Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Lights, Camera: Tweeter-in-Chief on Stage — Quiet Please — Action, Roll

Cut, Print, Publish
Reporter: “A dangerous move isn't it, Mr. President?”
(Prez: “I don't give a damn.”) 

Trump calls for government shutdown to get congressional rules in check.
FYI MEMO FOR TRUMP: Congress is a separate branch of government and you, sir, have no control over Congressional rules and operations. So, do us all a yuge favor and just STFU.

Trump Tweet Headlines: 

“Our country ‘needs’ government shutdown to pass GOP agenda”

“Our country needs a good shutdown in September to fix mess! The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there! We either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%.”
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2017

Recall that the 2013 shutdown lasted 16 days. The effects of that meant furloughs and other shutdowns and non-hires not only in government but across the board and included:
1. Tax refunds totaling almost $4 billion were delayed.
2.  The WIC program went unfunded.
3.  Total shutdown: Federal research activities at the National Institutes of Health (lost about three-quarters of its employees), the National Science Foundation (lost 98 percent of its workforce), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (lost 2/3 of its manpower) shut down nearly entirely; the CDC scaled back its monitoring of disease outbreaks.
4.  The Environmental Protection Agency inspections halted at 1,200 locations.
5.  The Food and Drug Administration delayed approval of drugs and medical devices
6.  Yes, the national parks were shut down resulting in over $500 million in lost consumer tourism spending. 
7.  Reviews of veterans’ disability applications slowed to a halt, with nearly 20,000 applications per week not being evaluated. 
8.  In total, the Office on Management and Budget estimated that the shutdown cut GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2013 by 0.2 to 0.6 points, and resulted in 120,000 fewer jobs.  
9.  Across the board OPM and CBO estimates $24 Billion was lost.
10.  800,000 Feds did not work – some w/o pay (e.g., essential employees).
11.  Shutdowns don’t result in seniors going without their retirement checks, or the military closing up shop, or airplanes crashing into each other in the sky, but they do cause massive disruption to hundreds of thousands of workers and their families. 
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Donald J. Trump is in way over his head and out of touch with reality.

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