\nLast night on \u201cThe Booth\u201d we discussed the ongoing government shutdown\nand President Trump\u2019s border wall demands. Our discussion included predictions for his Oval\nOffice address shortly following our show. Unfortunately, we were right, and Trump utterly\nfailed to make his case. Historically\nand with little exception Presidents have requested time from the networks and\nnews media outlets to address the nation from the Oval Office in order to\naddress a bona fide crisis or critical issue of national importance. They get the air time and the American people\ntune in because they trust their leaders when they say they need to speak to\nthem. These are not opportunities to\nspeak to a small base of support, deliver purely partisan speeches, denigrate\nour political processes, or try to manipulate the American people if not\noutright lie to them. But that is what he\ndid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nPresident Trump again failed to make his case or to uphold the\nstandards, expectations, and decency of his office. His address was incredibly sparse on fact and\noffered nothing new. It was full of his\ncontinuing lies and deceptions going back two years. Ever since he announced his campaign, Trump\nhas been working diligently to manufacture a border crisis to use to manipulate\nvoters, fomenting fear, mistrust, anger, and hatred. The American people should never allow such a\nblatantly political stunt to succeed and thankfully most do not. Trump\u2019s support is steadily declining,\nespecially so for his wall, phony crisis, and continuing unprofessional antics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nIf there was such a crisis, why has it taken two years into Trump\u2019s\nPresidency to contemplate such a declaration or to demand wall funding to solve\nit? Trump had complete Republican\ncontrol over Congress for two years, but never made this a funding priority. Senate Republicans justifiably refused to\napprove such wasteful spending and now with a Democratic House, Trump can use\nhis favorite tactic \u2013 creating an enemy on which to focus attention. The government announced today that the\nannual deficit for this year broke one trillion dollars, for this year alone, which\nit did last year as well. The Trump Administration\nhas added over two trillion dollars to our national debt in two years. That is the actual crisis, not the phony border\nsituation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe Administration repeatedly claimed that 4,000 suspected terrorists\nwere stopped at the southern border over the last year. They know this to be false because their own data\nshows only 6 were stopped at the southern border in the first half of the year. They are concealing the numbers for the\nsecond half (which clearly do not come anywhere close to 4,000). Whereas only 6 were stopped at the southern\nborder, 41 were stopped at the northern border. \nThe remaining almost entirety of the 4,000 were apprehended at\nairports. They also falsely claim that\nthose trying to cross the border are comprised of young men affiliated with\ncriminal enterprises such as MS13. They\nwant to fool people into believing the migrants are violent criminals threatening\nour society. Approximately 70% of those attempting\nto enter at the southern border are families with children. In fact, they are fleeing MS 13. They are not sneaking across the border\nillegally but rather filing for asylum in accordance with law and\nprocedure. Another lie involved all the\nillegal narcotics coming across the border. \nWhile this continues to be a huge law enforcement challenge, the drugs\nare not sneaking across the border that a wall would prevent. They are being smuggled in vehicles at normal\nborder crossings and in shipping containers at ports of entry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nTherefore, the crisis at the southern border is not a security crisis\nbut rather humanitarian. A concrete wall\nwould be ineffective against these important challenges. This is about resources. Improved technology to conduct screenings at ports\nof entry is crucial. Additional agents\nare necessary to respond to the increasing volume of people and goods entering\nthe country. Most important in the short\nterm are the abysmal and often inhumane conditions at border entry points for\nthose seeking asylum. Regardless of the\nmerits of their claims, the law allows them to apply and there is a process to evaluate\nthe applications. Most facilities were\nconstructed to hold single men and are grossly inefficient for the children and\nfamilies being held there. We cannot\nhave children living in cages and families living in squalor while detained. That is not America. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nAs the facts demonstrate the Trump Administration made up a phony crisis\nto justify his extravagant wall, the Trump shutdown cannot truly be able\ngetting funding for the wall. It is all\nrelated to a shameful political stunt to whip up fervor within his shrinking base,\nespecially as the end of the Mueller Investigation looms near and as Democrats\nin the House prepare to conduct their Constitutionally required government\noversight. There is no fundamental disagreement\nin Congress between Democrats and Republicans over the importance of border\nsecurity. There is real consensus on\noverall security measures and even for comprehensive immigration reform, which\nis truly the heart of the matter. Senate\nMajority Leader Mitch McConnell is blocking votes on opening government and\nimmigration reform despite strong majorities poised to pass both pieces of\nlegislation. His political theater is\nworking to the detriment of the country. \nSenators and the public must pressure him to allow votes. Country first, Mitch! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The shutdown is not an appropriate tactic to influence policy debate. Perhaps it could be justified in times of true national crisis, but even if Trump\u2019s false claims were true it would not be sufficient to shut down the government. Over 800,000 federal employees are furloughed. These innocent, dedicated, hard-working professionals are forced to remain home and do not receive pay during the shutdown. Most are struggling to make mortgage or rent payments, tuition payments, utilities payments, medical payments, or even to buy groceries. What is happening to them is reprehensible. Thousands of federal employees, including air traffic controllers, TSA, law enforcement, and other essential personnel are outrageously forced to work without pay during shutdowns. The IRS is not able to process tax returns and refunds. The Department of Agriculture is not able to process farm loans and assistance. Individuals risk not receiving their social security, food stamp, and housing benefits on which they rely for survive. Thousands of foreign and domestic tourists, who have spent money they saved for months or years are turned away by \u201cclosed due to shutdown\u201d signs at national parks, monuments, museums, etc. It is a total disgrace. And none of it is necessary!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Congress needs to pass legislation to open the government immediately. If the President callously vetoes the legislation, they need to override his veto or otherwise maintain pressure on him to reopen government. Congress may, and should, refuse to act on anything else of importance to Trump until he reopens the government. For example, no more judges or administration confirmations until government is open. The real crisis is one of Trump\u2019s own making and he can end it today. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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