The finger pointing began on December 22, 2018. Now known as the day the crisis began, the day the trouble started, this day has now gone down in history as the beginning of the longest government shutdown to ever occur in the United States.  

   President Trump is using government workers as leverage for the wall he hopes to build between the United States and the Mexican border. With no regard for its detrimental effect on the unpaid citizens, he insists on keeping the government shutdown until he receives approval for his $5.7 billion dollar wall. Although Republicans are seemingly beginning to cave towards the Democratic proposals to reopen the government, for those waiting with bated breath for good news, the current Congressional stalemate appears endless.

  Americans are truly the ones who lose.

  800,000 federal employees have awoken each morning, hoping the democratic and republican leaders have put aside their differences to end their personal financial crisis: a crisis currently forcing these innocent 800,000 employees to live without a paycheck.    

  According to NBC, Desiree Bagby, a federal worker affected by the shutdown, explains “It is very humiliating to one day go from spending $300 at BJ’s to having to rely on public assistance.”

  President Trump himself claimed, “The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.” After two missed paychecks and no guarantee of federal aid, are the “forgotten men and women” truly remembered?

  Even the international community realizes the detrimental impact a prolonged shutdown has had not only on the employees’ savings accounts, but on trust and morale. One Canadian citizen conveys, “It’s embarrassing. From an international point of view that the current US government would selfishly put politics ahead of its own citizens.”

  American safety is now in jeopardy, the advertisement of the United State’s lack of security will inevitability invite some to test American security dependability in times of crisis.

   The TSA callouts have nearly tripled since last January, climbing to more than 10% of agents calling out sick, leading to a staffing shortage.

  Air travel has already begun to decrease. CNBC writes, “‘In our risk averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break,’ said a joint statement from unions representing U.S. pilots, flight attendants and air traffic controllers. ‘It is unprecedented.’”

  The country’s growing fear, already hurting airline profits, will soon harm the stock market. Market Watch explains, “‘If you start to see evidence that the economy is slowing, investors are going to react to it, and they won’t react well,’ DePalma said, chief executive officer of PhaseCapital.”

  The government shutdown has led to a spiraling effect, harming nearly all aspects of the country.  The virtue of America is at stake. We are all taught to compromise. Mr. President, lead by example.