IN THE MAKING: Do the Right Thing and End the US Government Shutdown

Liam Heffernan: 00:00:00

This is an example right now of politicians that can put their own interests aside, their own politics aside, their own personal bias aside, and actually think about the people that voted for them. What matters to them and what matters to them is still having a job.

With reaction and insights to the biggest stories and breaking news from the USA and a little bit of history thrown in. This is America, A history in the making. Hello and welcome to another edition of A History in the Making, a slightly impromptu one from me, Liam.

And I think you probably know what I'm going to quickly talk about today because at the start of this month, once again, it's becoming all too familiar. And in the US the federal government shut down once again. Now that sounds very dramatic.

Of course the whole government isn't shut, but non essential services have been frozen. The reason for that is because federal agencies are dependent on their budgets and their funding being approved by Congress.

The president can't sign off the legislation until that happens.

And the problem with that is that America, of course, is incredibly divided and Democrats and Republicans are stubbornly and have been for years, digging their heels in and forcing shutdowns because they just simply don't want the other side to get a win. Even if that win is people keep their jobs and people get paid. Why is this so important this year? Well, it's always important.

It happened when Obama was in office. We can't forget that. So this is not just a thing against Republicans, it's not just a thing against Democrats.

Politicians on both sides refuse to support legislation and it can't help but think part of that is just about politics. They don't want the other party to get a win and it looks bad. Right? A shutdown when the other party is in the White House looks bad on them.

I mean it doesn't. It looks bad on everyone. My argument is you are there to run the country and keep the country running, so do your best bloomin jobs.

That aside, the government has shut down. Now this year it's particularly pertinent because J.D. vance, Donald Trump, the whole administration has been looking to cut jobs.

Has been looking, has been not even looking, has been very directly going after people they don't want to stay in their jobs. A government shutdown gives them license to really do something here to keep people out of work, to force people out.

They could use this to their advantage. Why not?

Why not while the government is shut down and people, at least some people aren't being paid, why not make sure that carries on so that the people they want to leave have to leave because, you know, they have bills to pay.

And through no fault of their own, because two sides of Congress can't agree with each other, they find themselves out of a job, out of a career that they might have had for years. It just doesn't make sense to me. I don't know how this is allowed to happen, if I'm honest.

I don't know why people are suffering because American politics is so divided. But that's the situation that America finds itself in.

And it seems like based on comments JD Vance has made, they're in absolutely no rush to end the shutdown. It seems like this potentially is going to get ugly.

And honestly, my thoughts go out to everyone who's being affected by this because it's not your fault.

And I hope this is ended quickly because at the end of the day, they're playing with federal budgets and they're playing with people's livelihoods and jobs for the sake of some sort of political one upmanship. And it doesn't seem fair, it doesn't seem like it should be allowed to be honest. But look, there's a few ways that the government shutdown can end.

And I'll link you to actually to a nice article on the BBC's website which sort of details this as well. But just to sort of summarize the sort of, the ways that this could all come to an end.

And most obviously, Democrats could just break ranks and vote for the thing that's being put through, because if they support gets passed, Trump can sign it and government opens again.

And in that respect, you know, you have to say the onus is on Democrats to some extent because the Republicans aren't going to, they're not going to change and they need the Democrats to side with them. And it just feels like they're the ones holding this up at the moment. There are reasons for that. If I was American, I would be a Democrat.

I am very much on the left in my, in my views. But I think here maybe a little bit of pride needs to be swallowed. And I'm just putting that out there to anyone who can do something about that.

Now, Democrats don't just have to side with the Republicans and sign off on whatever they want. They could just quietly back down and concede a loss and just let this happen so that government can end the shutdown.

Of course, there is also the opportunity that Republicans could make the concessions and find a compromise with the Democrats. But let's be honest, that's probably not going to happen all the time. Republicans ultimately have a majority in the Houses.

So I don't think we can say that's a plausible situation, even though that is something that they could do. Now.

The other option here is that if neither side concedes and no one wants to find a compromise, because ultimately that's what has to happen, the shutdown will stretch on and it will continue going on. And of course, if that happens, no one wins. Right? I don't understand what any party has to gain from allowing a shutdown to continue.

And it feels like this is a classic example of a lot of the things that we've been speaking about on the podcast in the past where politicians, and certainly the people that are sitting in Congress every day, that are so far removed from the lives and the realities of their constituents, they're just, they're using things like this as like the federal budget, which is a huge deal. They're using it as a political chess piece.

And it's like they're just not really comprehending the impact that actually has on people who are not going to get paid, who might even lose their jobs or have to leave their jobs because of this. And the longer this goes on for, the more people are going to be affected. Or maybe they just don't care.

Maybe they're so hell bent on trying to make the other side look bad that their priorities are just so distorted now. It's a sad state of affairs. And I'm going to just repeat the fact that this is not the first time this has happened.

It's not even the first time this has happened in recent memory. This is becoming a concerningly regular occurrence in the American political cycle. And I don't understand why anyone allows that to happen.

So I think we have to ask the question of, are the right people really in government on both sides? Do they really have the American people's interests at heart?

Because anyone can say that in a campaign speech, anyone can say the words that they think people want to hear. But let's be honest, this is a very example of, and I've just almost thrown my phone across the room because I'm.

My hands are waving all over the place as I record this.

This is an example right now of politicians that can put their own interests aside, their own politics aside, their own personal bias aside, and actually think about the people that voted for them, what matters to them. And what matters to them is still having a job, still having money, because they don't care.

They're sitting in Congress, earning their salary and still doing their job and arguing with each Other while people are now struggling to pay the bills and it's not fair. And this is a classic example of the flaws in the American political system.

And you have to wonder if the right people are in Congress right now, because if they were, this surely wouldn't happen. So I don't really know what the point is here, apart from, guys, just get a brain and end it right? Government shutdowns are not good for anyone.

They're not even good for the politicians that are making this happen, because no one wins here. Like, who looks good when this happens. The people who are running the White House and who have the majority don't look good.

The people in the minority who are stopping them from getting the budget through don't look good. It makes no sense. So let's just end this.

Let's allow everyday Americans to continue working, to continue being able to access all of these non essential services.

Because at the moment it feels maybe like this is just being used as a nice little distraction at a time when Trump is getting a lot of heat about the Epstein files, when a lot of other issues around the world are getting headlines, and actually the narrative is becoming a little bit uncontrollable. Now, obviously, I'm not saying Trump's to blame for the shutdown.

The shutdown is the fault of both sides here, and both sides need to reach across the aisle and find a way to end this shutdown. But I'm saying it probably is in Trump's interest to keep this going.

And the language that's being used when JD Vance stands up and says that this could go on for a long time, what that does is stir up a sense of stubbornness in their party. It makes them refuse to dig their heels in because actually they've got an endorsement. Now JD Vance is saying, do you know what? It's okay.

This could stretch on. And that's fine because we need to ultimately think about the end goal. It's not fine. It's not fine at all.

So why don't Republicans and Democrats stop being Republicans and Democrats for just one moment and start thinking like Americans and the people that voted for them actually need them right now to do the right thing.

Now, I feel like there's a lot more to talk about here in terms of government shutdowns and the, the politics behind that and the laws behind that and how, why and when it happens and the consequences of that. So maybe there's a podcast episode in future that we need to think about there.

But for now, I guess I'm just using this opportunity to plea to anyone that could possibly have any influence in ending this to do the right thing. Thanks as always for listening everyone, and goodbye. Thanks so much for listening to America, A history in the making.

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