Prevention of Progress

This government shutdown is now the longest in history, and is still going without an end in sight. Trump is demanding 5.7 billion dollars in taxpayer money to pay for his border wall which was one of his main promises in his presidential campaign. The Democrats are not budging, and this has created a gridlock and has resulted in the partial government shutdown which has left 25% of government employees without pay for this entire period. The main issue with this shutdown is not the issue that it is targeted to, but the attention that all the other issues are not receiving. How is it logical to leave government employees such as Border Security Officers without pay when they are the ones that guard our country while there is no wall around? Regardless, the entire government is now forced to be focused on this one particular issue while other important topics such as abortion, military spending, and foreign affairs are neglected.

Divisive

As divided and polarized as our country already is, this shutdown has only widened the gap between the president and the Democrats. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Shumer met with Trump and the press to discuss in a supposed “friendly manner” which turned into a shouting match between the leaders of our country. This shows the lack of professionalism that has become a normality among the important leaders of the United States. These are supposed to be the most respected politicians in the nation and it is pathetic to see them acting like children in front of cameras and the press. This needs to change if any real progress is to be made in either direction, whether that be the Republicans vision or the Democrats vision.

Unwillingness to Compromise

The division between the party leaders has to unprecedented stubbornness that has led to the longest United States Government shutdown in history, over 23 days. The Democrats have proposed many solutions that include a partial wall, increased border officers, etc. to satisfy Trump’s desires for better security against Mexico. However, he will not budge and believes that only a full wall will be enough to increase the border security of our country. In addition, it is worth noting that it was promised that Mexico would pay for this incredibly expensive wall, not the American taxpayers. In my personal opinion, I think there are more important issues that 5.7 billion dollars could fix rather than entirely for border security.