Shutdown Day 26: A game of chicken no one wants to lose
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Liz Marlantes Politics Editor
The government shutdown is now on Day 26, the longest in history, and its impact 鈥� from airports to prisons to food safety 鈥� is growing exponentially.
Yet as of now, there鈥檚 no end in sight. Neither President Trump nor the Democrats are showing any sign of budging from their positions. Neither side is proposing a compromise. Instead, each is effectively waiting for the other to fold.
Today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Mr. Trump suggesting that the State of the Union address, scheduled for Jan. 29, ought to be postponed until after the government has reopened.
Frankly, that might be a good idea 鈥� since it鈥檚 hard to envision what, exactly, Trump would say were the speech to take place as planned. The state of the union is鈥� shut down? Dysfunctional? Locked into a crisis of its own making that is causing damage to individuals鈥� and the nation鈥檚 economic well-being?
Perversely, the very length of the shutdown seems to be creating a disincentive to end it. Democrats say that capitulating to Trump鈥檚 demands at this point would be like rewarding 鈥渉ostage-taking.鈥�
鈥淭he last thing you want to do is reward the president鈥檚 behavior,鈥� Virginia Sen. Mark Warner (D) said today on CNBC.
Likewise, among the president and his allies, there seems to be a sense that now that they鈥檝e come this far, they need to get something even more substantial out of it.
In an in the Daily Caller this week, a senior administration official writes that he/she hopes the shutdown 鈥渓asts a very long time, till the government is changed and can never return to its previous form.鈥�
鈥淭he lapse in appropriations is more than a battle over a wall,鈥� the official writes. 鈥淚f this fight is merely rhetorical bickering with Nancy Pelosi, we all lose, especially the president. But if it proves that government is better when smaller, focusing only on essential functions that serve Americans, then President Trump will achieve something great that Reagan was only bold enough to dream.鈥�
Let us know what you鈥檙e thinking at csmpolitics@csmonitor.com.
