WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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Despite it being closed and empty, a demonstration took place yesterday outside of Representative Todd Young’s Bloomington office, to protest his role in the federal shutdown.
A local group called the Concerned Citizens of Monroe County held a rally at the Showers Plaza office of Congressman Young, to demand he put aside partisan interests and work to end the shutdown.
It came together by a group of concerned citizens that weren’t all Democrats, although many were, says Trent Deckard, Chair of the Monroe County Democratic Party.
“We’re concerned about the shutdown and we wanted to voice our opinions to Congressman Young and let him know this is having an effect on folks,” Deckard says.
A furloughed federal employee spoke for the group along with other people voicing their concerns.
Unfortunately for the attendees, there was no one at the office to hear the protest, or speak to any of the protesters.
“The door was closed, the lights were off and there was a sign saying it was closed indefinitely,” Deckard says, “Congress is exempt from the shutdown and Young could have chosen to have his office open with a skeleton staff. We decided to do this last Thursday and there were 80 people there. I’m sure at some point he caught knowledge of this but he didn’t have anyone there. We had a closed door facing us and that’s kind of reflective of how things are but we went ahead anyway.”
In light of his status as Chair of the County Democrats, we asked Deckard if he could offer any predictions about how these issues will pan out – whether to continue funding government operations at least until December, and whether to raise the debt ceiling to avoid a federal default.
“I never thought the shutdown would get this far,” Deckard says, “While I watch the news, I think to myself that surely it will work out but I’m getting more and more skeptical. Mr. Young needs to come forward and say that he is representing folks in Indiana that need services in this healthcare bill. Until he says this, Ted Cruz and those driving the position will keep pushing their agenda and that doesn’t reflect who we are in Indiana. As we get closer and closer to Thursday, it’s hard to stay optimistic.”
The deadline for raising the federal debt ceiling is this Thursday. If a resolution is not passed by Congress and signed by the President by then, the government will be prevented from borrowing funds to fund the deficit and debt, effectively creating a debt default.
The latest report from Washington is that the most recent effort to end the impasse has failed.
