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President Trump hosted a number of Republican and Democratic House lawmakers at the White House Wednesday to negotiate over border security and end the ongoing government shut down. “The President and his team had a constructive meeting with bipartisan members of the problem solvers caucus. They listened to one another and now both have a good understanding of what the other wants. We look forward to more conversations like this,” Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said about the meeting.  These House Democrats in the centrist Problem Solvers Caucus met today with @realDonaldTrump in the Situation Room to discuss the shutdown: Josh...

This government shutdown is now longer than any in history. The media keep using the word "crisis." "Shutdown sows chaos, confusion and anxiety!" says The Washington Post. "Pain spreads widely." The New York Times headlined, it's all "just too much!" But wait. Looking around America, I see people going about their business -- families eating in restaurants, employees going to work, children playing in playgrounds, etc. I have to ask: Where's the crisis? Pundits talk as if government is the most important part of America, but it isn't. We need some government, limited government. But most of life, the best...

In the urban bastions of liberal America, it’s not an issue. They don’t care about the border. They don’t want border security. All they see when they look at these migrants are votes. They want amnesty. And when people talk about enforcing federal immigration laws or erecting a barrier to secure the border, it must be part of some white nationalist agenda. Protecting one’s border is a national security priority. President Trump promised a border wall and an immigration agenda that actually enforced the laws on the books. The government is shut down over some of the border wall funding....

The recent partial federal government shutdown has the liberal media predictably helping Congressional Democrats control the narrative and thus influencing public opinion to force President Trump to abandon his demand for $5.7 billion for border security that includes a wall along the southern U.S. border. Is anybody surprised by the liberal media’s behavior? Recent news reports by CNN, the New York Times, the Washington Post and others include exploitative sob stories about non-essential federal employees who are not being paid while the debate between the White House and Congress rages on. This brings to mind the self-interest of government employees....

It’s not a joke to say Republicans have an uncanny knack for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Of all the things the GOP excels at, this tops the charts. So as the longest partial shutdown of the government in history rolls on, it’s important to take a moment to check the status of things and game out how things could go. And, believe it or not, Republicans could actually end up with money for a border wall (or barrier, whatever) if only they ignore all their natural instincts and stand strong.The sad profiles of federal employees claiming to...

A group of conservative Senators on Friday introduced legislation to permanently keep the federal government open and prevent future shutdowns. The End Government Shutdowns would automatically create continually resolutions, which continues funding agencies even when politicians are debating on the budget.The bill is sponsored by Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, who has introduced the legislation every year since he was elected to the Senate in 2010, Deseret News reported. Sens. Steve Daines (MT), Mike Lee (UT), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Chuck Grassley (IA), Johnny Isakson (GA), Mike Enzi (WY), John Barrasso (WY), and Jim Risch (ID) have all signed onto the bill. The reason...

President Trump took to Twitter Saturday to criticize media reports on the partial government shutdown that said there was chaos in the White House over the impasse between Trump and House Democrats on his $5 billion funding demand for a border wall. I just watched a Fake reporter from the Amazon Washington Post say the White House is “chaotic, there does not seem to be a strategy for this Shutdown. There is no plan.” The Fakes always like talking Chaos, there is NONE. In fact, there’s almost nobody in the W.H. but me, and...— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January...

Staff at the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) received a paycheck on Friday despite the government shutdown that left the agency with no funds, The Daily Caller News Foundation reported. The kicker? The agency is being run by Obama appointees who are still in the position.According to the DCNF, staff at the CSB received an email instructing them not to spend their paychecks because the agency was working with the Interior Business Center (IBC), a federal shared services provider that handles payroll for dozens of agencies, to have the funds reversed.Thomas Zoeller, the CSB’s senior adviser and acting general counsel, sent the...

Freshman Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA) told CNN Friday that she is willing to vote for “some money for physical barriers,” as the 21st day of the partial government shutdown progressed."How can the White House, Republicans believe you 1,000 percent that you are going to give money on the wall when…Nancy Pelosi herself said no, zero dollars for the wall?" CNN’s Poppy Harlow wondered. “The way they say it is if you re-open, right, how do we know you’re going to give us any of this?”“Do you think Democrats should give any money to the wall?” Harlow asked."I think there is a...

The government has been shut down for over two weeks and is on track to become the longest shutdown in U.S. history. As for how long the current standoff between the Trump administration and the Democratic congress is going to last, your guess is as good as mine. It's a gamble for both sides. That makes it the perfect time to write a column about gambling. As I have mentioned in previous columns, it's been reported that the Department of Justice is drafting an opinion to reverse a 2011 finding from the Office of Legal Counsel that paved the way...

Conservatives may not mind a government shutdown. The powers that be cannot infringe on our rights, some money isn’t being spent etc. you know the drill. And this current fight is over something that is essential to national and border security. The Trump White House has to follow through on this border wall. It’s a key campaign promise, and he’s only asking $5 billion for some of it. Democrats, fresh off their 2018 wins, are not willing to play ball. House Democrats don’t want to give Trump one cent for the project. They claim it’s a waste of money,...

As a partial government shutdown enters a third week, newly elected Congressman Mark Green joined several other House members saying they will refuse to take a government paycheck until Democrats and Republicans agree to a funding deal over President Donald Trump’s demand for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. We are working hard at the Border, but we need a WALL! In 2018, 1.7 million pounds of narcotics seized, 17,000 adults arrested with criminal records, and 6000 gang members, including MS-13, apprehended. A big Human Trafficking problem. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2019 In a letter to...

Democrats are quick to criticize the Trump administration for any and every aspect of the government shutdown. They've been taking jabs at the White House, claiming Trump administration officials will receive a pay raise while some federal workers aren't being paid at all. Trump put an end to the rumors on Friday night when he froze pay for Vice President Mike Trump, members of the cabinet and other high-ranking political appointees. The raises were supposed to go into effect on Saturday, with some officials seeing a raise of roughly $10,000 a year, the New York Times reported. The reason the pay raises are...

Saturday's media dump suggested that scores of TSA workers failed to show up to work as the government shutdown hits the two-week mark. According to CNN, "hundreds of TSA screeners" have called in sick, including at four major airports. At New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, for instance, reportedly as many as 170 TSA employees failed to show up to work. The report, which quotes "two senior agency officials and three TSA employee union officials," suggests this is all very bad news for travelers."This will definitely affect the flying public who we (are) sworn to protect," Hydrick Thomas, president...

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has proven, once again, how out of touch she is with the average American. On Friday evening, she said there wouldn't be a border wall. But the real kicker? She seems to think that a wall along our southern border isn't a political issue but rather a morality issue.“We’re not doing a wall. Does anybody have any doubt about that? We are not doing a wall. So that’s that,” she said. “It has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with: The wall is an immorality between countries. It’s an old way of thinking [and]...

This is what the liberal media not being able to control the narrative and what you, the public, know and don’t know. On Thursday afternoon, CNN’s The Lead threw a full-blown conniption after President Donald Trump appeared and then took no questions at a last-minute White House Press Briefing alongside National Border Patrol Council members. Fill-in host Brianna Keilar immediately seemed bewildered, noting that the President was “pulling the spotlight back to the White House and to his point of view, but it's — he didn't even take questions.”   Watch CNN Go DEFCON-1 Over Trump Pulling a Fast One on...

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told “CBS This Morning” Friday that President Trump was “willing to negotiate” with Democratic leadership over funding for the border wall to end the partial government shutdown. She accused Democrats of being “unwilling” to begin the negotiations."I'm not going to negotiate in the press, but the president has been willing to negotiate on this point and the Democrats have not been willing to do anything," Sanders said in reference to the $5 billion number Trump had initially demanded in border funding."It's a very sad day when we can't get Democrats to even show...

For the past five days, the display of the stupidity in the elected bodies of Congress has been on full display. For the past five days, Americans have had to put up with politically framed speeches and explanations of why this shutdown had to happen and whose fault it truly is. For the past five days the amount of grandstanding “on principle” has made many feel that no one in Washington DC will ever listen to the people ever again. However for the past five days—outside of DC—another story began to be told. For the past five days, more than...

For the past five days, the display of the stupidity in the elected bodies of Congress has been on full display.For the past five days, Americans have had to put up with politically framed speeches and explanations of why this shutdown had to happen and whose fault it truly is.For the past five days the amount of grandstanding “on principle” has made many feel that no one in Washington DC will ever listen to the people ever again.However for the past five days—outside of DC—another story began to be told. For the past five days, more than a quarter of a...

The looming threat of a government shutdown reminds me of the joke about an unwanted door-to-door salesman who keeps threatening to leave. He’s still oblivious after being told repeatedly, “Come again when you can’t stay so long.” Most of us who loathe the hubris of ever-growing government breathe a sigh of relief whenever politicians and bureaucrats take a holiday. Yet, they proceed with the narrative that we are more terrified of a shutdown than say, allowing thousands of unvetted immigrants to storm our borders in violation of our immigration laws. By the way, if we demand that the caravans...