US editorial writers split over wall

As the US Senate on Thursday votes on dueling proposals to end the partial government shutdown now in its 34th day, editorial opinion in US newspapers on the impasse that has seen 800,000 government workers furloughed is as sharply divided as are the Democrats and Republicans who must resolve the issue.

A look at recent editorials in newspapers across the country showed some blame the Democrats for the stalemate on settling the shutdown. Others point to the Republicans as the culprits. At least one editorial blamed both sides. All the editorials agreed: federal workers, their families and the businesses they patronize continue to suffer needlessly.

“The pain of the shutdown extends beyond federal workers,” read a Washington Post editorial.  “…There are stores, restaurants and other businesses that are hurting in cities and towns across the country with workforces depending on patronage by the government and its employees. The national economy is taking a hit, too, with estimates putting losses so far at $3.6 billion.”

The Star-Tribune of Casper, Wyoming, said the shutdown and the wall that President Donald Trump is demanding should not be linked in negotiations. “We ... encourage our representatives to focus on the issues separately instead of digging in their heels over a border wall. Thousands of hard-working Americans are involuntarily going without pay while they wait for Congress and the president to find a solution.”

“Blame President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats for choosing stubbornness over compromise,” the Chicago Tribune said. “These shutdowns get more respect than they deserve — they’re mutual failures of governance. There have been 20 previous times since the mid-1970s when the president and Congress failed to reach a pending agreement resulting in either furlough or suspended paychecks for some federal workers.”

The Boston Herald called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s rejection of US President Donald Trump’s offer to extend temporary protection for children illegally brought to the United States as “cynical” and said, “A negotiation requires sacrifice and flexibility but it is now clear that Democrats are not interested in either concept. Government workers are paying the price for their obstinance and voters should take notice.”

The San Francisco Chronicle urged Democrats to “turn down Trump’s cynical immigration deal” and called it “unserious”. The newspaper said the nation “needs comprehensive immigration reform that settles the legality of the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and TPS (Temporary Protected Status) programs once and for all’’. “There’s also no need for Congress to trust Trump’s word about leaving the programs alone when he’s already losing that battle in court,” the Chronicle said.

The Santa Fe New Mexican said the shutdown erodes trust in government and blamed Republicans for the impasse. This isn’t a ‘both sides won’t budge’ situation”, the newspaper wrote. “The Democrats just won a House majority in part because they beat back Trump’s nativist anti-immigrant message. To now fund a wall — the purpose of which is mostly symbolic rather than functional — would be a fundamental betrayal of voters. ...The GOP (Republicans) must end the deadlock. Sooner, not later.”  

In Montana, the Billings Gazette said, “The way to avoid future shutdowns is to enact a law that automatically continues government funding at present levels when Congress and the president fail to enact a budget by the October 1 start of the federal fiscal year. With an automatic continuing resolution, government employees will get paid, they will all keep working.”

The Deseret News of Salt Lake City, Utah: “The wall of ideology seems intractable, but it’s not. Here’s the solution: Republican senators should propose a bill that includes at least part of the money for the wall — say half of the $5.7 billion President Trump wants — as well as strong codification of DACA ... that exists today only because President Obama issued an executive order. Both sides agree to the deal, appropriate money to reopen the government and agree to work on border security together. Democrats in the House would have a difficult time ignoring such a compromise. The president would have trouble vetoing it.’’

And in a letter to the editor of the El Paso (Texas) Times, a reader said, “The Trump administration is not asking that a ‘Great Wall of China’ be erected from San Diego to Brownsville ... but merely to augment ... the existing barriers ... approved by previous administrations with the blessing of the majority of Democrats. ...What has changed? The name requesting the funds: Trump.”

Neither of the proposals being voted on by the Senate on Thursday is likely to garner the needed 60 votes to advance. The first vote will be on Trump’s proposal to reopen the government, maintain legal protections to some immigrants for three years and provide $5.7 billion to extend the wall on the border with Mexico. If the measure fails, lawmakers would then vote on the Democrats’ proposal for a continuing resolution to fund the government through Feb 8.