System Shutdown: An Abandoned Post

As of midnight, parts of our federal government have shut down. This is a complete failure of leadership. When one party controls the House, the Senate, and the White House, they own the results. The Republican party owns this shutdown.

This isn't a game. A government shutdown creates chaos and uncertainty for our entire country. It forces our active-duty military to report for duty without any guarantee of when their next paycheck will arrive. It tells our troops that their financial security is less important than partisan politics.

And where is our representative, David Schweikert, during this crisis? He has officially announced he is abandoning his post to run for Governor. Today, on the first day of the shutdown he helped create, his exact words on the KTAR morning show to justify his political ambition were, "Maybe Congress is absolutely unsaveable."

As a System Engineer, I know you cannot fix a complex system if you walk away from it. This is a dereliction of duty.

This dereliction is part of a larger pattern of dishonesty. To distract from their own failures to govern, the Republican party often resorts to fear-mongering on issues like immigration. We hear the lie that Democrats want to give free, taxpayer-funded healthcare to undocumented residents.

This is a deliberate falsehood, and they know it.

Federal law, specifically the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, explicitly prohibits undocumented immigrants from receiving federal benefits like Medicare and non-emergency Medicaid.

This is the cynical system they have created: they shut down the government, abandon their posts, and then use dishonest talking points to try and scare you into blaming someone else.

It's a failure of policy, a failure of leadership, and a failure of honesty. It's time for a representative who will be honest with you and work to protect and improve the systems our families rely on. It is time for a representative who will honor your trust.