Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - Hier 08:17

The US new normal

ON SEPTEMBER 30, the US Embassy in Port of Spain posted on Facebook a readout of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s meeting with the Prime Minister, announcing support for the Dragon gas proposal. But mere hours later, the embassy posted a very different message: “Because of the lapse in appropriations, this Facebook account will not be updated regularly until full operations resume.” It was emblematic of a new paradigm in which America is no longer a reliable ally to any country in the world. The shutdown reflects the disordered nature of the Donald Trump administration, in which all standards of sobriety have been thrown to the wind. Shutdowns have happened before. There was one under Bill Clinton in 1995 and Barack Obama in 2013. In Mr Trump’s first term, workers went home from December 22, 2018, to January 25, 2019. Eleven shutdowns have occurred since 1979, according to the archives of the US House of Representatives. During these lapses, some activity continues. “Excepted” functions essential to securing human life and property, like the military, border security, air traffic control and the FBI, are allowed. Scheduled passport and visa services at the embassy at Queen’s Park West will, according to officials there, be dealt with “as the situation permits.” But a government is more than its “essential” services. Hundreds of thousands will be furloughed. Delays in spending will also trigger costs. The 2019 shutdown, which lasted 34 days, lowered GDP by US$8 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. At a time of slowdown in the American economy, this is bad news. While shutdowns aren’t new, this specific instance stands alone. It comes in a Trump administration that has already gutted departments, fired thousands of officials and applied a chainsaw to the normal operations of the state. Republicans currently hold power in all branches of government, but Mr Trump has been allowed to tilt the balance further in his favour through his Supreme Court’s upholding of a glut of executive orders, all taking effect even when manifestly unlawful. The Democrats’ refusal this week to support spending measures was their only leverage. In March, they refused to use it, provoking the ire of people who called on them to fight a tide of fascism, which has seen shocking ICE raids without due process, the deployment of the National Guard on American cities, and curtailments to free speech. Now, Democrats symbolically protest. Nevertheless, Mr Trump is unfazed. Instead of reconciliation, he threatens to further his agenda in the dark. That kind of devil-may-care leadership does not bode well for the longevity of America, as seen by this lapse in core financing, which further convulses an already beleaguered republic. The post The US new normal appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.