As occasionally happens, the U.S. government is now “shut down” as a consequence of a conflict over budget appropriations between the president and the Congress. (Newspaper ethics forbid me from publishing a web address for my $29.95 “Make Maine Canada Again” hats.) Westminster-style governments, however, have evolved so as to minimize the possibility of ugly standoffs between the executive and the legislature. The U.S. government technically isn’t allowed to just fly on autopilot, even though that is always what it had done. And I am not sure this depends at all on how Americans evaluate the border fence as a policy idea.

Source: National Post December 28, 2018 21:00 UTC