We’re entering Day 28 of the government shutdown – and for half a million government workers, that means they’ve just missed their first full paycheck.

It’s the Schumer shutdown – Democrats are refusing to open the government over a clean continuing resolution, something they’ve always supported before. Speaker Mike Johnson says it’s ridiculous how stubborn the left-wing of Congress is acting – at the expense of the entire country.

We’re being held hostage by the far-left in the country – and like Johnson says – not even for anything we want.

And I say “we” because this affects us all. It affects the families who won’t receive any SNAP benefits next month – and whether or not you think we should cut the bloat in food assistance programs, some people really do need them. It affects the food we eat – the FDA is responsible for quality and safety, and they’ve got thousands of people furloughed. It affects the flight you want to take – we’re already seeing massive delays at the airport.

But most of all, it’s causing very tangible suffering for the million or so workers who are going without – even while some of them show up for work. And now’s as good a time as any to remind everyone that while air traffic controllers are showing up without pay, members of Congress are sitting on their butts, delivering soundbites, while they collect their paychecks without pause.

I’ve got an idea: how about while the government is shut down, none of us pay taxes? That’ll get them to a solution real fast, I bet.

And I know I pointed it out yesterday – but it’s worth repeating – the Democrats just view all this suffering as a tool for furthering their agenda.

Democrat Chuck Schumer told a reporter that every day of the shutdown is better for Democrats – and when asked about that asinine comment, he just doubled down on the belief that it makes his party look better.

And it gets even worse – House Minority Whip Democrat Katherine Clark called the suffering of millions of Americans “leverage.”

Democrats are really just revealing themselves to be the villain in all of this, aren’t they?

Let’s take a look at that leverage, shall we? Here’s a few workers who are going without:

These are the stories that the press should be elevating – not their petty complaints over a ballroom renovation.

Of course, some of the most heart-wrenching stories come from those who have been forced to turn to food banks – which, by the way, is a testament to the resilience of American charity work.

That’s exactly what these workers are being turned into – pawns. And this is not a game that anyone wants to play – except Democrat politicians.
How about this mom – who’s having to hide her despair from her own daughter.

I think the point has been made – these people are getting pay stubs with a fat zero on them – many of them while still having to show up for work – while Democrats continue to stonewall on behalf of illegal aliens who want free health care and the left-wing faction of the party who care more about that than the Americans who are actually contributing to society.

And let’s be clear, this is just another attack on America First priorities – because at the end of the day, what President Trump is fighting for is better healthcare for American citizens – by cutting out the waste, fraud, and abuse that Democrats want to put back in.

Like I said yesterday – at the heart of it, this is a Democrat-created problem. The Affordable Care Act – Obamacare – it’s a broken system that is once again failing Americans. And Democrats are fighting to keep it broken.

But why now? Why put up this fight now, over a clean continuing resolution that Democrats have always argued should be pushed through? It comes back to polling – to how the Democrats want to be perceived. Secretary Scott Bessent points this out.

You can hear the NBC host trying to quickly wrap up – because Secretary Bessent was just making too much sense.

But the rest of the American public – outside the far left and the chronically online – the rest of us get it. Despite Schumer’s belief that this is making them look better – we see just how desperate and selfish these politicians are.

The only ones saving face are those moderates that Secretary Bessent was talking about – one of them being Senator John Fetterman – who has this message for his party.

It’s a dying message – “country over party” – but hopefully Fetterman’s stand might inspire a couple of his colleagues to do the same. But I don’t have a lot of hope in Democrats regaining their sanity.

This shutdown will end one way or another – and Democrats will only remember it as their great stand against a President that the American people voted for but whom they hate. Meanwhile, the rest of America will remember the food bank lines, the zero-dollar paychecks, and the canceled flights. It’s a lose-lose for Democrats and for America.