November is when families finally come together around a table and accomplish one thing that may have been hard to do for months. They have a meal and try to get along.
Maybe it’s the impending Thanksgiving holiday that has prompted the Pennsylvania and federal governments to finally do what they have failed to do for months. Federal lawmakers are back in Washington, preparing to pass a continuing resolution after a record-long shutdown. Pennsylvania’s leaders are bringing their budget impasse to an end.
The Keystone State’s new $50 billion plan will restore funding to programs that slowly have been starved since July. Some have limped along. Others haven’t. Offices closed. Workers were laid off. Families and communities were left to fend for themselves.
Now, with the stroke of a pen, Gov. Josh Shapiro has ended the impasse. President Donald Trump will do the same when Congress takes its votes and officially ends the shutdown.
These are not disasters born of wind or fire. They are crises sculpted by politics.
No one deserves applause. There should be no bows. Federal and state alike made this mess, pointing fingers and blaming everyone but themselves. That is not governing. It is malpractice.
Were there reasons for the delays? Arguments for the endgame? They’ll say there were.
In Pennsylvania, it was about carbon emissions and energy regulation — and, inevitably, about money and power. In Washington, it was about health insurance and food assistance — both issues that hit Pennsylvanians hard.
But as these twin crises wind down, has anything really changed?
Yes — but not for the better.
People suffered while their governments, both state and federal, held them hostage. Counties and agencies bore the brunt, forced to take out loans just to keep serving the public. The pain will continue as they repay the debt of someone else’s irresponsibility.
Politicians love to talk about fiscal responsibility. But there is no responsibility in playing chicken with people’s lives. There is no leadership in obstruction, no stewardship in hypocrisy.
When families sit down this Thanksgiving, they may not agree and they might grit their teeth. But they will find a way to get along, at least long enough to pass the potatoes.
It’s a shame the Pennsylvania and federal governments can’t be trusted to do the same.
