Government shutdown enters fourth week with no clear end in sight

“I know that I know nothing” – Socrates

“You know nothing” – Baseball Legend Yogi Berra

Socrates might be claiming ignorance, Berra might be talking about baseball, but they might both be talking about a government shutdown.

So when will it end?

“You shouldn’t ask me because I’m the one who said it’s only going to last five days,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said on Fox. “But I will tell you this, several Democratic senators have indicated recently that they think this will last at least through the first of November.”

But Biggs added that he “sees no end in sight.”

GOVERNMENT ENTERED THE LONGEST NEVER-ENDED TOTAL SHUTDOWN IN US HISTORY

Whether you are Socrates or Yogi Berra, we know “nothing”. This technically means: To do I know something.

But I know the grammar correctly.

All I know about this case is that I know nothing about ending the government shutdown.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN STAYS WHILE DEMOCRATS DEMAND EXTENSIONS OF OBAMACARE BILLS

No matter what… Is it possible to predict when the government shutdown will end?

Republicans in Congress believed that when funding ran out on the morning of October 1, Democrats would withdraw a few days later. Republicans then argued that Democrats would shout “uncle” when federal workers missed their first paycheck last week. The GOP then suggested Democrats would keep the government shut down through “No to Kings” rallies held across the country last weekend.

The GOP argued that Democrats needed to show their base that they were “fighting” against President Donald Trump.

“Now that they have protests, I pray they come to their senses and reopen the government this week,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., says he “can’t see an end in sight.” (Getty Images)

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DY) accused Republicans of constantly changing their reasons for why Democrats are blocking the GOP bill to fund the government.

“In a few days it will be about something else,” Jeffries said.

So as the government shutdown enters its fourth week, we are entering an ice age of Congressional inaction.

Who could have predicted this?

On the other hand, who could have predicted that thieves would steal millions of dollars’ worth of jewels inside the Louvre in a historic robbery? At least the bandits distracted us from the government shutdown for a while.

LOCKDOWN PENDING: NO PROGRESS WITHOUT ‘INCENTIVE’, POLITICOS lament

However, everyone knows who will end the government shutdown (although they haven’t announced it publicly): Trump.

He’s not just the president. Trump has an influence over Republicans in Congress that Ronald Reagan could only envy. So the government will remain closed until he joins the fight.

“Donald Trump absolutely needs to get involved. He needs to step off the sidelines. Get off the golf course and actually commit to ending the shutdown that he’s created and allowed to happen,” Jeffries said.

“Instead of leaving the country before he leaves, Donald Trump should sit down and negotiate with us so we can solve this terrible crisis,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. “The president should meet with us. The problem is not me, him or anything political. The problem is that the people are in crisis every day.”

President Trump met with Republican lawmakers this week. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The president met with lawmakers this week and held court with Senate Republicans for lunch in the renovated Rose Garden.

“Did you notice the white marble floor?” joked the president.

But Democrats claim that Trump is aligned with the wrong party. Schumer called it a “Rose Garden pep rally.”

Trump implored Democrats to cave in and vote for the GOP spending bill.

“They’re getting killed in the polls,” he said.

SCREAMING MATCH BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES AND MIKE LAWLER IS AIRING AS THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES

“Shouldn’t the president be involved in the negotiations at this stage?” yours truly asked Johnson.

“We’re not going [to] Pay the ransom to reopen the federal government,” the speaker replied.

“Isn’t the only key to ending this shutdown sitting down and negotiating with both sides?” I objected.

“Republicans have nothing to offer the Democrats,” Johnson replied.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., claims that “Republicans have nothing to offer Democrats.” (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

In fact, some Republicans argued that Trump shouldn’t even negotiate.

“If I’ve learned anything about President Trump, it’s his timing. I think he thinks the timing isn’t right right now. We’re winning the messaging war,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “So there will come a time. But the time is not yet ripe.”

It’s unclear when that time will come, given that the government has been shut down for more than three weeks.

Two weeks ago, Republicans torched Schumer for saying things were getting “better” for Democrats the longer the shutdown went on, but shutdown fatigue is now setting in on Capitol Hill.

BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSED THE DEMS FOR A SHUTDOWN

“Welcome to day 22 of the Democrat shutdown,” Johnson said at daily press briefings that drew buzz from both parties.

“This sucks,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said of the shutdown on Fox Business.

Lawmakers are now seeking to shut it down in broad daylight.

“We hope to have this shutdown resolved before the end of the month,” Jeffries said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., expresses hope that the shutdown will be resolved by the end of the month. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

There are concerns about how the closure will affect national parks.

“(Here are) the more negative consequences we’ll start to see without regular staffing. Garbage will accumulate and park ecosystems will be impacted,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark.

Both sides believe they have prevailed in the closeout.

“I heard it over and over on the city hall phone call: ‘You don’t give in to these hostage takers,'” said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho. “I heard that over and over again.”

“This is resonating with Americans. What I’m hearing from people in Connecticut is ‘stay tough,'” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

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The Senate will hold a test vote on Thursday on a bill to pay essential workers working without a paycheck, but Democrats are skeptical.

“I’m in favor of paying federal workers,” said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. “Unfortunately, this bill gives the president too much latitude to pick and choose, or I should say (White House Budget Director) Russell Vought, to pick and choose (who gets paid).”

So as lockdown fatigue sets in, no one knows when it will end.

It is said that knowing what you don’t know actually constitutes true knowledge.

And if no one knows the end of the shutdown, that must mean everyone is pretty smart.