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WPCNR NEWS & COMMENT. By John F. Bailey. September 30, 2023 UPDATED 12:15 A.M. OCTOBER 1, 2023 (SEE CLOSE OF THIS COLUMN):
What if the Republicans gave a Shut Down and nobody shut down?
All this media hand-wringing over the Republican “Shut Down” has a solution that is really quite simple.
The persons who work for the U.S. Government, even if they do not get checks should just do something all real Americans do, white, Latino, Black, Muslim, Irish, Jews, no matter where or who you are or where you’re from, we show up.
Show up !
Like the workers in New York did the last 24 hours in New York State! Getting things going again despite 8 inches of rain. Keep your money for migrant relief Biden Administration! New York State got its city and state back functioning within 24 hours despite hurricane rainfall.
New York State will take care of it. If our county and city and state officials stop playing politics and open shelters for migrants in vacant buildings, government facilities airports and sports arenas across the state. New York can just do it!
Governor Hochul’s rallying the state for a tremendous effort to keep NEW YORK GOING in the storm with no name is a testimony to government public service workers. Its police, road crews, hospitals, and citizens who acted responsibly during the flood yesterday performed with distinction! Thank you men and women of the New York State Government.)
Now, it is time to show up again, U.S. Government Workers!
Do not let the Republicans do this to you.
They aren’t firing you.
So if you show up, they have to pay you wages. Perhaps a bonus (that would frost them)
Mount a court case if they do not pay you (with damages—let’s see how the feckless Supreme Court rules on that one)
Government workers can put the Republicans in their place, shaming the worst government representatives including the other party ever to go to congress, throwing a peaceful normal day as usual would throw banana cream pies in the faces of the “Shut Down’s Clowns”
Just go to work even though you will not be paid.
Keep the planes flying. Go in sort the mail and keep delivering.
Perhaps even our Senators and Congresspersons who still get paid even, (even though they never show up to do any work that must be done except talk about what must be done and not do it) What a lazy bunch of sloppy thinkers.
Just go in to the Pentagon, the FAA, Defense Department, airports, TSA, FEMA, IRS (let’s audit the Republicans while they are not at work), Justice Department (charge the Trumpicans in court delaying tactics with contempt—I am serious—and the Supreme Court justices are not in session, what will they do, defy their Trumpican bosses and deny the contempt charges?
Yes, keep the Smithsonian Institute open.. the monuments, honor the founders, Lincoln, Washington.
Keep the CDC functioning that keeps America healthy and vaccinated. Go to work at Department of Social Security and keep those social security checks coming and what about this: Those of in heading up Social Security can raise the social security to the rate of inflation that has hurt social security ability to provide for Americans on Social Security. Let the Supreme Court deny it. They’ll never do that.
The question is, will the President not be working since supposedly he is shut down, too?
Well the President should go into work and issue a series of Executive Orders, since now congress is not in charge. (Is it ever?)
He should:
- Declare State of Emergency and call the shutdown illegal.
- Declare kids affected by DACA legal residents.
- Declare student loans all forgiven due to the effect on the economy of the shutdown on the students’ ability to make a living.
- Declare migrants awaiting status OK to work to replace workers who do not show up to work.
- Declare automatic Rise in the debt ceiling to avoid a U.S. default. And,
- As part of this Republican Shut Down it has created a national emergency and to ease the impact on the American people, Prices are frozen for 6 months on gas, electricity, oil, food and interest rates lowered to 1% to get housing moving again. (Don’t laugh at price controls, they got us through World War II)
He could do that.
The President on his own time, since congress washed its hands of the Shut Down issue, could take these issues and decide them.
The Supreme Court hacks would if they chose to rule against this use of Executive Orders “during a national emergency” would also remove them from any president elected in the future who would take way repressive reactive executive orders.
In one fell swoop, the Republicans would be hoisted on their own irresponsible petard. How dumb can they be? How anti-American.
So, government workers, Show Up.
Carry signs saying “We want to keep America Open! OPEN THE DOORS”
Work to keep the U.S. Government functioning smoothly.
The only thing about government that doesn’t work is congress.
You help all Americans if you do go in to work in spite of the shutdown.
You put the congress in its place.
You remind them congress works for us.
You, We pay your salary.
You tell tell them you, congress are here to help, not hurt. Not hate.
Not here to give businesses carte blanche to hurt consumers for company profits. Not here to let robber barons kill millions of Americans with drugs they know kill. Not here to promote medical industry fraud with inflated Medicare and Medicaid bills and insurance companies reimbursements, and of course crooked investment practices.
Just thinking, what if they gave the shutdown, and workers showed up any way because they believed in the importance of their jobs, believed in America, and still do.
Show up, backbone of America.
You the workers who make the country work.
The shutdown shows the contempt congress has for you.
So show them up, you the people who make America and its government work, show the Congress that does not work, who really works.
This just in 4:50 P.M. EDT FROM WASHINGTON, D.C.: Flash! CONGRESS ACTS!!!! Within two hours of my writing this column, (probably no cause or effect) the House of Representatives came to its senses, passed the House Bill compromise with the Senate, funding the government and postponing shutting down the government for 45 days. So we should be saved from the media hysteria over shutting down the government until at least the week before Thanksgiving.
MIDNIGHT BULLETIN:12:15 A.M. EDT.OCT 1, 2023: The Senate voted 88-9 on Saturday night to pass a short-term bill to keep the government open, averting a shutdown at the last minute after a dramatic turnaround in the waning hours.
The bill passed the House earlier by a substantial bipartisan vote of 335-91, and President Joe Biden signed it into law late Saturday night. No one explained why this could not have been done two months ago, to this reporter’s knowledge.
