Hours after casting her dissenting vote on a bill to fund the federal government until Feb. 8, U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, said short-term measures like the one adopted Monday night represent "negligence and incompetence."
Eshoo was one of 146 Democrats in the House of Representatives to vote against the continuing resolution, which was approved by a 266-150 vote (four Republicans also dissented) on Monday afternoon and signed into law by President Donald Trump later in the evening. The Senate had passed the bill in the morning by an 81-18 vote.
The bill keeps the federal government funded until Feb. 8 and renews the Children's Health Insurance Program for six years. It does not, however, address the fate of the "Dreamers," immigrants who came to the United States as children and who enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Trump's decision to end the program last year means the roughly 800,000 Dreamers could be subject to deportation in March if the issue isn't resolved.
In explaining her opposition, Eshoo argued that running the federal government through short-term continuing resolutions "ignores our national security and domestic challenges, and is an abdication of leadership." While Trump and the Republicans have blamed the weekend shutdown of the federal government on Senate Democrats, who briefly refrained from giving the bill the needed 60 votes, Eshoo and the Democrats have pointed out that Republicans control both chambers of the Congress, as well as the presidency.
The three-day shutdown was the first time in the nation's history that the government had shut down with one party in control of the executive and legislative branches.
In a statement, Eshoo said she is "relieved that the senseless shutdown of the federal government has ended, but the underlying reasons that led to it have not gone away." She characterized the bill -- and the three continuing resolutions that preceded it -- as only stop-gap measures, "not a budget which addresses the needs of my constituents and the American people."
"There's a difference between just keeping the lights on (Continuing Resolutions) and having a budget, a precise road map that ultimately is a statement of our national values," Eshoo said.
Keeping the federal government running through continuing resolutions has led to a failure to get funding for disaster relief, for addressing America's opioid crisis and for community health centers, which are "careening toward running out of funds," Eshoo said.
Eshoo also said the issue of DACA, which is not in the continuing resolution, must be dealt with by Congress. Eshoo blamed House Speaker Paul Ryan for failing to bring bipartisan legislation on DACA to a vote, despite support from 83 percent of the American public.
"The wrong kind of history has been made with the first government shutdown with one party in command of the executive and legislative branches," Eshoo said in the statement. "Now the just-passed CR gives Congress until February 8 to help restore the confidence of the American people who deserve so much more. I will give my all to help us get there."
Comments
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jan 23, 2018 at 4:38 pm
on Jan 23, 2018 at 4:38 pm
Since current Senate rules require 60 votes (supermajority) for passage of fiscal matters--unless the Senate has 60 Senators from one Party (or can attract cross-over votes), then the Senate is not totally controlled by one Party.
If the controlling Party were to vote to change the supermajority rules, then they would control the Senate.
So, Ms. Eschoo's comments are not totally correct on this matter.
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jan 23, 2018 at 4:44 pm
on Jan 23, 2018 at 4:44 pm
Unfortunately Democrats prefer to protest rather than win. The shutdown was a loser from the beginning and a big mistake. The Republicans have tried this several times and each time they have lost. I'm sympathetic with Bernie Sander's views, but one in ten Sander's supporters voted for Trump because their guy didn't win so now we have Trump. It is going to be the same in 2018, Republicans will keep both houses of Congress. I hope I'm wrong, but not counting on it.
Midtown
on Jan 23, 2018 at 5:16 pm
on Jan 23, 2018 at 5:16 pm
It is ridiculous to try and force the attachment of controversial legislation to votes that fund the government. These issues merit much greater debate than a hastily rushed vote on funding.
Sadly, Democrats have been pushing to help illegal immigrants at the expense of agreeing to fund the American government infrastructure.
Ms. Eshoo should be ashamed.
Registered user
College Terrace
on Jan 23, 2018 at 6:31 pm
Registered user
on Jan 23, 2018 at 6:31 pm
Re: Joe. Under the current Senate rules, *continuing resolutions* require 60 votes to pass, but *actual budget bills* only require 51 votes. If the Republicans were to bring a budget bill to vote, they would not need any Democratic votes to pass it. That is what Rep. Eshoo is referring to.
Registered user
Downtown North
on Jan 23, 2018 at 10:00 pm
Registered user
on Jan 23, 2018 at 10:00 pm
"short-term measures like the one adopted Monday night represent “negligence and incompetence.” "
Eschoo's right. Republicans own the government. Why can't they put together a clean budget bill and pass it on a simple party-line vote? Why must they habitually waste government time and taxpayer money with their trademark continuing resolutions?
This routine Republican incompetence sabotages our military preparedness and wastes billion$ of defense dollars: Web Link Make America strong again. Throw them out this November.
Registered user
Downtown North
on Jan 23, 2018 at 11:03 pm
Registered user
on Jan 23, 2018 at 11:03 pm
"Sadly, Democrats have been pushing to help illegal immigrants at the expense of agreeing to fund the American government infrastructure."
Tragically, this is much less about the legality of the immigrants than the pigment levels in immigrants' skins. Trump has been diligently exploiting that deplorable trait in his Base for nearly three years, and he made the matter very explicit in his recent "~hole/~house/Norwegians" outburst. I fear that select naturalization papers will soon become worthless as this trend gets uglier.
Registered user
Midtown
on Jan 23, 2018 at 11:17 pm
Registered user
on Jan 23, 2018 at 11:17 pm
@ Curmudgeon - "Tragically, this is much less about the legality of the immigrants than the pigment levels in immigrants' skins. Trump has been diligently exploiting that deplorable trait in his Base for nearly three years..."
[Portion removed.] I voted for Donald Trump. As an actual immigrant with such noticeable "pigment levels" in my skin, I vehemently disagree with your "assessment" (or is it projection?) of Trump, his base and the idea that secure borders and real immigration laws that are actually followed is somehow the equivalent of racism.
Of course, this sort of rhetoric is merely an echo of the "deplorable" sentiment that caused Hillary Clinton to lose states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio and Iowa -- all states that Barack Obama previously won.
Registered user
Downtown North
on Jan 24, 2018 at 12:58 pm
Registered user
on Jan 24, 2018 at 12:58 pm
[Portion removed.]
" this sort of rhetoric is merely an echo of the "deplorable" sentiment that caused Hillary Clinton to lose states like Michigan, ..."
As anyone who follows the news with open eyes can see, Clinton was spot on: “You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic—you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.” Web Link
Those people never were Clinton voters and never would be. She didn't lose them. Clinton's mistake was to apologize for her frankness. It greatly disappointed her followers.
Registered user
Midtown
on Jan 24, 2018 at 8:39 pm
Registered user
on Jan 24, 2018 at 8:39 pm
@ Curmudgeon: You're under the mistaken impression that liberal sanctuary areas are "safer" for legal immigrants than other places in America. I've lived, worked and studied in red states. I've worked fields in red and blue states. I don't think that I ever felt so compartmentalized by my racial-ethnic background than I've felt in California.
If there is a true "basket of deplorables," it is one that includes those who cannot see me and other immigrants except through the rampant generalizations and stereotypes or demands for sociopolitical allegiances at the cost of the selling of one's soul. It also includes those who are so blind as to think that immigrants who followed the law and illegal immigrants are one and the same.
The United States of America was built by hard working and law-abiding immigrants. -- but not the kind that ignored the nation's immigration laws. The idea that illegal immigrants are somehow "victimized" for being forced to follow immigration law is as silly as saying that an intruder on your property or place of business is a "victim of circumstances."
Proper immigration law ALREADY exists -- but politicians and bleeding heart politicos don't want to follow it (for very particular reasons). It isn't "racist" to say that immigration laws should be followed. It isn't racist to point out that Mexico has refused to reform and favors their small upper class by encouraging their own basket of "unwanted" citizens -- the poor, uneducated and, yes, criminal elements -- to escape to the north by ignoring this nation's laws.
Democrats in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin and other states that Obama previously won don't like to be called "deplorables" simply for adhering to the law or common sense. They don't like to be slurred or vilified as "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic -- you name it" for seeing the world as it is through the lens of experience and noting what has happened in their states, towns and schools.
Registered user
Downtown North
on Jan 25, 2018 at 9:49 am
Registered user
on Jan 25, 2018 at 9:49 am
"@ Curmudgeon: You're under the mistaken impression that liberal sanctuary areas are "safer" for legal immigrants than other places in America. I've lived, worked and studied in red states. I've worked fields in red and blue states. ... ."
You leave out the most important fact: All of that was in the relatively very liberal age before Trump and the Trump Base. Things have changed. Reminiscing from the liberal Palo Alto bubble can dull one's sense of self-preservation.
Registered user
Downtown North
on Jan 25, 2018 at 2:16 pm
Registered user
on Jan 25, 2018 at 2:16 pm
News flash! Stop and reprogram brains! Trump now supports citizenship for select "illegal" immigrants Web Link .
Man, I don't know whether to admire Trumpies for their ability to instantly reverse their bedrock principles with every flipflop of the Steady Genius that leads them, or to pity them for the necessity to reverse their bedrock principles with every flipflop of the Steady Genius that leads them.
Stay alert for further developments, gang.
Registered user
Downtown North
on Jan 25, 2018 at 4:12 pm
Registered user
on Jan 25, 2018 at 4:12 pm
"Democrats in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin and other states that Obama previously won don't like to be called "deplorables" simply for adhering to the law or common sense. They don't like to be slurred or vilified as "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic -- you name it" for seeing the world as it is through the lens of experience and noting what has happened in their states, towns and schools."
Only Hillary Clinton could've put it better. In fact, she did:
"But the other basket -- and I know this because I see friends from all over America here -- I see friends from Florida and Georgia and South Carolina and Texas -- as well as, you know, New York and California -- but that other basket of people are people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they're just desperate for change. It doesn't really even matter where it comes from. They don't buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different. They won't wake up and see their jobs disappear, lose a kid to heroin, feel like they're in a dead-end. Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well."
So, Trump promised jobs. Gobs of jobs. Where are those jobs? Ask Carrier, maybe?
Registered user
Old Palo Alto
on Jan 28, 2018 at 12:02 pm
Registered user
on Jan 28, 2018 at 12:02 pm
I also voted for Trump. I’ve been voting for quite a few decades and have known the country’s politics growing up in NYC, living for quite a long time in the South, and a few decades in Palo Alto. The biggest reason I voted for Trump is that our governments are simply not working, serious changes are needed. My family were immigrants and I totally support Trump’s efforts to end illegal immigration. He’s not anti-immigrant. He’s anti-illegal immigrant. People who brand those who want us to get back to some orderly, rational process for immigration as racists, etc. just make things worse and make it harder for congress to pass reasonable legislation. There is not an infinite supply of jobs, housing, seats in school, health care resources to provide for anyone who wants to come, we have to have some control of the process. Politicians take advantage of these issues by posing as saviors in order to win the next election cycle but voters, left, right, and center have become weary - more than 70% have low opinions of both parties.
Practically, there are so many, many problems that government needs to focus on. Frankly, it’s very frustrating to see half of the congress and especially our representatives on the bench trying to obstruct and discredit. I know, both sides are guilty but one side has begun to deliver some serious benefits with more to come. Eschoo, with not much to show for her tenure, isn’t helping anything right now. I don’t appreciate her comments. They divide us. I honestly think most want better government and that most would find we share a lot more common ground than the deeply partisan climate we see. Trump is indeed unusual but things are happening, finally. I’m sure Eschoo knows a lot about ‘negligence and incompetence’.
Registered user
Mountain View
on Jan 28, 2018 at 3:24 pm
Registered user
on Jan 28, 2018 at 3:24 pm
Curmudgeon, it’s called negotiating and compromise. You should try it sometime.
Registered user
Old Palo Alto
on Jan 31, 2018 at 8:52 am
Registered user
on Jan 31, 2018 at 8:52 am
American voters need to wrest back control of the government from people who do nothing but press their own silly agendas. Whether or not to fund the government should not be held hostage to an immigration solution that has eluded a fix for decades.
The NY Times this morning discusses the over 5 million poor people in this country who can’t afford basic necessities. That’s a lot of tired and poor already here. Somehow the defence of illegals is far more important to our single party California politics then those cold and hungry and homeless and needy people who are already here. How did this happen? How did the moral imperative to help our own lose to demands from the left to provide for anyone who sneaks across the border with an open hand. This isn’t reasonable public policy, it’s ensuring that the bottom will be even more underfunded and opportunity for legal immigrants further reduced. Those who need an argument against this open door should look back to the cautionary words of then President Bill Clinton who warned that illegal immigration must be stopped. Those who need that argument should stumble over those sleeping in the streets of San Francisco or seek out the old and hungry right here, with us, every day.
Somehow, we’ve gone from our immediate responsibilities to our own politicians willingness to defy federal law for illegals. The Left truly seems to have brought us all way out on a limb and willing to go further. I don’t think Californians really want that. Their government is already way too expensive. We all know that we are paying too much for government that isn’t getting the job done. Californias homeless and needy are already too many. I think Californians want politicians on both sides to work on best solutions to the big problems we already have.
Anna dissents. Anna objects. Anna votes NO because "There's a difference between just keeping the lights on (Continuing Resolutions) and having a budget, a precise road map that ultimately is a statement of our national values, The founding documents and quite a bit of ink since well describe our national values. Does this makes any sense at all?
Registered user
Downtown North
on Jan 31, 2018 at 6:23 pm
Registered user
on Jan 31, 2018 at 6:23 pm
"The NY Times this morning discusses the over 5 million poor people in this country who can’t afford basic necessities."
All Trump and the Repubs need to do is create 5 million jobs. Problem solved.