Government shutdown enters fourth week with no clear end in sight

“I know that I know nothing” – Socrates

“You don’t know anything” – Baseball legend Yogi Berra

Socrates might have been feigning ignorance, and Berra might have been talking about baseball, but they might have both been talking about a government shutdown.

So when will it end?

“You don’t have to ask me because I’m the guy who said it’s only going to last five days,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., told Fox. “But I will tell you that two Democratic senators recently indicated that they think this will continue until at least November 1.”

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

The government is entering the longest complete shutdown in US history with no end in sight

Whether you are Socrates or Yogi Berra, we know “nothing.” Which technically means we He does know something.

However, I know the correct grammar.

The only thing I know in this case is that I don’t know anything about ending the government shutdown.

REPORTER’S NOTE: Government shutdown stalls as Democrats demand extension of Obama’s health care support

Regardless… is it even possible to play the game when the government shutdown ends?

Congressional Republicans believed Democrats would walk out a few days later once the funding ran out in the early hours of October 1. Republicans then argued that Democrats would cry when federal employees lost their first paycheck last week. Later, the GOP suggested that Democrats would keep the government closed during “No Kings” rallies across the country last weekend.

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

“Now that they’re protesting, I pray they come to their senses and reopen the government this week,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Los Angeles.

Rep. Andy Biggs, Republican of Arizona, says he “sees no end in sight.” (Getty Images)

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., accused Republicans of constantly changing their reasons for why Democrats are blocking the GOP government funding bill.

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

So, we are entering the ice age of congressional inactivity as the government shutdown enters its fourth week.

Who could have predicted that?

Then again, who would have expected that thieves would be able to steal millions of dollars’ worth of jewelry inside the Louvre Museum in a historic heist? At least the bandits stole our attention away from the government shutdown for a while.

Lockdown freeze: There is no progress until there is a ‘stimulus’, politicians lament

However, everyone knows (even if they don’t say so publicly) who is most likely to end the government shutdown: Trump.

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

“Donald Trump definitely needs to get involved. He needs to get off the sidelines. Get off the golf course and actually decide to end the shutdown that he created and that he allowed to happen,” Jeffries said.

“Donald Trump, instead of leaving the country before he leaves the country, should sit down and negotiate with us so that we can address this terrible crisis,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “The president should meet with us. It’s not me, it’s not him, it’s not anything political. It’s that people are in crisis every day.”

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

The president has already met with lawmakers this week, meeting with Senate Republicans for lunch in the renovated Rose Garden.

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

But Democrats assert that Trump met with the wrong party. Schumer described it as a “pep rally in the Rose Garden.”

Trump appealed to Democrats to bend and vote in favor of the Republican Party spending bill.

He added: “They are being killed at the ballot boxes.”

A shouting match broke out between Hakeem Jeffries and Mike Lawler as the government shutdown chaos continued

“Shouldn’t the president be involved in negotiations at this stage to end this?” he asked. Johnson actually asked.

“We won’t go [to] “Pay the ransom to reopen the federal government,” the speaker responded.

“Isn’t the only key to ending this lockdown just having negotiations with both sides?” I countered.

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

Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Los Angeles, asserts that “Republicans have nothing to offer Democrats.” (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

In fact, some Republicans have claimed that Trump shouldn’t even be negotiating.

“If I’ve learned anything about President Trump, it’s his timing,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas. “I think he feels the timing is not right now. We are winning the messaging war.” “So there will be time. But the time has not come yet.”

It is unclear when that time might come, considering that the government has been closed for more than three weeks.

Two weeks ago, Republicans criticized Schumer for declaring that things were getting “better” for Democrats the longer the shutdown lasted, but lockdown fatigue is now setting in on Capitol Hill.

Battleground Republicans hold the line as Johnson presses Democrats on shutdown

“Welcome to the 22nd day of the Democrats’ shutdown,” Johnson declared at the raucous daily press briefings given by both sides.

“This is bad,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said on Fox Business about the shutdown.

Lawmakers are now seeking a daylight shutdown.

“The hope is that we will resolve this closure before the end of the month,” Jeffries said.

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

There is concern about how the closure will affect national parks.

“(Here) are the most negative consequences that we will begin to see without regular staff,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark. “Litter will accumulate and park ecosystems will be affected.”

Both parties are convinced they are victorious in the closure.

“What I heard over and over again on the phone at City Hall was, ‘You guys don’t surrender to these hostage takers,’” Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson said. “I heard that over and over again.”

“This resonates with Americans,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., “and what I’m hearing from people in Connecticut is, ‘Hold on tight.'”

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The Senate is holding a test vote Thursday on a bill to pay essential workers who work unpaid jobs, but Democrats are skeptical.

“I would support paying federal workers,” said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont. “Unfortunately, this bill gives the president too much freedom to pick and choose, or, should I say, (White House Budget Director) Russell Vought to pick and choose (who gets paid).”

So, while lockdown boredom sets in, no one knows when it might end.

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

If no one knows the end of the lockdown period, then everyone is very smart.