Morning Jolt: Preparing for the #SchumerShutdown

I'm not a fan of government shutdowns, as a matter of principle -- we paid for this government, we ought to be getting its services -- or as a political strategy, because it never works out well for Republicans.

Part of this is that most of the media portrays these fights as a simple morality tale between good and reasonable Democrats and mean and miserly Republicans, who want to keep kids on field trips locked out of the Smithsonian museums. But another key factor I suspect is that most Americans don't want to be bothered with the details of government funding fights and prefer blaming everyone in Washington with a "pox on both your houses" attitude.

But I'll concede two factors might make this shutdown a little different from the ones in 1995, 1996, and 2013.

For starters, with a Republican president controlling the executive branch, there will be a lot less "shutdown theater," where government employees who are allegedly essential spend a lot of time and effort blocking the public from open air sites. The Department of the Interior already announced they'll keep sites as open as possible.

"We fully expect the government to ...

January 19 2018

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Preparing for the #SchumerShutdown Jim Geraghty I'm not a fan of government shutdowns, as a matter of principle -- we paid for this government, we ought to be getting its services -- or as a political strategy, because it never works out well for Republicans. Part of this is that most of the media portrays these fights as a simple morality tale between good and reasonable Democrats and mean and miserly Republicans, who want to keep kids on field trips locked out of the Smithsonian museums. But another key factor I suspect is that most Americans don't want to be bothered with the details of government funding fights and prefer blaming everyone in Washington with a "pox on both your houses" attitude. But I'll concede two factors might make this shutdown a little different from the ones in 1995, 1996, and 2013. For starters, with a Republican president controlling the executive branch, there will be a lot less "shutdown theater," where government employees who are allegedly essential spend a lot of time and effort blocking the public from open air sites. The Department of the Interior already announced they'll keep sites as open as possible. "We fully expect the government to ... READ MORE Trump Is Not A Despot Rich Lowry It hasn't been easy recently to make an attack against President Donald Trump that is over-the-top enough to stand out from the run-of-the-mill hysteria, but outgoing Republican senator Jeff... Babe in the Woods: Journalism in the Age of Clickbait­­ Nicole Gelinas Babe in the Woods: Journalism in the Age of Clickbait­­ ADVERTISEMENT The Trillion-Dollar Chameleon Victor Davis Hanson Twenty years ago, no one had heard of either Facebook or Google, neither of which existed yet. For that matter, no one knew much about social media or search engines in general. Cell phones... Donald Trump's Greatest Gift Is His Enemies David Harsanyi Every morning, it seems, President Donald Trump's most determined opponents awake to find out what sort of obnoxious, fact-challenged, puerile, norm-breaking thing he has offered that day and... The Great Leap Forward Kevin D. Williamson China was supposed to have its Great Leap Forward from 1958 to 1962, under the leadership of Chairman Mao. That didn't work out — Mao's policies ended up killing about 50 million people instead.... Year Two May Be Tougher than Year One for Trump Michael Barone As we reach, gingerly, the anniversary of Donald Trump's inauguration as president, none of the disasters feared by critics has come to pass. The economy has turned at least mildly upward rather... ADVERTISEMENT Northern Armageddon: The Battle of the Plains of Abraham and the Making of the American Revolution D. Peter MacLeod "Definitive . . . superb in its combination of individual perspective and strategic narrative . . . This book tells us – brilliantly – both how the battle was fought, and what it meant." - Eliot A. Cohen, author of Conquered into Liberty: Two Centuries of Battles Along the Great Warpath that Made the American Way of War LEARN MORE Top Shots Luminarias Festival ADVERTISEMENT Follow Us & Share 19 West 44th Street, Suite 1701, New York, NY, 10036, USA Your Preferences | Unsubscribe | Privacy View this e-mail in your browser.