OPINION:
The ongoing federal government shutdown reminds me of “Stuck In The Middle With You” by the band Stealers Wheel, specifically the lyrics “Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you.” It perfectly sums up the chaos and gridlock in Washington.
The president and Congress need to work together if we are ever going to put our fiscal house in order and end future threats of furloughs. We need to return to the time when Congress held budget hearings for each department during the summer. A real balanced budget, agency by agency, was adopted during an open process. Members of Congress, federal employees, public, watchdog groups and media were afforded sufficient time to understand the contents prior to adoption. Full federal budgets were adopted on time prior to the start of any new federal fiscal year on Oct. 1. This was a time when there were no furloughs.
So let’s make a deal. Democrats should give President Trump $5 billion for the wall. Republicans should give Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Democrats $5 billion toward the $29 billion Gateway tunnel project. Both sides will come away happy.
Why not end bipartisan gridlock? Instead of another in a series of stopgap continuing resolutions to keep the government open, pass a clean spending bill with no attached amendments for the balance of fiscal 2019 ending on Sept. 30 using fiscal 2018 numbers.
LARRY PENNER
Great Neck, N.Y.
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