Democrats Gambled on the Longest DHS Shutdown in American History – and Lost

Democrats Triggered the Longest DHS Shutdown in History and Now Republicans Are Making Them Pay for It

Democrats shut down the Department of Homeland Security in February rather than fund ICE.

They held out for months, demanding reforms, insisting on "accountability," and blocking the agents who protect your neighborhood from being funded.

Now Republicans are finishing the job – $70 billion for ICE and Border Patrol – and Democrats couldn't slow it down by a single vote.

In mid-February, Democrats refused to vote for ICE and Border Patrol funding. Their stated reason: two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis during a Trump deportation operation.

Their actual goal: gut the enforcement machinery that's been removing criminal illegal aliens from American soil at a record pace. So DHS shut down – the longest partial shutdown of the department in American history.

Read about it...

Democrat Sen. Ruben Gallego refuses to forgo salary during Democrat Shutdown

‘I’m Not Wealthy’: Democrat Refuses To Forgo Pay During Shutdown As His Own Staff Goes Unpaid

Democrats drove the federal government into a shutdown at 12:01 am Wednesday after blocking a GOP spending bill, but at least one Democratic lawmaker says he won’t be giving up his paycheck.

Roughly 750,000 employees will be furloughed during the shutdown, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But Democrat Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona told NBC News that he won’t forgo his $174,000 congressional salary, which lawmakers continue to collect during shutdowns under Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution.

“I’m not wealthy and I have three kids. I would basically be missing, you know, mortgage payments, rent payments, child support,” Gallego told NBC News. “So it’s not feasible, not gonna happen.”

Congressional staffers are not paid during the funding lapse, though they will receive back pay once the government reopens.

Read more...

Quote of the Day - Allen West

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I’m watching the spectacle occurring on the Senate floor. They have passed the 60 vote threshold for ending cloture. I want the American people to understand that tonight the Constitutional Republic we know as America has suffered a horrible defeat. Obamacare is not the law of the land. It is an edict handed down by a tyrant, not a President.

The US Senate has just voted to affirm a new precedent that the executive branch can amend law without Congressional approval, and Congress allows it. The waivers, exemptions, and delays implemented by President Obama have delineated a separation, not of powers, but between the political elite and their cronies - and you, my fellow Americans.

This is reprehensible, and we can expect even more bad behavior from a President that continues to spit on our Constitution and in our eyes...and smile. The incessant government spending continues with no solution for economic growth. Anyone voting for this tonight owes some explaining to Americans….but maybe not. As Obama stated, “I won.”

~ Allen West 

Viewpoint Poll - Whose fault is the shutdown?

Whose fault is shutdown?

President Obama

31%

House Republicans

30%

Senate Democrats

13%

All of the above

26%

Message from Allen West

I'm disgusted about this government shutdown. It's completely reckless and un-American of the Democrats to refuse to come to the table and work across the aisle to sort out this mess.

Throughout my life, I've always relied on my principles to guide me through tough times. This nation has as well – during the Great Depression, World Wars, September 11, 2001, and every other time of crisis. But today when we so urgently need our government leaders to rally together and solve the problem at hand, the Democrats in Washington have abandoned their principles and gone MIA.

More than ever before, America needs more principled, conservative patriots serving in our government – in Washington, state houses, and city and town halls throughout the country.

~ Allen West

Comparing Apple with...

When speaking about the shutdown, President Obama said:  "Apple rolled out a new mobile operating system, and within days, they found a glitch, so they fixed it. I don’t remember anybody suggesting Apple should stop selling iPhones or iPads or threatening to shut down the company if they didn’t. That’s not how we do things in America. We don’t actively root for failure. We get to work, we make things happen, we make them better, we keep going. He is of course referring to the release of iOS 7.0.2 last week, which brought fixes for a lock screen passcode bypass flaw and other small issues."

Apple's market value hit $623.5 billion a few months ago.

Apple's surging share price makes it nominally the most valuable company of all time, surpassing rival tech firm Microsoft's $616.3-billion valuation in the late 1990s.

The United States is in $17 trillion debt and growing.

The U.S. is in shutdown mode mainly because of the national debt. They can print more money and fund the government and keep growing the debt.  Obamacare is much more than a "glitch." We, as the shareholders, the citizens of this country, don't see the economy growing.

Which is more healthy? Apple makes things that people want to buy and grows its share price. The U.S. government grows government, grows debt and forces the citizens to buy a product millions don't want. Obamacare ain't no I-phone.

Democrats, the masters of disingenuity

Ride for the Constitution

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As thousands of federal employees wonder where their next paycheck is coming from amid a government shutdown, around 3,000 truckers plan to descend on Washington, D.C., in an effort to shut it down further by not hauling freight for a whole weekend.

Bypassing the Barricade - Obama Punishes the People

"...after all, to the casual observer, it seemed clear that many more resources were being poured into keeping people away from the open-air memorials than it took to maintain normal operations..." Read more... at WND.

The Bullies on the Bully Pulpit

It used to start a few months before the election. Now it is all year round. If a politician does not get his way and if his opponent does not roll over, the ugly bully games begin. We saw this in Lake Worth during the heights election and then the elected officials on our commission voting to make our winning vote void. Then they went a step further--they voted to make a hotel district and allow 65 feet east of Federal Highway when the voters had already said NO.

People don't like to lose...I get that. But the name calling?  The lies and distortions and the win at all costs mentality?  The total disregard for our Constitution and for all those they serve?

Now the Democrats are calling the House, "anarchists," "arsonists," "terrorists," and "jihadists." The art of name calling is being perfected by Democrats (Saul Alinsky--they must keep his Rules for Radicals under their seats) and we all are disgusted with the entire bunch. Under the Constitution, the House is responsible for all funding. It seems as if our Constitution is just another obstacle in the path of the Obama bullies. The Republicans offered three step-wise solutions but Obama closed his ears.

The Washington Times described the war of words this way, “Democrats, who have long posed as the party of peaceniks and doves, have been anything but during the great rhetorical war of 2013. In fact, the party of George McGovern and Jimmy Carter has been mad as hell as of late, leading an offensive of bombastic insults and rhetorical bullying that has dominated the government shutdown. It’s a perfect storm, with Democrats leading the pace.”

And how ironic that "President Barack Obama contemptuously chose to allow the first federal government shutdown in almost two decades on the first day of National Bullying Prevention Month, according to a press release sent to The Daily Caller by the National Education Association (NEA)."

Pandas used as Political Pawns

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Can you even imagine that Washington, D.C. Democrats and the Obama administration are using cute little pandas to blame Republicans for the shutdown?

Click here to read about panda cam shut down at the National Zoo. Some of these sorry politicians should have their offices there.

Some already feeling the pain of the government shutdown

Now since Obama would not negotiate with the Republicans and the government was forced to "shut-down," we will be reading and listening to a bunch of shutdown-horrors and atrocities in the eyes of those blaming the Republicans. How long will it go on?  Obama will not back-down in spite of the polls so it will be up to the Republicans.

President Obama will skip Malasia and the Phillipines next week in his Asian tour.  Read about it....  He says that this is an important part of his trip to promote U.S. exports and advance U.S. leadership in the largest emerging region in the world but he just can't do it, the shutdown, you know.

But the shutdown did not stop the Marines yesterday--

Karen Belier Getty Images

Vietnam Vets said Screw the shutdown, we are visiting the World War II Memorial anyway. They kicked down the barriers. Way to go, Marines!  To Boldly Go Where A FEW GOOD MEN Have Gone Before. And as a Marine would say, Improvise, Adapt, Overcome."

Meant to really punish the American people and to bring the Republicans to their knees, Today is Yosemite National Park's 123rd birthday. Due to the government shutdown, no one will be blowing out any candles. Visitors already there are being told to leave Yosemite as well as every other national park or attraction. If the Republicans are so stubborn says the government, it will show them who's boss.

The Sierra Club says, "... the fallout doesn't stop there. The EPA will furlough 9 out of every 10 employees, and communities around our parks could lose up to $30 million in business for every day of the shutdown.

I can't envision this "shut-down" lasting too long. I agree with the majority in the recent poll that says 72 percent of the people oppose shutting down the government to cut off funding the health care law. On the other hand I admire the Republicans for standing up to principle and actually listening to the people. The Quinnipiac poll says voters are split on the health care law: 45 percent support it, while 47 percent oppose it.

Message from Allen West

(Written yesterday before the shutdown)

I don't know if you've seen the news but the Senate has voted to kill the emergency spending legislation passed by the House of Representatives. This cowardly action will likely have just one result -- shutting down the federal government over ObamaCare.

If Harry Reid and his liberal Senate allies are so willing to toss aside solutions worth their consideration, than they should do the right thing and delay the implementation of ObamaCare for all Americans.

This is not only a time for principle -- it's a time for patriotism.

It's just outrageous for Obama and Harry Reid to have arranged for special exemptions from ObamaCare for Members of Congress and their staffs but not for ordinary Americans. The truth is -- House and Senate Democrats should be ashamed by this and Americans should demand they be treated no different than the rest of us.

If ObamaCare is a bad deal, than it should be a bad deal for everyone and not just those who can't arrange for special treatment.

I hope that our lawmakers will rise to the occasion, keep our government open, and delay the implementation of ObamaCare.

Steadfast and loyal,

Lt. Col. Allen B. West, USA (ret)
U.S. Congressman (2011-2013)

On the brink of a shutdown

House Republicans succeeded in pushing through a one-year delay in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act early Sunday morning. In a 231-to-192 vote, the House approved the delay as an amendment to a Senate bill funding federal government operations.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has already signaled that the legislation will not pass that chamber, and unless the House and Senate can reconcile competing versions of the funding bill before midnight on Monday, the U.S. government will shut down for the first time in 17 years.

Read more... at the Washington Post.

Obama's Amnesty - Giving away the farm

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U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, Republican from Texas said, “No one should be surprised that individuals who have supported amnesty in the past still support amnesty. When you legalize those who are in the country illegally, it costs taxpayers millions of dollars, costs American workers thousands of jobs and encourages more illegal immigration. By granting amnesty, the Senate proposal actually compounds the problem by encouraging more illegal immigration.”

Now that Obama has convinced prominent and powerful Republican Senators on his bi-partisan immigration committee that 11 million illegals are here and we can't do a damn thing about them but to throw in the towel and give them a chance at citizenship, the border still needs to be secured and E-Verify needs to be in place. But According to Exelis Systems Corporation, the company that built and jointly maintains TARS with the U.S. Air Force, the government has ordered a complete shutdown of Aerostat flight operations that help secure our borders.

“Not only will this closure mean hundreds of people will be out of jobs, but it also means our borders will not be safe, especially along the remote U.S. Mexico Border like in Texas. These defense radars detect low flying aircraft infiltrating our borders. Without these defense radars, low flying aircraft will go undetected. It will be open season for any drug/gun/slave smugglers, terrorists flying in with nukes, low altitude missiles, or even a full scale low elevation invasion/attack against America.”

Read more... at Market Daily News.

It has been reported at The Washington Post that today, Obama will announce his own plan for immigration reform--more liberal they say. He wants to outshine the Bi-Partisan Committee. Part of the Senate plan would let illegal immigrants obtain legal residency quickly but it would not allow them to seek full citizenship until border security had been improved and a new system was in place for employers to verify the employment status of workers. Obama, not to be outdone, says "no" to that. How did America ever get to this place?

So much for compromise. So much for any policy that protects our country, our workers and our taxpayers who have been supporting this abominable travesty as America falls more and more into a welfare state and more and more people don't even speak English.