Congressman Bacon must help stop merry-go-round of dysfunction, government shutdown threats
By: Angie Lauritsen, State Director of Nebraska For Us
Once again, we have found ourselves on the verge of a government shutdown. It’s no secret the House of Representatives has been in a state of chaos for more than a year—narrowly avoiding manufactured crisis after manufactured crisis.
The House Freedom Caucus is now pushing for a shutdown that would simply cause more pain for middle income and hardworking Nebraskans. At this point, Congress should be starting negotiations on the 2025 spending levels and they have yet to finalize 2024.
As the games continue, it feels as if the House is on a government shutdown merry-go-round.
Let’s be honest. What has the House accomplished as of late? It barely prevented a catastrophic default on the national debt after Republicans made extreme demands that put the country at risk. It has barreled toward government shutdowns on multiple occasions. It went through a humiliating leadership change that has created even worse results for the American people. All the while, lawmakers approved just a handful of pieces of legislation last year that eventually went into effect.
Suffice it to say, things are not going well, and there are no signs it will be getting better anytime soon.
Members of Congress—who receive taxpayer-funded paychecks—are more interested in keeping the merry-go-round going rather than finding solutions to the economic challenges we currently face. Working class and middle income Nebraskans are expected to deliver at work every single day, and we should expect the same of those who we send to Washington.
We will continue calling on our representatives to support policies that support job creation, increase access to affordable housing, reduce prescription drug costs, implement fairer tax policies, and protect Social Security and Medicare, to name a few. It’s beyond time to focus on getting things done for hardworking Nebraskans rather than the political games and dysfunction we’ve witnessed from this do-nothing House.
We’ve become accustomed to continuing resolutions that kick the can down the road for what feels like a never-ending funding fight.
It’s time for our Nebraska representatives and especially Congressman Bacon to take a stand against harmful cuts to programs that hardworking Nebraskans count on to get by like energy assistance, public school funding, access to early childhood education, and others. Not only are the cuts deeply unpopular, but they will hurt the people who are already struggling to get by.
We are tired of the brinksmanship. Enough is enough. Let’s get to work.
Angie Lauritsen is the state director at Nebraska For Us, a grassroots economic educational and advocacy program designed to lift up the voices of working class and middle income Nebraskans. She is a community leader and former elected official who has also worked in various local and statewide issue-focused campaigns.
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