Today's Talker: The shutdown is affecting real Americans

Wednesday, January 2

The shutdown is affecting real Americans

President Donald Trump would do well to search for #ShutdownStories on Twitter and see what his actions are causing.

The partial government shutdown entered its 12th day on Wednesday, as congressional leaders planned to meet with President Donald Trump.

'Hoping for the best, planning for the worst'

By Ernest Johnson

Everyone affected by the shutdown is a real person, including myself. I have bills, just like everyone. And while I'm just a single guy, others are single parents, have families, are caring for elderly parents, among others. The shutdown has created 800,000 permutations of this example. Just like many Americans, I'm struggling to make ends meet.

Not knowing how long the shutdown would last — and anticipating it might last more than two weeks, and that if we get back pay, it might not be for a couple weeks, as well — I chatted with Ally Auto Finance and asked whether my account was in good enough standing to request a deferment due to the furlough and not having income. Ally allowed it, but a "deferment" is a "pay the interest in January" and February is the difference of a full payment, so I'm still paying $160 this month, but next month it'll be about $360.

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Those of us affected by the shutdown are your friends and neighbors, our children go to the same schools, we attend the same religious centers, and we are all focused on providing for our families and the communities in which we live. We do not go to work waving flags with "Go Team Red" or "Go Team Blue." My co-workers and team members have common goals of providing the most efficient, quality service to the public who depend on our services.

I'm still waiting on unemployment insurance to be approved, then I can know how much I'll need to borrow from friends come Feb. 1 for rent and bills due early that month.

When you see our #ShutdownStories , please understand that we are regular people. We are nervous, stressed, afraid, worried and concerned about all this, and we are simply expressing our feelings. Personally, I would be fine working with no pay (knowing I will get back pay), just so I can keep my services, responsibilities and commitments to the public. I do not know how all of this will end, all I know is that I will just put one foot in front of the other and make it through another day. Hoping for the best, planning for the worst.

Ernest Johnson is a federal employee in Wyoming. You can follow him on Twitter: @SciFiCowboy_v2.

Trump baby New Year holds breath for wall funding

R.J. Matson/PoliticalCartoons.com

What others are saying

The New York Times, editorial : "For the workers directly affected, among those facing the greatest economic uncertainty are contractors, who make up more than 40 percent of the government work force. This includes not only white-collar positions but also thousands of blue-collar jobs, such as janitors and security guards. Unlike regular government employees, many contractors may not be compensated for lost time. They could simply lose the income. Even for regular, noncontract employees, who have eventually been granted back pay after past shutdowns and can reasonably expect the same this time, the grinding anxiety and financial costs of scraping by in the meantime mount with each passing day. Many of these workers live paycheck to paycheck, with little wiggle room."

Jonathan Bernstein, Bloomberg : "What President Donald Trump has been doing so far is, as political scientist Dave Hopkins points out, following the lead of the House Freedom Caucus. But Freedom Caucus radicals don't have plans for either policy gains or public-relations wins. What they care about is proving that they're True Conservatives by differentiating themselves from mainstream Republicans. In practice, that means finding irrational but tough-sounding tactics to endorse. That's this shutdown in a nutshell. Instead of making a deal last year, when Republicans held unified control of government, Trump has chosen to negotiate from a position of relative weakness as Democrats take over the House majority."

The Washington Post, editorial : "In the name of securing the border and keeping out illegal immigrants, President Trump has opted for a partial government shutdown. Irony of ironies, that shutdown has paralyzed the nation's immigration courts, shuttering many of them and allowing several hundred undocumented immigrants to dodge deportation orders each day the shutdown continues. They are among many hundreds of others whose cases will be postponed for years — or, in effect, indefinitely — for every day the closure lasts."

What our readers are saying

Why is border security any more critical now than it was two years ago when Donald Trump became president? Has Trump made it worse over the past two years? Republicans had two years to get Trump his wall and they didn't.

— John Bertelson

Senate and House Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi have no incentive to end the shutdown. As long as they think the shutdown will hurt Trump politically, they could not care less how much the shutdown hurts the country and its people.

— Robert Johnson

In two years, Trump couldn't get a dime out of a Republican majority Congress for his silly wall. So now he tells his true supporters it can magically happen by constitutionally mugging the nation?

— Dannie Leroy Porath

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