One thing about The Donster, he do tend to keep ‘em on their toes. Last week he set tongues a waggin’ and heads a scratching with a tweet about the possibility of needing a “good shutdown” in September if he didn’t get his way in the new budget talks. At the time I thought he meant it in the context as a threat, like a “good” spanking, but it appears that the Orange Comb Over actually thinks there’s such a thing as a “Good” shutdown of the government.
Natural question, exactly what does a “good” shutdown look like. Enter the Sunday Savior, Mick Mulvaney to explain it to all of us silly li’l critters. Quoting Mulvaney as posted in an ARTICLE on Politico, this is what the Cheez Whiz child was talking about;
"I think the president is frustrated that the process in Washington is broken," Mulvaney said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "The appropriations, the spending process, Congress using the power of the purse has been broken here in Washington for more than 10 years. And I think a good shutdown would be one that could help fix that."
Oh, now I get it. DJ Trumpenstuff is pissed off at that goddamn constitution again! First he can’t ban the icky Muslims from getting in here, then he can’t bully sanctuary cities to become good little vassal states like he wants them to, and now he can’t spend tax money like it’s from one of his investors, all because of the stupid constitution! I’m telling you, this coequal branch of government stuff is such a pain in the ass!
Somehow or other, both Trump and Mulvaney seem to be missing the fact that the appropriations process is one of the most beloved legislative toys in the playpen for congress. Both sides have used it in both of its most common forms, both as a source to fund programs and initiatives that they feel strongly about, and to use it to withhold projects and initiatives from the other side that they don’t like. Both sides have even used appropriations as a hostage over issues that have nothing to do with money, but they threaten to shut off the funski valve on the moolah if they don’t get their way on the other boondoggle thingy. Without appropriations, there wouldn’t be much of a need for Congress in the first place, can’t have an army or navy without money, so much for the common defense. Can’t provide for the "common good" without greenbacks to back it up either.
But, apparently thinking he had scored a killer point, and was on a roll, Mulvaney threw in a second explanation of what makes a “good” shutdown, and he did it gratis. It’s a good shutdown because it fits in with Trump’s campaign promise to shake up Washington;
"It's part of that overall drain-the-swamp mentality about Washington D.C.," Mulvaney said. "This president is willing to think outside the box and do things differently around here in order to change Washington. And if that comes to a shutdown, so be it."
Makes perfect sense to me. Shuttering national parks and monuments, sticking hard working federal employees with time off at no pay, making “essential” government employees work with a promise to pay them sometime down the road when congress gets its head out of its ass, this is all a good idea because Trump promised he’d do weird, destructive shit if he ever got to the White House.
However, there is one way that a September government shutdown could be considered as being “good” that Mulvaney forgot to touch on in his brain dead babbling this morning. And that way is that it would be 5 months closer to the 2018 midterms, 5 months less for subsequent events to make people forget about it, and best of all, the Republicans will still own it, lock, stock, and barrel. And that’s why, if they come to an agreement, you could see the GOP in both chambers scraping together enough votes to side with Democrats to override the veto if trump used it. They can’t survive both Trumpcare and a shutdown, and they know it.