It should be no surprise that Trump has found a way not to pay
federal employees. In June 2016 during Trump’s
Presidential campaign USA Today came out with an article with the headline; Hundreds Allege Donald Trump doesn’t pay his
bills. Today we have confirmation that Trump doesn’t pay his bills and his
bills today just happen to be the bills of the federal government. Thousands of federal employees haven’t been paid
now for 29 days and counting. The impact
to their lives and the national economy now and after the federal shutdown is
uncertain but it has already started.
The long-term affect is being debated as Mitch McConnel and Trump dig in
for the long haul.
Donald Trump often portrayed himself as a savior of the
working class who will "protect your job," during his presidential
campaign, but a USA TODAY NETWORK analysis found he has been involved in
more than 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades. A large number of these document people
who have accused Trump and his businesses of failing to pay them for their
work. Among them: a dishwasher in Florida. A glass company in New
Jersey. A carpet company. A plumber. Painters. Forty-eight waiters. Dozens
of bartenders and other hourly workers at his resorts and clubs, coast to
coast. Real estate brokers who sold his properties. And, ironically, several
law firms that once represented him in these suits.
Trump’s companies have been cited for 24 violations of the Fair
Labor Standards Act since 2005 for failing to pay overtime or minimum wage,
according to U.S. Department of Labor. Today we can include Trump’s handling of
the United States Government to that list.
The government shut down that started on December 22, 2018 right at the
holidays robbed over 800,000 federal employees of their holiday celebrations. After weeks of the shut down we hear reports
of federal employees going to food banks to make ends meet after missing two
paychecks. Some Federal agencies are even
ordering employees to return to work, without pay. One might call this slave labor. Not only are many federal employees working
without pay but those that are furloughed from some in FEMA which is part of
the Department of Homeland Security, can’t get moonlighting jobs without
approval from their supervisors. This kind of policy is controlling not only
employees’ resources to make outside money in essence its controlling their
life. No private industry could get away with this kind of thing without
getting sued.
One has to ask if this shutdown was one of the tactics Trump
had in mind in his campaign promise of “Draining the Swamp.” In Trump’s initial use of the term it referred
to making our government honest once again with the promise of ethics and lobbying
reforms. Since being elected Trump has rebranded the “swamp” to mean almost
anything he objects to including why he has shut down the government. Mitch McConnel has committed to not bringing
any legislation to a vote that Trump will veto bringing a halt to any
bipartisan negotiations on ending the shutdown.
Mitch McConnel’s inaction puts all the responsibility on negotiations to
a solution to end the shutdown on Democrats and Trump. The media reports that Mitch McConnel has
taken himself out of the foray of negotiations on reelection concerns. Reelection concerns seem to be both paralyzing
government as well as turning government responsibility into one dramatic act
after another. Examples, the government shutdown,
Trump’s canceling of Nancy Pelosi’s trip to the middle east, and the constant
name calling of reporters.
This current shutdown comes after years of the Republican party’s
goals starting with Ronald Regan to “starve the beast” of the federal
government to achieve desired policy outcomes. The idea was simple: deprive the
government of tax revenue, (which Trump has accomplished) reduce its ability to
function, (which Trump has done in more ways than one) and cut spending on as
many programs as possible (which Trump has done). The Republican’s mantra “Nothing
domestically should be spared: Medicare, Medicaid, social security, housing
programs and welfare.” Trump has
accomplished through dramatic actions that decades of Republicans have attempted
through polite National politics slowly eroding a government of the people. Mitch McConnel and other GOP legislators quietly
watch from the sidelines satisfied with what Trump has accomplished in his
first two years in office. We the people
watch from the sidelines as our democracy declines from leadership that
manipulated elections both by gerrymandering and big money. It’s time to take our country back.
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