Democrats refuse to give the White House a single dollar for a border wall. And that means that federal prison inmates are eating steak dinners while the prison guards who supervise them go unpaid.

And not only that, the prisoners are laughing at them.

“The partial government shutdown created a delicious irony at federal prisons — inmates dining on lavish holiday meals in front of disgruntled staffers forced to work without pay,” NBC News reported Sunday.

“The striking dynamic played out at dozens of prisons across the country on Christmas and New Year’s Day, several workers told NBC News, aggravating staffers who were already fretting about bills to pay and children to feed.

“Inmates at FCI Pekin in Illinois enjoyed a fancy meal of steak and shrimp on Jan. 1. Cornish hen and Boston Creme pie were on the menu at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. And the prisoners at a federal institution in Minnesota munched on heaping plates of chicken wings, according to staffers and documents obtained by NBC News.”

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“You’re giving a gift to somebody who committed a crime, but yet you won’t pay the people who are supervising them?” Sandy Parr, who works at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota, told NBC News. The center handles federal prisoners with conditions requiring long-term medical or mental health care.

“It’s frustrating and maddening.”

More maddening, one imagines, is the way that prisoners are treating the guards.

Federal prison guards fume inmates get special holiday meals while they work without pay https://t.co/JQywe9WW8j pic.twitter.com/RzorVYO7l8 — New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) January 6, 2019

Joe Rojas, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 506, which represents employees at the Federal Correctional Complex in Coleman, Florida, told NBC News “some inmates mocked demoralized prison staffers while feasting on a New Year’s Day lunch of grilled steak, garlic macaroni biscuits and assorted holiday pies.”

“They are getting a lavish meal and we are working the holidays away from our families wondering if we can pay the rent or make it home,” Rojas said.

Such are the priorities of the federal government during the partial shutdown: Roughly 36,000 prison workers are going without pay while inmates are given gustatorial treats.

“They’re more worried about appeasing these inmates than making sure we get paid,” June Bencebi, case manager at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, told NBC.

“A lot of the staff were upset over the fact that we don’t know where our next meal is going to come, and these inmates were served so much food they were able to get on the serving line twice.”

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And they certainly got great food: Cornish hens, roast beef, Boston creme pie, that sort of thing.

At least there’s someone drawing a paycheck in prison: “Adding to the staffers’ bitter feelings, the working inmates were still drawing government paychecks for their prison jobs, which include painting buildings, cooking meals and mowing lawns.”

This is what the Democrats are willing to do so that they don’t have to spend a single cent on the wall.

Do you think the Democrats own the shutdown? Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use You're logged in to Facebook. Click here to log out. 96% (140 Votes) 4% (6 Votes)

Make no mistake: They’re perfectly aware that border walls work. That’s why they don’t want one, in spite of the fact that they’ve supported this kind of funding multiple times in the past.

In 2013, The Daily Wire notes, all 54 Democrats in the Senate voted for $46 billion for border wall construction. But now they don’t want to reopen the government unless they score a win over the Trump administration.

With the House of Representatives now under Democratic control, that’s their prerogative. But don’t call this a “Trump shutdown.”

This is all about the fact that the Democrats refuse to negotiate.

And if you want to know what that means, just ask the prison guards being laughed at by prisoners eating roast beef and steak — all with your tax money.

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