so of course we’re far apart, because they’re unwilling to actually do something to help protect our borders."

The immediate effect of the government shutdown is on furloughed government employees and Americans who depend on suspended services. As the shutdown continues, agencies use up saved funds, and more services start to close. If the shutdown continues beyond two weeks, it will affect economic growth. 

The NY Times writes; "But the shutdown’s effects — especially visible on Saturday at closed or unstaffed National Park Service sites, and at checkpoints at airports and the nation’s borders as officers stood guard without pay — will be magnified once the standoff seeps past Christmas, when federal offices would ordinarily be open and staffed with the approximately 380,000 employees who have been told to stay home while President Trump and Congress try to reach a spending accord."

It continues; "… most federal employees are scattered across the country, far from Capitol Hill. In interviews on Saturday, some said they were frustrated by the political gridlock that left their finances uncertain."

“The big thing is, it’s already a very tough job,” said Justin Tarovisky, a correctional officer at the United States Penitentiary Hazelton, in northern West Virginia. “But when you know that you’ve got to go to work and you’re not going to be paid for it — or it’s going to be late, no matter what — it really brings you down.”

Trump's decision raised discontents among his opponents. New York Representative, Hakeem Jeffries said;“This is the same president who repeatedly promised the American people that Mexico would pay for the wall that he plans to build,” on ABC’s This Week program. “Now he’s trying to extract $5 billion from the American taxpayer to pay for something that clearly would be ineffective.”

Also, Dick Durbin, the Illinois Senator, tweeted; “President Trump has taken hundreds of thousands of federal employees' pay hostage in a last ditch effort to fulfill a campaign promise. Building a wall from sea to shining sea won't make us safer or stop drugs from coming into our country.”

Barry Grey's analysis of the current crisis, which was published in the World's Socialists Website, points out the real reason of the raised disagreement between American officials; "… The stalemate between the White House and the Democrats is not a principled struggle over immigration policy or any other issue…

The policy wars in Washington reached new heights when Trump announced he was withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria and cutting the troop presence in Afghanistan in half. This prompted Defense Secretary James Mattis, the retired Marine general and butcher of Fallujah, to resign in protest."

The article continues;" It was only then that the Democratic leadership, who joined with the bulk of the media and military/intelligence establishment in erupting in rage against any diminution of the U.S. wars in the Middle East, dug in their heels on the border wall, declaring that they would not support any spending bill that included money for its construction."

While the anger of federal workers is growing in the U.S., Trump seems "proud" to "own" a shutdown over border wall funding.

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