The Screwmer Shutdown Vote Results

The Senate failed to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government open, putting the country on a path to a government shutdown that will begin at midnight. The measure fell short of the 60 votes needed for passage by a 55 to 45 vote, with 43 Senate Democrats opposing the legislation.

Good. Shut the Federal Government down. Maybe they'll do less damage that way. 

  True, with the DemocRATs out of the way, America will be made great again more quickly.

One we get rid of most Democrats the job is roughly halfway done. 

Do either you or Millerscum realize that if not for Democrats, you both would have been dead long ago?

Of course you don't. And if I explained it to you, you still wouldn't understand.

GUMMINT AM BAD is a mostly MAGA shibboleth. If that was true, then places like Somalia, which essentially has no government, would be paradises.

And the nations of Western Europe, which are as heavily governed as any on Earth, wouldn't be both the richest and the happiest in the world.

I favor a shutdown, nice and long and disruptive, because it's the fault of the Republipigs and everyone knows it. Blue wave!

My comment was definitely a bit hyperbolic and I should probably try to not do that.

 I am not saying that individual members of the Democrat party haven't done great things. I also do appreciate them for at least slowing down the Orange Dictator. The point I was trying to make. (Admittedly a bit poorly) was that there need to be a lot of changes to the federal government and there is a lot wrong with the federal government. And I believe that historically it is largely the fault of both major parties. I really don't think things will change much until we either get more parties in, or rid ourselves completely of the partisan system. 

Just because I criticize the Federal Government for its size and scope and think it should be different, doesn't mean I am against all governments entirely. Just because I criticize the structure of our current system doesn't mean I want no system. 

You are free to do as you wish but I would humbly request you don't try to lump me in with Trump supporters simply because I also criticize Democrats. I think I have made it pretty clear that I do not support Trump. 

I favor a small government whose primary focus is protecting the individual rights and bodily autonomy of every individual. I want everyone treated equally under the law and everyone to have proper due process. I favor a demand economy with a well regulated capitalist structure and a strong social safety net. I want a good sytem of checks and balances and separation of powers between state and federal government. I want everybody to be able to pursue happiness in any way they wish as long as they don't cause direct harm to another. 

Trump and most that identify as maga seem to be against much of the above. I respectfully reject your implication that I am a trump supporter. 

I didn't mean to imply that you're a Trumper. For one thing, you're not that stupid.

The first problem is that our government is obsolete. The Electoral College is an artifact of slavery. Supreme Court justices were never envisioned as hanging around for three-plus decades after being appointed. And many of the checks on Presidential power are based on tradition or expectations that "a President would never do that." And overall, the Founding Fathers never expected that so many legislators would put party over country.

I disagree, though, that our government is "too large." How so, exactly? Does it try to do too many things? Or does it overreach in the things it does?

I can only look at the example of Europe. Those nations have "bigger" governments than we do; and they are the happiest and wealthiest nations on Earth, with the longest life expectancies and health care costs that are half of ours. All of which are brought about by the actions of their "big governments."

The ideal government (for you) is what they call "laissez-faire." In your view, the government should just kick back and observe, and only intervene if things go south. That's a valid philosophy, but it hasn't really worked anywhere it was tried.

As an example of how I feel, the Environment Protection Agency was created out of nowhere, so it definitely made the government "bigger " Obamacare made the government bigger, certainly. But those two programs/agencies have made Americans' quality of life much better.

Now, the Trump Kill All Brown People Goon Force made the government bigger, and so did the Let's Build a Wall but Then Say the Hell With it and Leave it Unfinished project. So not all expansions are beneficial.

Oh, and if you want a strong safety net, there will have to be government agencies to administer it.