Month: January 2019

The Shutdown Cost $11 Billion

Buck Banks

$11 billion

“The federal government shutdown cost the economy $11 billion, according to a new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, reflecting lost output from federal workers, delayed government spending and reduced demand,” CNBC reports. “The report, which was released Monday, estimated a hit of $3 billion, or 0.1 percent, to economic activity during the fourth quarter of 2018. The impact was projected to be greater during the first quarter of 2019: $8 billion, or 0.2 percent of GDP.”

Most Americans Oppose Trump’s Foreign Policy

Buck Banks

63%

A new AP-NORC poll finds a majority of Americans disapprove of the way President Trump is handling U.S. foreign policy and about half think the country’s global standing will deteriorate during the next year. “Overall, the president receives low marks from the public for his job handling foreign policy — 35 percent approve, while 63 percent disapprove. Like other issues, the partisan divide is startling. While 76 percent of Republicans approve, just 8 percent of Democrats say the same.”

Unpaid IRS Workers Not Shoing Up to Work

Buck Banks

14,000

“At least 14,000 unpaid workers in the Internal Revenue Service division that includes tax processing and call centers did not show up for work this week despite orders to do so, according to two House aides, posing a challenge to the Trump administration’s ability to minimize the damage from the government shutdown,” the Washington Post reports. “The Trump administration ordered more than 30,000 employees back to work unpaid to prepare for tax filing season, which is set to begin next week. But of the 26,000 workers called back to the IRS division that includes the tax processing centers and call centers, about 9,000 workers could not be reached and about 5,000 more claimed a hardship exemption, IRS officials have told members of Congress.”

Kudlow Claims Furlough Government Employees Are ‘Volunteering’ for Trump

Buck Banks

“God bless them. They’re working for free. They’re volunteering. But they do it because they believe government service is honorable and they believe in President Trump and they’re working as hard as ever.”

— White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters that thousands of federal employees working without pay were “volunteering” because of “their love for the country and the office of the presidency and presumably their allegiance to President Trump.”