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I'm still not fully understanding what's going on here, and I'm american. Could someone who is more educated in politics of the US explain to me why this shutdo

I'm still not fully understanding what's going on here, and I'm american. Could someone who is more educated in politics of the US explain to me why this shutdown is allowed to go on for this long, and why there is no law in place for 'if the congress cannot come to an agreement, X shold happen'?

mikeash 8y ago
The law says the opposite: agencies are legally prohibited from carrying out any nonessential work without explicit continuing funding. Look up the Anti-Deficiency Act for more info. As for why it continues to be this way, it’s because politicians have found the threat of a shutdown to be a useful bargaining chip. It’s a little bit like nuclear weapons: they’re pretty bad, but at the same time people stand up and listen to you when you threaten to use them. The problem is that we now have an idiot in the Presidency and too many cowards in Congress who don’t want to bypass him.
nkrisc 8y ago
Because Congress would have to pass that law. Then they could use a shutdown as political leverage. This could end today and Congress could override any presidential veto, but that is not politically convenient.
dragontamer 8y ago
Congress can write, and rewrite, any law. Congress will virtually never be held responsible for any event, since they control the law itself. Another thing: Trump issued a veto-threat against the bills that passed the House. Trump refuses for a budget to be passed unless it has his wall. Republicans don't want to betray their leader, so they're holding firm with Trump.
- SolaceQuantum 8y ago
  Q: Why don't republicans want to betray their leader? Is there that much republican support for Trump right now?
  - dragontamer 8y ago
    Republican support for Trump has dropped from 97% to like 90% this past month. Sooooo... yeah. I forget the numbers exactly, but its well above 80%. Note: Republican Senators and House members are trapped. Literally every Republican Senator up for election 2016 to 2018 who said something bad about Trump was voted out. Lisa Murkowski is the one exception: her next election is in 2022. And she's clearly expecting Trump to be voted out in 2020 (which is why she's willing to go against him so much). She's willing to play the long game. All the other Republican Senators who didn't like Trump's policies (Jeff Flake, John McCain, etc. etc.) are gone. I guess Mitt Romney (new Utah Senator) is a new instigator, but the anti-Trump Republican movement is basically dead at this point. Either a Democrat took over the seat, or a harder-leaning Republican took over. Note that over 30% of the US Population agrees with Trump on the issue and still strongly supports him through this shutdown. If you are a Republican and in the House or Senate, you HAVE to earn the support of that 30%, because no one really will vote for you if you go against this base.
    - SolaceQuantum 8y ago
      Oh, okay. Thanks for explaining. Do you know some of the reasonings around the support for the shut down?
      - dragontamer 8y ago
        Politics is innately emotional, and not a thing of reason. Fundamentally, when people choose a leader, they will then follow that person. Its an innate characteristic of humans. Its not a Republican or Democrat thing, its simply a human thing.
        SolaceQuantum 8y ago
        Thank you again for explaining. I'll have to look into that. (I'm a little strange so I don't often follow leadership without also querying their reasoning constantly.)

mikeash 8y ago

The law says the opposite: agencies are legally prohibited from carrying out any nonessential work without explicit continuing funding. Look up the Anti-Deficiency Act for more info. As for why it continues to be this way, it’s because politicians have found the threat of a shutdown to be a useful bargaining chip. It’s a little bit like nuclear weapons: they’re pretty bad, but at the same time people stand up and listen to you when you threaten to use them. The problem is that we now have an idiot in the Presidency and too many cowards in Congress who don’t want to bypass him.

nkrisc 8y ago

Because Congress would have to pass that law. Then they could use a shutdown as political leverage. This could end today and Congress could override any presidential veto, but that is not politically convenient.

dragontamer 8y ago

Congress can write, and rewrite, any law. Congress will virtually never be held responsible for any event, since they control the law itself. Another thing: Trump issued a veto-threat against the bills that passed the House. Trump refuses for a budget to be passed unless it has his wall. Republicans don't want to betray their leader, so they're holding firm with Trump.

SolaceQuantum 8y ago
Q: Why don't republicans want to betray their leader? Is there that much republican support for Trump right now?
- dragontamer 8y ago
  Republican support for Trump has dropped from 97% to like 90% this past month. Sooooo... yeah. I forget the numbers exactly, but its well above 80%. Note: Republican Senators and House members are trapped. Literally every Republican Senator up for election 2016 to 2018 who said something bad about Trump was voted out. Lisa Murkowski is the one exception: her next election is in 2022. And she's clearly expecting Trump to be voted out in 2020 (which is why she's willing to go against him so much). She's willing to play the long game. All the other Republican Senators who didn't like Trump's policies (Jeff Flake, John McCain, etc. etc.) are gone. I guess Mitt Romney (new Utah Senator) is a new instigator, but the anti-Trump Republican movement is basically dead at this point. Either a Democrat took over the seat, or a harder-leaning Republican took over. Note that over 30% of the US Population agrees with Trump on the issue and still strongly supports him through this shutdown. If you are a Republican and in the House or Senate, you HAVE to earn the support of that 30%, because no one really will vote for you if you go against this base.
  - SolaceQuantum 8y ago
    Oh, okay. Thanks for explaining. Do you know some of the reasonings around the support for the shut down?
    - dragontamer 8y ago
      Politics is innately emotional, and not a thing of reason. Fundamentally, when people choose a leader, they will then follow that person. Its an innate characteristic of humans. Its not a Republican or Democrat thing, its simply a human thing.
      - SolaceQuantum 8y ago
        Thank you again for explaining. I'll have to look into that. (I'm a little strange so I don't often follow leadership without also querying their reasoning constantly.)