Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 1-23-18

White House and Political News
The Government ‘Shut Down’ For 3 Days; Senate Votes For New February 8th Deadline
President Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president on January 20th, 2016. One year later, the federal government shut down, after Democrats and Republi- cans failed Saturday to reach a compromise to keep the gov- ernment funded.
However, according to re- ports, “The Republican leader and I have come to an arrange- ment; and voted Monday to re-open the government,” Sen- ate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced in the floor of the Senate on Day 3 of what he called “The Trump Shutdown.”
The agreement will keep the federal government open until February 8, Schumer said, during which time the two par- ties will keep negotiating on a more permanent arrangement.
If a deal is not struck by the February 8 deadline, Schumer said the Senate will immediately move on to con- sideration of legislation to pro- tect Dreamers impacted by President Trump’s decision to end the DACA exec order.
As part of the deal for a tem- porary fix, the Children’s Health Insurance Program is guaranteed funding for six years.
More than 800,000 federal workers were sent home dur- ing the last shutdown in 2013, with most having to wait for their paychecks until the gov- ernment reopened. Depending on the length of the shutdown, the same impacts could be seen this year.
The shutdown on Saturday stemmed from Democrats' and Republicans' inability to pro-
Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
vide a fix for the Dreamers (DACA) Act that protects un- documented children. Repub- licans would only budge if Democrats approved funding for Trump's border wall.
In 2013, disagreements in Congress kept the government shut down - at least partially - for 16 days. The question is: But the 2018 version lasted for 3 days.
The last shutdown cost $2.1 billion.
So far, this is the 18th gov- ernment shutdown since 1976 and the first when all branches of government were controlled by one party.
Here is who is affected with the shutdown:
While many government em- ployees are furloughed, air traffic controllers and TSA agents are still on the job.
The Post Office will remain open despite a shutdown. The park service estimates it will furlough about 21,000 em- ployees.
Military personnel, Pentagon civilians
Uniformed military person- nel will remain on the job but won't be paid until the shut- down ends. Pentagon civilians deemed critical will continue to
work; the remainder will be furloughed. None will be paid until the government reopens. Military Exchanges will be open; commissaries, except for those located overseas or in a few remote locations, will close.
Social Security, food stamps, etc.
Social Security checks, unem- ployment pay, food stamps and Medicaid benefits will continue
to be paid. IRS
The government shutdown
means the furlough of non-es- sential IRS employees and could slow down tax re- funds. Most tax-help lines op- erated by the IRS will not be operated and no audits will be conducted. VA hospitals and food inspections will continue. And as chaos ensues, Congress will still get paid.
Trump Tweets Blame On Democrats For Shutdown; Democrats Blame President For Bailing
In the 56 hours and counting since the federal government has been shut down, Presi- dent Trump hasn’t held a public event and did not sched- ule one Monday.
He hasn’t spoken with re- porters or even left the White House. And he hasn’t been a real player in the negotiations to reopen the government.
Bottom line: Trump, who campaigned for the presidency on his deal-making skills, has been missing in action.
Yes, he’s tweeted during the shutdown. “This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presi- dency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice pres- ent. #DemocratShutdown,” he
said on Saturday morning. “Democrats are far more con- cerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dan- gerous Southern Border,” he added. (But he’s also been watching TV, it seems. “Thank you to Brad Blakeman on @FoxNews for grading year one of my presidency with an ‘A’-and likewise to Doug Schoen for the very good grade and statements. Working hard!” he tweeted last night.)
He also used the govern- ment shutdown as a cam- paign slogan for 2018 m i d t e r m elections. “WeNeed- MoreRepublicansIn18 to power through mess!” he
White House trends photos of the President ‘working’ during the shutdown.
wrote.
Democratic lawmakers,
meanwhile, have said they were close to a deal with Trump, but the president un- expectedly bailed on the plan at the last minute.
Senate Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer said Satur- day he’d offered to discuss a U.S.-Mexico border wall in last-minute negotiations with Trump on Friday, but “even that was not enough to entice the president to finish the deal.”
Ahead of a feared govern- ment shutdown last Novem- ber, Trump allegedly told his insiders he believed a shut- down would benefit him polit- ically, saying he’d blame Democrats in order to bolster support from his base.
2nd Annual Women’s March Draws Thousands Against President; He Takes Credit
All over the country women and allies of all walks of life came out to voice their out- rage over President Don- ald Trump at women's marches.
Across the globe, the 2nd Annual Women’s March marks the one-year anniver- sary of Trump’s inaugura- tion, with protesters gathering for events in – among many other places – Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Seattle, Wash- ington, D.C. at the National Mall, along Central Park West in New York City, at Pershing Square in Downtown LA, and at least 38 municipalities across Canada, including Hal- ifax, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
The national protests oc- curred the same day the fed- eral government shutdown.
Women march all over the world in 2nd annual event. Tampa native, Dr. Susan Andrews (2nd, left) marched with her club sis- ters where she lives now, Sacramento, CA.
Women march all over the world in 2nd annual event.
One of the co-founder of the Women's March movement, Tamika Mallory, made their way to Atlanta to push the movement forward to its logi- cal next step: voting and creat- ing future candidates.
This year, the #Power- toThePolls rally was the excla-
mation point to the success of last year. Since then, women all over the country are run- ning for and taking office.
However, even as he’s being scorned across the globe, Donald Trump tweeted, ex- pressing support by pleading his own case. He tweeted:
“Beautiful weather all over our great country,” Trump tweeted, “a perfect day for all Women to March. Get out there now to celebrate the his- toric milestones and unprece- dented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months.
Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!”
If Trump was watching cable news, he no doubt saw the thousands of marchers. He might have seen signs and placards with slogans like “Make America Sane Again,” and “Follow the $$”.
PAGE 6 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2018