How the government shutdown hurts everyday Americans: Independent leader

New York Post

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00:00Americans live paycheck to paycheck. If we do not pay our federal workers, they

00:05can't pay their car loans. They can't pay for groceries. They can't pay their

00:09student loans. That is going to have an extraordinary ripple effect that we

00:12won't even understand in its entirety for months. But ultimately, officials

00:18estimate the ongoing shutdown will cost the US economy billions of dollars each

00:23week. The majority of Americans are being held hostage by these far extremes who

00:27actually don't want compromise. That's not where most Americans are today. I'm

00:32Lindsay Williams Drath. I'm the CEO of the Forward Party. I think the reason that we

00:36see such a stark difference in this particular shutdown over others in the

00:41past is the absolute erosion and trust between the two parties. In previous

00:46shutdowns, if you look back to the prior Trump administration or, for example, when

00:50Ted Cruz held up a continuing resolution back in 2013 related to the Affordable

00:56Care Act, we see two things right now. One, there is an absolute lack of trust, and

01:00they are saying that time and time again. So you hear Hakeem Jeffries saying, I don't

01:04trust Mike Johnson. You hear Democratic members of the Senate saying, I don't trust

01:08John Thune. He says that if we vote for an extension here, that he will bring our

01:13concerns regarding extensions for these tax subsidies for health care to the table.

01:19So those two things, lack of trust of the two-party system and lack of

01:22accountability to the to the voters. Many people want to know how is President Trump

01:27using the shutdown to his advantage? When the government shuts down, the role of the

01:32legislative branch as a key appropriator to approve spending stops. Who approves

01:37spending? Who decides what should be funded and what shouldn't be? What is

01:40critical funding? What isn't? That role goes to the Office of Management and Budget.

01:45They approve agency contingency plans. Here's where this plays into Trump's hand. He has

01:51committed to coming in and cutting out any programs and staffing on the part of the federal

01:56government that he views to be part of the progressive left agenda. By forfeiting their

02:04responsibility and the power of the purse, what we're actually looking at now is an increased

02:09and expanded role on the part of the executive branch, which is exactly what the president wants.

02:13The end game for the Democrats here is to say that they were able to push forward affordable

02:19health care for the American people. They want this to be their win. They want to demonize the

02:25Republicans to say the Republicans want to raise your health care. They're not addressing affordability

02:30concerns on the part of the American people. They view this as an opportunity to get that win.

02:35It's not showing right now in polls that that's the case. Both parties actually in the last couple of

02:43weeks have had net losses in approval rates as a result of the shutdown. And 89 percent of American

02:49surveyed say that they believe that the shutdown is a huge problem, huge problem in our country right

02:54now. So the Democrats think that they can prove that they are the champion for the American people,

02:59for affordability, for access to health care. And they're willing to continue to double down on this

03:04in order to try and achieve that win. The parties are incentivized to continue the shutdown because the

03:10way our political system is structured right now, the incentive system is to the extremes. And you

03:15see this right now in the discussions about gerrymandering, right? They are wanting to redraw lines so that

03:21they only appeal to the far extremes of their party. Democrats appeal to the far kind of AOC,

03:27Bernie Sanders, progressive side of their party, and Republicans appealing to the far MAGA extreme of

03:34the Freedom Caucus, the, you know, kind of Lauren Boeberts of their party structures. And because of that,

03:40the majority of Americans in the middle who want a functional and representative government

03:45are not being heard. It's the squeaky wheel on either side. We had another example where the

03:49government had run out of money. Congress had to pass a continuing resolution. And Chuck Schumer did the

03:55thing that most Americans want him to do. He crossed the aisle and he voted for the Republican approved

03:59continuing resolution. He was skewered. Democrats across the country called on AOC, primary Chuck Schumer.

04:08Well, he heard that loud and clear. So now he's going to dig in and he's going to use this as

04:13a political opportunity to appeal to the far extremes who do what? They're the ones that turn

04:17out and vote in primaries. They're the ones that fuel low dollar campaigns. And so now all of a sudden,

04:24the majority of Americans are being held hostage by these far extremes who don't want compromise.

04:29They actually view the word compromise negatively. They think it's a dirty word. That's not where

04:34most Americans are today. How is the shutdown going to impact the economy? Americans live paycheck to

04:41paycheck. If we do not pay our federal workers, they can't pay their car loans. They can't pay for

04:46groceries. They can't pay their student loans. That is going to have an extraordinary ripple effect

04:51that we won't even understand in its entirety for months. But ultimately, officials estimate

04:58the ongoing shutdown will cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars each week. So people are

05:04questioning how long the shutdown will go for and when when will it end? We have a couple of really

05:10important dates that I'm looking at right now. The first is November 1st. So on November 1st,

05:15Americans are going to start enrolling in their health care plans for next year. The numbers that

05:21they're going to see are going to be staggering. American health care premiums are going to be

05:25going up across the country. And when Americans start seeing that number, you're going to start to see

05:31more and more pressure on voters, you know, coming from voters on on their elected officials.

05:36Right now, you know, we have a Republican member from California went to Speaker Johnson and he said,

05:42I'm hearing from members of the military who are very concerned they're not going to get paid anymore.

05:47And those conversations that are happening where federal employees aren't being paid,

05:52that is putting pressure right now. You start to see what that looks like from constituents who start

05:56to see what their re-enrollment rates look like after November 1st. That pressure is going to

06:00intensify a lot. The second date is going to be the Thanksgiving holiday. I don't see a world in which

06:04the TSA union workers are not going to strike. And you have the busiest travel weekend in America

06:10held hostage by an American government and people can't go and see their families because they

06:14can't make it through airports. You have flights grounded. So I think those are going to be the two

06:18big dates that we see November 1st, which is when re-enrollment starts for health care and then the

06:23Thanksgiving holiday weekend and travel. When they can't go to grandma's house for Thanksgiving, that's

06:28when the public is going to start paying attention. Which party takes the blame? That's the question

06:32everybody wants to know. Right now, 86% of Democrats blame Trump for the shutdown. 82%

06:39blame Republicans specifically in Congress. 73% of Republicans blame Democrats. So what you see is

06:47an absolute party line regarding blame. But let's look at the numbers here. Those are polls that are

06:53only reflective of Republicans and Democrats. 47% of Americans are registered as independents.

06:58What do independents want? What do people who are joining the ranks of the forward party,

07:03a new ideologically inclusive party focused on getting the job done for Americans, what do they

07:09want? They want the government back open. They don't want to play the blame game. They want to know

07:13that their health care subsidies are going to be extended. 78% of Americans can agree that they want

07:19these subsidies extended. In order to accomplish that, the Republicans are going to have to approach

07:23this in a bipartisan fashion. And the Democrats are holding them hostage for that right now.

07:27So I sit here as the leader of the third biggest party in America. And we say a pox on both their

07:34houses, get back to work and do your job. What happens to our democracy if shutdowns become the norm?

07:41First of all, our federal government exists to provide services, constituent services to the American

07:46people. How are you going to get your passport renewed? How are you going to file your taxes?

07:51How are you going to know whether or not a vaccine has been approved to vaccinate your children before school?

07:58These are the things that our government is supposed to be providing for us. And in a government shutdown,

08:03none of that is happening. How are you supposed to go through a TSA line at the airport to go visit a family member?

08:09Do you feel safe when you're on Capitol Hill if the Capitol police force is not funded?

08:16These are huge questions that we need to address in terms of the role of government.

08:21Our founding fathers envisioned a contentious government of three branches that fought for the

08:26rights of the American people. If the majority in Congress continues to be a rubber stamp for whomever is

08:32in the White House. We're going to lose that tension. We're going to lose the accountability on the part

08:39of our elected officials to be responsive to the American people. And our democracy will no longer exist.

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