Thoughts on the budget stalemate

By Michael O’Looney

The federal government’s current shutdown has put the Democrats in a quandary. Republicans blame them for the budget impasse, even though President Donald Trump is on record as having said repeatedly that the president is always to blame whenever there’s a shutdown.

Simply put, if Democrats approve the budget as is and end the deadlock, health benefits guaranteed by Obamacare for the working poor will terminate. And without Obamacare — the Affordable Care Act — insurance premiums will  double for 20 million Americans.  

But Republicans are disinclined to extend Obamacare, saying it costs too much. Trump brags about being a masterful “deal maker,” but refuses to even speak to the Democrats. Inaction and the failure of further debate is exasperated by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has sent House members home when they should continue working to fix the problem.

Meantime, the shutdown has furloughed an estimated 775,000 government  employees — or 23% of the federal workforce. Trump has threatened mass firings, aimed exclusively at Democrat “insurrectionists.” He talks of the money that would be saved in helping to balance the budget — a goal of his “Big Beautiful Bill” — as thousands of “left-wing radicals” are purged from the federal payroll.

It is unclear how these workers have been identified as “left-wing radicals” or which federal agencies manned by disloyal Democrats need to be shut down (the Department of Woke Reform?). But the fact remains thousands of federal workers are being targeted for termination and that the vacancies that result from those mass firings will be, if needed, filled with public servants loyal to the president.

So who is to blame for this stalemate? As it stands, the Democrats seek to continue to subsidize healthcare for millions of working-class Americans. At the same time, Trump and his yes-men in Congress see the budget impasse as an opportunity to save millions by ending Obamacare and then terminating disloyal left-wing government workers and programs.

The Republicans have placed the Democrats in this quandary and kudos to them. They are masterful politicians. Recent polls, however, show more Americans than not blame the Republicans for the shutdown. Goes to show, try as you may, you can’t fool all the people all the time.

Michael O’Looney lives in Talent.

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