Chuck Schumer clearly thinks he's got a winning issue with blaming President Trump for a prospective "government shutdown" Friday, if no budget bill is passed that includes $5 billion for border wall improvements.  Since he promises that no such money will be forthcoming from the Senate, he obviously anticipates the public reacting in horror over the Christmas holidays as federal employees labeled "non-essential" stay home.

But Rep. Thomas Massie, a libertarian-leaning GOP House member from Kentucky, has published an amazing graph that shows how meaningless this "disaster" really is for almost everybody:

If Congress doesn’t pass an Omnibus by Dec. 21st, we won’t have a government #shutdown. It’d be hard to even characterize it as a government slowdown! I made this graphic to show what shuts down (less than 10%) and what keeps going (over 90%!). The media isn’t telling you this! pic.twitter.com/LlB8KeoD74

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) December 14, 2018

Clarice Feldman yesterday nailed it on who really fears a "shutdown":

So, nonessential federal employees (mostly Democrats) will be out of work because the Democrats choose illegal immigration over national security.  Since voters overwhelmingly want a check on illegal immigration and aren't enamored of an overreaching, often utterly incompetent and often corrupt federal labor force, how do you imagine this will play out?

Schumer threatening disaster if the "shutdown" occurs reminds me of a classic scene in Blazing Saddles (a movie that could not be made today, because we have lost so much of our freedom of speech), in which Sheriff Bart takes himself hostage.  (Snowflake warning: the N-word is used.)