> In a private exchange picked up by microphones, the Indonesian leader asked to meet Eric Trump, to which the president answered, “I’ll have Eric call you,”
> We’re building a great hotel, and that’s going to start very soon. And I never met the president, and I used to go over there quite a bit. And obviously we manage teams over there, and it’s pretty amazing that he knew who I was. And, you know, it’s obviously — I don’t get involved in politics in Indonesia — but when I heard that, I started laughing. ‘Can I please meet Eric?’ He must know the projects very well.
0: https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/eric-trump-indonesi...
1: https://old.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/comments/1oaemj3/trump_post...
To be fair though, this shutdown was brought about by Congress. The Senate has not approved a bill, so the POTUS has nothing to sign.
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After all, when I look at my W2 (yeah, I'm a working stiff), they sure as hell are taking out taxes still. That aint "shut down". It's a scam.
Something about "taxation without representation". I think we went to war over that before.
There is no serious incentive to avoid this in the US. In fact, you're incentivised to be complicit in the shutdown and then blame the other party.
Which is precisely what's happening.
Im frankly done with the children bickering. But in all seriousness, neither party really cares about us. Republicans are engorged with the tech neofascists, and the democrats are caught up with special interest du jour, with a healthy smattering of surveillance as well.
Ive seen how the governments (local, state, federal) operate. It's fucked, and its going to be a long time to fix it, if possible.
Not sure what my plans are, honestly. Take it as I can, i guess.
The system is setup to prevent political opportunism and provide predictability and rigidity of the system at the expense of being slower to respond to constituents.
The incentive is still there, it’s just a few years off in the next election.
(That being said… sighing loudly as he gestures around him at all the political opportunism…)
How is this a hot take? The debt ceiling is statute. Electeds are doing what their voters want them to do. Until shutdowns result in a bipartisan anti-incumbency wave, they won’t go away. (The electoral consequences of shutting down the government are mixed at best.)
0: https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/family-finan...
1: https://www.npr.org/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5545929/house-stopgap-f...
Thank you for catching. Mixed up my fuckups. I’m sure the administration that’s been illegally impounding mandated spending is absolutely constrained by the law in this case…
Such a person would ignore any issue short of, say, their paychecks or SSA benefits not arriving on time. After that, who knows who they would support?
Democrats have a lot less to lose than the GOP right now. The party is unpopular and locked out of power. There's only upside to shutting the government down, if you ignore the very serious impacts on normal people.
Trump is not capable of seeing this because he reflexively has to win every conflict he's involved in.
I think the median voter looks at what a politician says they are going to do, assumes they are going to do it, and votes based on that. Say what you will about the Trump administration, they are doing exactly what they were shouting from the rooftops that they would do. Grief people they don't like, sow chaos and division, start a devastating trade war on multiple fronts, and cause daily chaos and drama. They said it loud and clear for years before the election. They got elected. And, then they did it!
If I had anything good to say about these guys it's that they were 100% transparent about their plans and they followed up on them right out of the gate. Exactly zero people should be surprised at what they delivered. It's actually pretty impressive how faithfully they are delivering on all of their promises of destruction and chaos! In fact, polls of Republicans show consistent, strong and enthusiastic approval of the administrations actions, as they themselves fall deeper into poverty and hopelessness.
I find these takes very tiresome. What kind of insight can you draw from this all or nothing thinking? It’s reductive and uninteresting.
Not all elected representatives are refusing to work. Collective punishment creates an opportunity for bad actors to force an election and remove their colleagues from office.
> After all, when I look at my W2 (yeah, I'm a working stiff), they sure as hell are taking out taxes still. That aint "shut down". It's a scam.
Well yeah, of course they are. You still owe taxes. When the government reopens the taxes you pay will still be allocated.
> Something about "taxation without representation". I think we went to war over that before.
This is not what was meant by taxation without representation. We do have elected representation, even in a government shutdown. Congress refusing to work is not a consequence of the government shutdown, it is a political choice made by elected representatives.
This is because a significant amount of the government is still running. [1] Around 50% of gov employees are currently working without pay (but with expected backpay). If _everyone_ stopped working major systems would immediately be disrupted: The military would stop all operations. Planes would be grounded. Weather predictions would cease to exist. Food & pharmaceuticals wouldn't be screened. Participants in medical studies would stop getting treatments. etc.
Contractors are also capable covering expenses with overhead. But soon, many will run out. For example, the contractors who perform nuclear weapons research [2]. At which time, they will have to shut down and employees will be furloughed without guarantee of backpay. (The current expectation is unpaid leave) As someone who works in a related civilian field this would severely impact our mission and the folks who work here. Especially the newer ones like postdocs who may not have much savings.
[1]: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/who-is-still-workin...
[2]: https://sourcenm.com/2025/10/17/doe-secretary-nnsa-to-furlou...
I’d really like to know when things are shifting without having to watch the stupid news every day.
- All US workers need to go on strike until you get a government that works for the whole population ;)
bradtheappguy•2h ago
scrollaway•2h ago