Shut down the government; National interest is at stake: Varney
Midnight Friday. Four days away. That’s the deadline for an agreement on funding the government. If there's no deal, the government will shut down.
My opinion: Shut it down! National interest demands we settle two issues: immigration and military spending. They are the sticking points. A government shut down will force a resolution.
Look at immigration: The left wants the Dreamers to stay. But they don't want a wall or any other immigration reform that would keep more illegals out. Can't have that. A return to an open border is not in the nation's interest. Build the wall, change the rules, but let the Dreamers stay: it’s worth shutting the government to get that deal.
Military spending: The Republicans want an increase. The Democrats say, okay, but there must be an increase in social spending to match it! Ridiculous. You can’t buy national security with more non-military spending!
In every previous shutdown, the Republicans got the blame. The media will have it no other way. And the Democrats do politics very well.
Will it be different this time? Probably not. If there's a shutdown, the left will shout “the sky is falling" and blame an unpopular president and pressure a now-vulnerable GOP.
But, there is shock value to a shutdown. There would be intense pressure on Congress to grow up and do your job, and that means fixing immigration and keeping America safe.
So shut it down. If that’s what it takes, shut it down. The national interest is at stake.