Democrats threaten government shutdown unless $1 trillion is added to the national debt for their programs. Are they bluffing?

Photo above - today's quiz: when was the last US government shutdown, and what was closed other than the Statue of Liberty? Do shutdowns even accomplish anything?

Full disclosure – I have NOT read the 1,500-page legislation which politicians claim is needed to prevent a government shutdown, because federal government ran out of money again. I doubt if Senator Charles Schumer has read it either. But he’s threatening have democrats vote – en masse – against the funding bill, unless $1 trillion in spending is added to continue programs previously scheduled to expire. See links below.

This bill is longer than Leo Tolstoy’s epic novel "War and Peace" (1,200 pages) which would take more than 2 days of non-stop reading to complete – no bathroom breaks, eating or sleeping. So I don’t think Schumer has read the bill he says that he doesn't like. Probably no republican either. This is clearly going to turn out to be another Nancy Pelosi moment (“You have to pass it to find out what’s in it”)

Without having read the bill myself either, I can still point out the problem here. No matter how much you disagree with either party, legislation like the spending bill is proof that our government is run by the deep state. Congressional aides, corporate lobbyists, and federal agency wonks coming together in back rooms to write laws that no politician ever laid eyes on.

1,500 page bills to turbocharge spending and raise the national debt by trillions is why we have $37 trillion in federal debt in the first place.

To be fair and balanced, let me agree with critics who point out this is exactly the same path Trump's “Big Beautiful Bill” took. That bill was either 870 or 940 pages long; the congressional aides and lobbyists can’t agree and probably didn’t read the whole thing either. This is bipartisanship at its lowest common denominator – I won’t read your bizarre spending proposals if you don’t read mine. Let’s all just go to lunch and get re-elected.

Back to the subject line – is Schumer bluffing or could he actually shut down the government because his pet spending projects aren’t fully funded?

My take is that he COULD shut the government down. Even though democrats are the senate minority party, there are certainly a few republican deficit hawks who would vote against the 1,500 page bill because of transgender monkey research and the $12 million "luxury pickleball arena" (actual 2024 spending). They will point out that $37 trillion is $370,000 in federal debt for each American family. And this is why American's are stuck with unaffordable housing, 800+ military bases globally, and the planet’s most expensive healthcare system. The more we spend on something, the more it costs. Just like cars and smartphones, and houses.

Republican deficit hawks – the ones likely to give Schumer his victory – include familiar names like Rand Paul (KY) Tommy Tuberville (AL) Josh Hawley (MO) and maybe a half dozen others. This a risk-free vote for the balanced budget fanboys, because all the blowback will be on Schumer and the democrats.

But will there actually be any blowback, or even savings from a shutdown? I doubt it. Every GS 5-13 cube dweller who doesn’t come to work is going to get full, back pay anyway. And once the political posturing is done (pandering to single issue voters and special interests) senators will eventually vote on a new 1,500 page compromise bill. One that nobody has read either, but ends up spending about the same as the bill they rejected a week earlier.

I’m just sayin’ . . .



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What's in Congress’s 1,500-page government funding deal to avert shutdown