In the battle over a spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security, Democrats from President Obama on down have used every trick in the book to paint this as Republicans vs. national security. Hoping to convince Americans that the country will be overrun with terrorism once the department shuts down, Democrats are vastly overstating the case.
The lines in the sand have been drawn. Republicans don’t want to fund any aspect of the president’s executive order on immigration. Democrats want a clean bill. And unfortunately, it is the Democrats who are winning the media war. Supported by their cohorts in the media, they have succeeded in somehow making this impending shutdown a Republican failure. What never gets mentioned – at least not loudly enough – is that Democrats are putting Obama’s amnesty ahead of national security. So who is really playing games?
Beyond that, though, there is the reality of the situation. While no one wants to see DHS employees go to work without receiving a paycheck, the fact remains that the work will go on. Since someone is going to blink sooner than later, those paychecks will be on their way in due time. Is the situation ideal? No. But again, that’s as much on Democrats as it is on Republicans. In fact, it’s on the president for making an executive order that he had no business making in the first place. This is what happens when you break the law. There are consequences.
Meanwhile, Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson are running around telling anyone who will listen that our national security will be imperiled by a shutdown. Between terrorist threats against the Mall of America, cities buried in ice, and whatever threats from right-wing extremist groups we’re facing this month, what will we do without the DHS?
Well, if we’re headed for doomsday, tell your people to pass the bill! The president is essentially telling us that he values his deferred deportations program (currently on hold due to a federal ruling) over the safety of Americans. Why are no Republicans making that obvious argument?
Of course, there is no such doomsday coming. Roughly 87 percent of Homeland Security personnel will continue to work through the shutdown. They won’t be paid, which is unfortunate, but they will work. And if a terrorist attack is allowed to happen, and it can be proven that it would not have happened if the bill had been passed, then the president should be taken out of the White House in handcuffs. There is no excuse for putting the safety of the American people in jeopardy so you can save your precious illegals.
So there it is, Mr. President. If you care about national security, direct Democrats in the Senate to pass the bill. If you know that national security is not endangered by a shutdown, stop lying to the American people.
