When will it end? The shutdown reaches record long length
There are some records that no one wants to break. And as the federal government’s partial shutdown enters its fourth week, going above and beyond the previous record, democrats and republicans play hot-potato over who is to blame. Up to 800,000 government employees have been working with no pay, and millions more are impacted by the loss of government programs. The budget standoff all comes back to President Trump’s $5.7 billion border wall, promised in his campaign. The departments impacted include Homeland Security, Justice, Agriculture, Treasury, Housing, and Urban Development. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, has led the fight against a border wall, saying “We can go through this all back and forth — no. How many more times can we say no? Nothing for the wall.” Democrats argue that the wall is expensive and ineffective. In reality, $5 billion is a small price to pay. In fact Medicare wastes almost 10 times what Trump is asking for, because of what are called “improper payments,” according to the Government Accountability Office. Trump argues that it is essential to protecting against drug cartels and crime. But in reality, the border wall is far more than debate over effective security measures. There are better, cheaper, more effective ways that the government could improve border security. According to the current administration, each mile of physical border wall would cost $24.5 million. But the leading technology entrepreneurs say that using new technology like sensors and drones to build a “Smart Wall” would bring the cost-per-mile down to less than $500,000. With with these modern additions to border security, we could have a more secure border -one that prevents the spread of major crime organizations which traffic humans and smuggle drugs across the border- at a fraction of the cost. So why haven’t our political leaders agreed on sensible measures? Why haven’t they reached a compromise after nearly a month? The wall has become a political symbol, which neither side is willing to cave on. As bills aimed at compromise come and go, with pressure building on the administration and the democratic party to come to a decision, we can only hope that negotiates for a bipartisan decision are on the horizon.
Photo By: Khalil Habermann
