We're in the 25th day of the partial government shutdown, the longest one in US history. 800,000 federal employees have been forced to take unpaid leave or work without pay. The idea is that they'll get paid retroactively when the shutdown ends, but that's still a crappy situation for people struggling to make ends meet.
The longer the shutdown goes, the more the effects pile up. TSA agents are choosing to call in sick rather than work unpaid, turning airports into even more of a nightmare. Trash is piling up at national parks, leading to closures. Farmers affected by the Trump administration’s tariffs are facing delays for aid. And the New York Times reports that the shutdown is beginning to damage the economy.
You might be wondering, how did we get to this point? It's all about the wall. When Donald Trump ran for president, he promised his base a 2,000 mile wall along the US-Mexico border. Despite Republicans controlling the Senate and the House of Representatives for two years, he failed to deliver. And after the 2018 midterm elections, the Democrats regained control of the House, making this quixotic quest even harder.
So, Trump decided to make the wall his Alamo. Last December, he told Democratic senators he would took credit for the government shutdown, stating, "I am proud to shut down the government for border security." And that is exactly what happened. A bipartisan spending bill passed both the Senate and House, but Trump refused to sign it because it lacked $5.7 billion in border wall funding. He says the wall is essential to address a crisis at the border; critics say the crisis is manufactured and the wall is an ineffective, ridiculous waste of money.
Now even rap sensation Cardi B is speaking out on the government shutdown! On Instagram, the always candid MC shared some very NSFW thoughts. "It's been a little bit over three weeks," said Cardi. "Trump is now ordering...federal government workers to go back to work without getting paid. Now, I don't wanna hear y'all motherf***ers talkin' about, 'Oh, but Obama shut down the government for 17 days.' Yeah, bitch! For health care! So your grandma could check her blood pressure and you bitches could go check your p****y at the gynecologist with no motherf***in' problem."
"This sh*t is crazy," Cardi continued. "Like, our country is in a hell hole right now, all for a f***in' wall. ... I feel like we need to take some action. I don't know what type of action, bitch, because this is not what I do. But, bitch, I'm scared. This is crazy, and I really feel bad for these people that gotta go to f***en work to not get motherf***en paid."
This video followed an Instagram livestream in which Cardi B accused President Trump of "clout-chasing" for his border wall. "You promised these f**king racist rednecks that you was gonna build the wall, but you know that was impossible," said Cardi. "But they voted for you and you promised them this shit so now you have to do it [...] Trump is like a clout chaser. He's like one of these new rap artists: They follow, they do the most for clout. And Trump wants that."
Here's hoping Cardi B gets her own political commentary show on MSNBC, okurrr?