Our Trump-o-meter reads SAD!—the lowest rating—for the second week in a row, as the government shutdown President Trump said he would be “proud” to impose hurts workers more and further damages the U.S. economy.
In addition to the 800,000 federal workers not receiving paychecks, nearly 10,000 private-sector companies are losing revenue because they contract with the government and aren’t getting paid. Trump’s own White House economist, Kevin Hassett, raised his estimate this week of the decline in GDP growth the shutdown is causing. John Williams, president of the New York Federal Reserve, said the shutdown is having a “significant effect” on the economy.
Americans are disgusted and gloomy. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index plunged from December to January, and is now at the lowest level of Trump’s presidency. The portion of survey respondents saying the government is doing a fair or poor job hit 71%. When consumers feel anxious, they spend less and the economy slows.
As a reminder, the whole fiasco is over a tiny amount of federal funding for Trump’s beloved border wall. Trump refused to sign spending bills because he wants $5.7 billion to start building a wall. Congress offered $1.3 billion. So the difference is $4.4 billion, which is about .01% of all federal spending.
The battle inside the Beltway has become petty and idiotic. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Trump he should postpone his State of the Union speech, planned for Jan. 29, until the nine unfunded federal departments are reopened. To retaliate for that horrible putdown, Trump grounded a military aircraft Pelosi was due to fly on an unpublicized trip to Europe and Afghanistan. Trump also canceled the trips of several Cabinet officials to the upcoming economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, where world leaders will now mock American leaders instead of meeting with them.
Americans increasingly blame Trump for the shutdown. His approval rating has slipped and his disapproval rating has risen, according to an NPR poll. Trump is even losing the support of his so-called base, with his approval rating dropping among suburban men, evangelicals and Republicans. That’s ironic, because Trump is holding 800,000 workers hostage over his border wall to appease his base. Not working.
The most likely way out of the jam is for Trump to declare a national emergency and seek the wall funding from somewhere in the federal budget, without Congressional authorization. That’s legally dubious, but better than a shutdown. What Trump is waiting for, nobody seems to know, because the Trump-o-meter is saying, end the shutdown now.
Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com. Click here to get Rick’s stories by email.
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Rick Newman is the author of four books, including “Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success.” Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman
