The Government Crises We Can Not Ignore

Our President is correct that we have a crisis. It’s a crisis in our government. It is quickly becoming clear that he and our newly elected Congress are not able to work together. Their inability to reach an agreement on funding the federal government is a clear example of this, and I fear that the current government shutdown is just the beginning of what could be a long and painful downward spiral.

We have a President under siege who is desperately clinging to his signature campaign symbol, a huge wall. We have a newly elected House of Representatives where the Democratic majority is trying to claim the moral high ground and instead is quickly losing favor. And we have a Senate where the Republican majority has elected to sit out the fight, and is clinging to the unlikely assumption that supporting the President will keep them in power. They are all fighting a losing battle, and we, the citizens of this country, are the ones who will suffer most. Our needs are barely considered in this ridiculous infighting over a symbol that amounts to a tiny percentage of the federal budget.

So what can we do to get out of this mess? We can’t wait two years to elect new leaders. We need the President and the new Congress to do the jobs that we elected them to do. They need to find ways to work together to resolve this situation. They need to agree on the facts, discuss potential solutions, compromise where needed, and pass the needed legislation. If they don’t do this, their credibility to lead this country will be sorely compromised and they will not be reelected.

It is our job as citizens to contact them via phone, email or regular mail (https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials) and tell them this. I hope they hear that message from millions of Americans. Our country’s future depends on it.