SHUT IT DOWN

The drama of the week (which has been building for a while) is the impending government shut down over funding to build the border wall that President Trump has promised since he declared for the Presidency in 2015.  The numbers are all over the board but Trump essentially wants $5B from this Congress.  They have offered $1.2B.  The original request was for $25B but that seems like a long time ago.  There has been a dance going on between Trump and the Democrats for 2 years to get the wall funded.  And it's no longer about the wall.  It's clearly about hating Trump and denying him anything he wants.  So this is a preview of the next two years.

There are some interesting things about this whole sordid mess.

1. I think Trump made a tactical communications mistake from the beginning when he focused on the term "the wall".  I know it was about plaing to his base, but it's an easily misunderstood term that can be exploited.  Everyone knows it's not about a wall and that a wall won't be build along the whole Southern border.  It's really about border security.  But the term "the wall" both boxes him in and allows the Dems something that they can rail against.  They can disengenuously say they want border security but not a wall.  They can say it won't work (which is BS because there are walls in many places around the world that do work).  They can say they don't want to waste money.  And all the while the people who resonate with a wall is his base.  But most everyone else recognizes that funding is needed for a lot of things along the border, and a wall in some places is needed.
2. $5B is a rounding error in the U.S. budget.  It's chump change.  To say that they can't afford it is intellectually insulting.
3. It was in the news today that we are getting ready to send $10.6B to Mexico and Central American countries for foreign aid.  That's like adding insult to injury.  
4. There is a Continuing Resolution on the table that will fund the government until sometime in February so as to get thru the holidays and kick the can down the road a bit.  But a new Congress comes in next month that is a Dem majority.  So there is not even a remote chance that this will get done in Feb.
5. Virtually all of the Dems have advocated for and voted for increased border security to include a wall in certain places in the past.  It's the heighth of hypocracy to now be against it.  It is clearly just a tactic to shove it up Trumps ass.  
6. The shutdown is a "partial" shutdown.  Don't really understand that but as I understand it there will be a lot of functions continuing.  There will be some bureaucrats who feel the pain, but it won't be terrible.
7. The media are clearly hoping for a shutdown.  They want the show.  They want the ability to go out and find the sob stories to put on TV and show everyone what a heartless asshole Trump is. They are almost salivating over it.  They don't care about the human stories.  They just hate Trump and want him to squirm.

I'm usually moderate in most things.  I believe in seeking a bipartisan solution.  I think dialog between the parties should result in compromise.  But right out of the gate the Dems are signalling that they are going to war.  They have the majority and are going to beat him over the head with it.  There will be NO bipartisan work done in the next two years.  So the next few weeks are the end of his ability to exert leverage.  Why not use it.  If he's going to stand on principle and say enough is enough...

SHUT IT DOWN!