Listen to Geraldo In Cleveland. weekdays 9-10am on Newsradio WTAM 1100, now on 106.9 on the FM dial.
The Government Shutdown is now in it's 17th day, and it doesn't seem like there is an end in sight. The President and Congressional Republicans want a wall on the southern border, and Democrats want to reopen the government without any funding for the wall attached.
While the stalemate continues on, this round of budget negotiations seems to be taking a troubling tone. Both sides seem entrenched in what they want out of the shutdown, and while compromise is seen as weakness, neither side wants to come off as inferior.
But, while 800,000 federal workers aren't getting paychecks and several government agencies vital to everyday life are crippled, both sides have to realize that everything they want can be achieved. Refugees can be treated like people with extra judges and caseworkers, and there can be a physical barrier to protect the southern border.
As evidenced by debate in 2006 and 2013, Democrats have been open to the idea of a border wall, and recent dialogue from Republicans have indicated that there is some room on a humanitarian solution.
If Democrats want to fight the President on his border wall, they better be prepared for a long fight. President Trump used the idea of building a border wall as a tentpole issue for his Presidential Campaign. President Trump will not let the issue become a noose around his neck in his reelection campaign.
No matter who fault it may be, it is time to put that aside and fix this debilitating, and completely fixable problem.