“I know that I know nothing” – Socrates
“You don’t know nothing” – Baseball Legend Yogi Berra
Socrates might have been feigning ignorance, Berra was opining on baseball, but either might just as well have been commenting on the government shutdown.
So, when will it conclude?
“You shouldn’t be asking me because I’m the person who predicted it would only last five days,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., remarked on Fox. “However, I will share that some Democrat senators recently suggested this will continue ’til at least the start of November.”
However, Biggs also said he doesn’t “foresee a resolution.”
GOVERNMENT ENTERS LONGEST FULL SHUTDOWN IN US HISTORY WITH NO END IN SIGHT
Whether you are Socrates or Yogi Berra, we don’t know “nothing.” Which, technically, implies that we do know something.
However, I do possess a grasp of proper grammar.
The single certainty I have in this scenario is that I possess no knowledge of how to end the government shutdown.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN STALLS AS DEMOCRATS DEMAND OBAMACARE SUBSIDY EXTENSION
Regardless… Is there any way to predict when the government shutdown might conclude?
Congressional Republicans had anticipated that Democrats would cave after a few days once funding expired in the early hours of Oct. 1. Later, Republicans posited that Democrats would surrender once federal employees missed their initial paycheck last week. Subsequently, the GOP speculated that Democrats would prolong the government closure through the “No Kings” rallies nationwide last weekend.
The GOP contended that Democrats needed to demonstrate to their base that they were “fighting” against President Donald Trump.
“Now that their protests have occurred, I just hope they regain their senses and reopen the government this week,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., accused Republicans of constantly altering their justifications for why Democrats are obstructing the GOP bill to fund the government.
“In a few days, it will revolve around something different,” Jeffries stated.
Thus, we enter a period of Congressional stagnation as the government shutdown enters its fourth week.
Who could have anticipated it?
Then again, who could have foreseen thieves absconding with millions of dollars’ worth of jewelry from inside the Louvre in a historic heist? At least the bandits diverted our attention from the government shutdown briefly.
SHUTDOWN STANDSTILL: NO HEADWAY UNTIL THERE’S ‘INCENTIVE,’ POLITICOS LAMENT
That being said, everyone recognizes (even if they don’t acknowledge it publicly) who will likely end the government shutdown: Trump.
He’s more than just the president. Trump wields an influence over Republicans in Congress that Ronald Reagan could only dream of. Thus, until he engages, the government will remain closed.
“Donald Trump definitively needs to become involved. He needs to step off the sidelines. Get off the golf course and actually decide to end the shutdown that he’s created and allowed to transpire,” Jeffries stated.
“Donald Trump, instead of departing the country before he departs the country, should engage in negotiations with us so we can address this terrible crisis,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “The president should meet with us. It’s not about me, him, or anything political. It’s that the people are in crisis every day.”
The president did meet with lawmakers this week, convening with Senate Republicans for lunch in the renovated Rose Garden.
“Did you notice the white marble floor?” the president joked.
However, Democrats assert that Trump consulted with the wrong party. Schumer described it as “a Rose Garden pep rally.”
Trump urged Democrats to yield – and vote for the GOP spending bill.
“They’re suffering badly in the polls,” he said.
SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES
“Shouldn’t the president get involved in negotiations at this point to end this?” yours truly asked Johnson.
“We’re not going [to] pay a ransom to reopen the federal government,” the speaker responded.
“Isn’t the only solution to end this shutdown to simply have a sit-down negotiation with both sides?” I countered.
“Republicans have nothing to offer to Democrats,” Johnson replied.
In fact, some Republicans argued that Trump shouldn’t even negotiate.
“If I’ve gleaned anything about President Trump, it’s his timing. I believe that he feels like the timing is not opportune at the moment. We’re prevailing in the messaging war,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “So there’ll be a time. But the time isn’t ripe yet.”
It’s uncertain when that time may arrive, considering that the government has remained closed for over three weeks.
And two weeks ago, Republicans criticized Schumer for stating things improved for Democrats the longer the shutdown persisted, but shutdown weariness is now setting in on Capitol Hill.
BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN
“Welcome to day 22 of the Democrats’ shutdown,” Johnson declared at the now monotonous daily press briefings delivered by both sides.
“This does suck,” said Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., on Fox Business about the shutdown.
Lawmakers are now seeking shutdown resolution.
“The hope is that we get this shutdown resolved before the end of the month,” Jeffries said.
There’s concern about how the shutdown might affect national parks.
“(Here are) the more adverse consequences that we’ll start to witness without regular staffing. Litter will accumulate, and park ecosystems will be impacted,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark.
Both parties are convinced they’re winning in the shutdown.
“What I repeatedly heard on our telephone town hall (is) ‘Don’t you guys give in to these hostage takers,’” said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho. “I heard that repeatedly.”
“It’s resonating with Americans. What I’m hearing from people in Connecticut is ‘hang tough,’” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
The Senate is holding a test vote Thursday on a bill to compensate essential workers who are on the job without a paycheck, but Democrats are doubtful.
“I’d be in favor of paying the federal workers,” said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. “That bill, unfortunately, grants a lot of latitude to the president to pick and choose, or, I should say, (White House Budget Director) Russell Vought to pick and choose (who gets paid).”
So, while shutdown weariness intensifies, no one knows when it might end.
It is often said that recognizing the limits of your knowledge is the beginning of true knowledge.
And if no one knows the end of the shutdown, that must mean that everyone is quite intelligent.
