It’s a hectic day in Washington as Republican House leaders try to rein in the Freedom Caucus and push through an extension of funding for the government. As the midnight deadline on Saturday approaches, it appears that a shutdown of the federal government will occur. It was also announced this morning that Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California had passed away on Thursday night at the age of 90. Feinstein held the record for being the woman who served in the Senate the longest. She was first elected in 1992, but in recent years there have been growing requests for her to step down due to evident cognitive decline. Just a moment ago, WAMC had a conversation with Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
WARREN: Alright, so let’s begin with how much suffering a shutdown of the government is going to inflict right here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. You might be surprised to learn that Massachusetts is home to around 25,000 federal employees. These are public officials who are merely trying to do their jobs and assist the public in any way they can. They have mortgages, they have payments for daycare, they need to put petrol in the tank and food on the table, but they are not going to get their paychecks. They are in a difficult financial situation. They are going to obtain them in the end, but there will be a delay in doing so. The same holds true for personnel of the armed forces. Will not get payment until after the government shutdown has ended. And in the state of Massachusetts, there are around 3,300 persons who will be impacted by this. And just think about that: when you’re talking about that many people not getting paid, it has a lot of other implications. Just think about that. It has an effect on the hospitality industry, and it has an effect on the economy as a whole. In addition to that, there are around 125,000 mothers and children in the state of Massachusetts who are eligible for food assistance. So, this is—I mean, come on, this is infant milk, right? And everyone is scrambling together to see if we can keep it going for a few more days, but the federal money will be gone, and there will be no support left. Due to the fact that they receive funding from the federal government, Head Start centres in Massachusetts are going to be shut down. Processing of new loans, including small business loans and any new loans that people have applied for, will come to a halt. People have built their plans on the basis of those small company loans, and all of those plans will have to be scrapped as a result of this. Therefore, there is no shortage of evidence pointing to the fact that this will have a significant impact on the economy of Massachusetts. And here’s the bit that really gets to me: that the suffering that people will feel is not just incidental damage to what Republican fanatics are trying to do. This is the part that really gets to me. This is exactly the point. The suffering itself is the point. The anarchy is part of the experience. Because a small group of Republican extremists in the House – it’s not all of them – but these Republican extremists who are driving the shutdown right now, with [Speaker of the House Kevin] McCarthy, these people believe that if there is more suffering imposed on the American people, more chaos in our country, and more damage to our economy, it will increase the likelihood that Donald Trump will be elected in 2024. That is the central focus of our discussion.
