Dear Democrats in Congress: SHUT IT DOWN

[Mr.WeRP]

Do not support keeping this government functional.

Trump and his fascist bootlickers have weaponized the government against The People, your constituents. And most notably taking more money from blue cities and states.

They have stripped much needed aid from those who need it anyway.

They are using funds from other programs inappropriately to fund ICE and line their own pockets.

They are lawless in their actions.

Do not fund a single penny until Trump and his cronies are removed from office.

SHUT. IT. DOWN!

[samnsara]

1. i agree!!!

[Mr.WeRP]

9. Shut. It. Down!

[Bobstandard]

2. Let the Republicans shut it down

Don’t save them with some last minute, lame ass bargain.

[Mr.WeRP]

3. The politics do NOT matter anymore

This is about Democracy and until the executive is reigned in, we don’t have a Democracy

[ImNotGod]

6. Remembering when repukes shut it down and they were rewarded for it in the following election

politics doesn't matter, destroying the fascist government does, shut it down!

[Chemical Bill]

4. I wrote to my Senators and Representative

A couple of weeks ago

[Heidi]

5. The US has around 3 million civilian federal employees

and I was recently made aware by DUer Wifes Husband that back pay is not guaranteed. The longest US federal government shutdown was 35 days in 2018. Trump ultimately signed a bill guaranteeing back pay to affected employees, but 35+ days is a hell of a long time to go without wages in the current economy.

The impact of a shutdown on working folks should be an important factor when we consider support for a government shutdown.

[Mr.WeRP]

8. Hmmmm it seems the choice is

Fascism or keeping the unemployment rate down.

Trump has already laid off and/or cut millions of federal workers.

If we do not stop the regime, any registered Democrat is going to be punished for it, socially and economically.

Just ask all the teachers getting fired for quoting Kirk’s own words.

ENOUGH!

[Heidi]

10. Aren't you special in your zeal to make a point at the peril of

of people’s homes, food in their kids’ bellies, etc. If you—a progressive, I assume, since you’re here—don’t care, why would Trump care?

[Mr.WeRP]

11. Aren't you special in your zeal to make a point at the peril

Of people unjustly losing their jobs, their farms, their family members sent to unknown hell holes or blown up in boats.

If only the German parliament would have defunded Hitler..

And in case you haven’t noticed, everyday folks across the nation are already struggling to feed their kids and care for their medically dependent family as heavy cuts are made to much needed programming. The suffering you are talking about is already happening and will get worse without a shutdown.

Shut. It. Down!

[Heidi]

13. Well you get on with your bad self, keyboard warrior.

I only asked DUers to *consider* civilian federal employees’ ability to feed their families and stay housed. That’s not unreasonable by any metric.

[Mr.WeRP]

16. Oh, don't worry, this isn't just a keyboard warrior effort

There is a huge movement in New England progressives (yup, I am one of them) to whip votes against keeping it open. No more Schumer conciliation bs this time.

[mtngirl47]

24. You act like Democrats are causing this.

You need to remember that Democrats have been conciliatory over and over again for years. We have tried to follow the rules and the norms and the laws.

The Republicans have kicked us to the ground over and over again. They will lie to our faces with their fingers crossed behind their backs and then stab us in our backs.

More than the civilian employees will suffer. Every business and person that relies on tourism at a National Park will suffer. Contractors that do work for the federal government will suffer. Restaurants, retail stores and landlords will suffer when people don't get paychecks.

But what happens if we "make nice" and help them pass their death bill? What then?

This is our point of leverage to hopefully at least save some part of our democracy.

We know from the polls and conversations with people in the real world that they think Democrats are weak and ineffective. Well let's put that to fucking rest.

[Walleye]

26. I agree, Democrats should be refusing to cooperate on anything

[Heidi]

33. No, I only asked that civilian federal workers' ability

to stay housed and fed be taken into consideration. How many families are you willing/able to feed/house until back pay kicks in (if in fact it’s even proposed and if in fact the Lying Liar in Chief signs it)?

[mtngirl47]

36. Probably going to have to house about 30 of my tenants....

Each government shut down landlords have to make a decision. Do you evict or do you wait? Eviction in NC takes about 60 to 90 days, and costs money and time. I will wait, just like I did in 2018. Just like I did when Hurricanes Frances, Ivan and Helene hit my area. I will win some and I will lose some.

Government workers are the more fortunate in my area....they probably have some food in the pantry and the freezer and at least one paycheck in the works. SSI recipients are in a more precarious situation with barely enough to live on, anyway.

I could go on. But I want you to gaze at your bellybutton and decide if we will ever be able to help these people if we keep giving up our power??

[Heidi]

37. Thank you for putting your money where your mouth is.

I have infinite RESPECT for you and others like you.

[Torchlight]

31. Only two options, eh?

Boils down to the False Dilemma.

[Mr.WeRP]

35. SHUT! IT! DOWN!

[Emile]

7. That's up to the majority party. If it goes down,

it's totally on them.

[crud]

12. They need to make some demands of the administration

Such as, release all the funding that congress has passed into law. Everything! I fear that if the message is shut it down, it won't be enough.

Dems need to pick a message and hammer it over and over. They need to start now! Yesterday!

"We (Dems) will not pass funding the government unless the corrupt Whitehouse lead by this criminal president follows the law and restores government spending power to the people and the people's Congress."

[Heidi]

14. Totally agree.

Thank you!

[Mr.WeRP]

17. That is totally the wrong thinking

You think Trump is going to follow the law? He’ll agree the. Immediately continue doing what he is doing.

Stop with the naive boy-scout bullshit.

Democrats must defund Trump which means defunding the federal government. He has no power if he cannot pay his brownshirts.

[crud]

18. The messaging is important

no matter what the future holds, we need the uniformed public along with us to destroy this corrupt regime.

Like you, I'm not living in the clouds. My guess is, if Dems manage to shut it down, it will be ignored by the criminal in the Whitehouse. He will do something with a thin veneer of pseudo legality to keep money flowing. My guess is, they already have a plan.

[Mr.WeRP]

21. So we force that. If the president ignores the shutdown

He can’t make workers work without pay. Many will quit once furloughed long enough.

Meanwhile anything the President does to get around it would be immediately challenged in court. He would lose initially, but of course, it will eventually make it to SCOTUS. How fast depends on how it’s handled in the lower courts. Trump cannot simply go straight to the Supreme Court, the Judicial still has some semblance of normal function at the lower levels.

It is criminal for any agency heads/managers to continue as if there is no shutdown and many will not break the law. So for at least 1-3 months, federal workers will go without pay, forcing many to quit and look for work elsewhere.

We are already short staffed on ATC, and this will compound air travel issues and the economy if suddenly, several walk off the job (again you cannot force people to work without pay).

There is an old rule in rebellions: sabotage any way you can. We are there.

[crud]

22. It might play out the way you have described...

but the public needs to know why the Dems are shutting it down. We can't let the corrupt Whitehouse dominate the messaging. And the media needs to be flooded with our message so it doesn't get both sided.

They should be saying right now that they will shut it down and why. I don't know what the demands should be, or the message, but it needs to be happening and it's not.

[Walleye]

28. I agree, keep throwing monkey wrenches into their bad works

[lees1975]

15. Yep. Condition for keeping it running is Trump and Vance and his cabinet have to go.

Resign. Then we'll help keep the government running.

[uponit7771]

19. I'm afraid they'll bail them out... again

[Mr.WeRP]

40. That's why we need to put the pressure on them...

To shut it down!

[Mr.Bee]

20. I Wrote Yesterday

Democratic Senators Should Walk Out And Not Be A Party To This !
republicants need to take responsibility for this!

[AllaN01Bear]

23. agreed, shut it down.

[kentuck]

25. What about Social Security and Defense spending?

Should those be exempt?

[Sogo]

34. I recall in past shut down scenarios it was said that SS is exempt,

but I'm no authority on that....

[Mr.WeRP]

38. That is true. Both defense and SS are exempted

[OLDMDDEM]

27. Yes. Do it!

[lostincalifornia]

29. Shut it down, but with a specific purpose. That purpose should be very focused. Restoring the ACA subsidies,

and other healthcare cuts where millions will lose coverage is where we should make our stand IMHO.

Shutting it down without a realistic goal will not accomplish anything except hurt us in the midterms.

The subsidies and the Medicaid cuts is something we can hang our hats on, and something people will understand.

[DJ Synikus Makisimus]

30. Chumbawamba - "Give the Anarchist a Cigarette"

&list=RDIW68ETGrbqM&start_radio=1

[Katinfl]

32. It's on them. They own the House, Senate and the WH.

They own it and we should not help them out of this mess.

[ananda]

39. Kick!

And rec!

[Initech]

41. Yes. We can't stop these sadistic psychopaths with strongly worded letters.

They need to be kicked in the ass hard! That is how you deal with bullies.