GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN By T.S. Khanna, January 9,2019.

FOUNDATION FOR BETTER GOVERNMENT

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

BY  T.S. Khanna, January 9, 2019

 Today, it is the nineteenth day of Federal Government partial shutdown, over a deadlock in dispute of the two political parties over the southern border security.  The taxpayers, however, continue to pay taxes without getting all services of government.

The President and the Republican Party, with majority in the Senate, have made out a case, presenting facts, for constructing a 234-mile wall or a barricade on the southern border at a cost of $ 5.7 billion.  The Democratic Party, with majority in the House of Reps, refuse to grant the funds on the grounds that the proposed barricade would be ineffective and immoral.  This is a reversal of their earlier position on the same issue.

Each party is pinning the blame on the opposite party.  The standoff seems to be arising from personal ego of the involved leaders, camouflaged as a fight in the public interest.  In a divided govenment, more of such deadlocks are likely to arise and go unresolved due to the turf match of the involved leaders at the cost of the tax-payers.

To restrain our leaders from creating deadlocks and create incentive for resolving the issues, we strongly recommend that for government shutdown, each member of the Congress (both chambers) and the President be required to pay a penalty fine of $ 1,000 per day, amounting to $ 536,000 per day, into the U.S. Treasury,