By Jesse Green, Contributing Opinion
On Saturday, Dec. 22, parts of the United States government ran out of money as the Republicans and Democrats fought over funding for President Trump’s proposed wall on the border with Mexico. It has now gone on for around a month with no end in sight as both sides have dug in their heels and resisted giving in to their opponents.
This event is commonly referred to as a government shutdown; however, most of the government has already been funded by Congress. The Washington Post stated, “About 75 percent of the federal budget controlled by Congress is already funded.” Despite this, essential employees within the remaining 25 percent will still report to work during the partial shutdown.
President Trump is taking a lot of heat for his decision to not back down on his border wall demands. In an article for Fox News said a Quinnipiac University poll “found that 56 percent of American voters blame Trump and Republicans in Congress for the partial shutdown.”
This may seem like the President is in a tough position; however, he is showing the voters that he is committed to accomplishing one of his major promises during the 2016 campaign. Whether one agrees with his policy or not, it is refreshing to see a person in Washington sticking to his or her promise on a position. It could have been very easy for Trump to pass a compromising budget and then blame the Democrats in Congress for the lack of progress on his promise to build a wall. However, he has gone the tougher route of sticking to his promise to the voters who helped elect him President of the United States. Sticking to principles is rare in Washington these days. Hopefully, the President’s actions will inspire others to do the same.
Further, the lives of ordinary middle-class Americans, such as my family, have been able to go on without much impact from the partial shutdown. That isn’t to say that there hasn’t been any impact on anyone. CBS reported, “More than 420,000 federal employees are working without pay” and “another 380,000 workers have been furloughed.”
It is unfortunate that these Americans are either temporarily out of work or are not getting their paychecks. However, this partial shutdown is proving that the federal government has become bloated with a large amount of bureaucracy that could easily be eliminated. Americans should take advantage of this opportunity to demand that the federal government is cut back. This would help reduce the budget deficit as well as increase the freedom of the people and the free market.
While there are unfortunate side effects to the partial shutdown, it offers a great opportunity to push for principled politicians and policies that reduce the size of government.
