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Jan 18, 2018

01/18/2018: This is an idiotic way to run a $19 trillion economy

Here we are again. No federal budget, no government funding beyond the next day or so. There was a time when this state of affairs was brushed off as congressional legislators simply kicking the can down the road, that they’d come to their senses and be, y’know, responsible. But those days seem to be gone, and this economy’s getting by on a never-ending series of four-week budget stopgaps. That’s how we’re starting the show today. Then: a check on the White House’s infrastructure plan, which is expected in the next few weeks. Plus, we check back in on Erie, Pennsylvania, in our continuing series The Big Promise.

The Capitol dome is seen as lawmakers continue to work towards tax legislation on Capitol Hill on Dec. 18, 2017 in Washington, D.C.
The Capitol dome is seen as lawmakers continue to work towards tax legislation on Capitol Hill on Dec. 18, 2017 in Washington, D.C.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

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Here we are again. No federal budget, no government funding beyond the next day or so. There was a time when this state of affairs was brushed off as congressional legislators simply kicking the can down the road, that they’d come to their senses and be, y’know, responsible. But those days seem to be gone, and this economy’s getting by on a never-ending series of four-week budget stopgaps. That’s how we’re starting the show today. Then: a check on the White House’s infrastructure plan, which is expected in the next few weeks. Plus, we check back in on Erie, Pennsylvania, in our continuing series The Big Promise.