There is quick way to end Trump’s government shutdown

It’s time for Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell to make a two-prong deal to reopen the portions of the government Donald Trump ordered shut down.

First, House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader McConnell put their differences aside and agree to have the bill passed by the House brought to the Senate floor for a vote, where it will undoubtedly pass.

Second, they also agree to a congressional override vote, which takes two-thirds of the members of both houses, if Trump is foolish enough to veto the bill.

This madness has to end. Not only are federal workers being hurt, so are contract workers, suppliers and, especially, small businesses. They all have to put food on the table, keep roofs over their heads and pay their bills. In the so-called “richest country in the world,” so many find themselves, through no fault of their own, living paycheck to paycheck. In addition, there are those who rely on government services, such as food stamps, to survive.

Shutdowns also cost taxpayers and the economy money. According to Time, “The economic costs of the government shutdown may already exceed the $5 billion President Donald Trump is demanding for a border wall, according to some analysts’ estimates.”

While some think the government will save money during a shutdown because workers aren’t being paid, that’s a fallacy because it costs money to shut down operations and the workers will receive back pay when the shutdown is over. Also, the government loses out on collecting money for permits and fees during a shutdown.

Time noted, “Then there is the impact of government shutdowns on the economy as a whole. In the official Office of Management and Budget (OMB) analysis of the October 2013 government shutdown, which lasted 16 days, researchers estimated that the shutdown lowered real GDP growth by 0.2% to 0.6%. That amounted to somewhere between $2 billion and $6 billion in lost economic output.”

Trump might declare a national emergency to have the military build his border wall, as he has threatened to do. That might not be as easy as Trump thinks it is. Bruce Ackerman, a Yale law professor and author of “The Decline and Fall of the American Republic,” in a New York Times op-ed, notes the pitfalls of such a move. As if Trump cares or understands the possible consequences of such an action. He wants his idiotic wall. The law, the damage the wall will cause to the environment and economies of people living along the border, Americans having their land split for the wall, leaving some with their houses on the Mexican side of the border all be damned. Trump has made it clear that he doesn’t care.

Happy New Year!

Bev Conover is the editor and publisher of Intrepid Report. Email her at editor@intrepidreport.com.