1. Collecting taxes is an essential function. Interestingly enough, paying refunds is not.
2. It is bad for “contractors” but no one else is horribly affected since they pay the money at the end. The government doesn’t save money by a shutdown, but it loses some fees it would have collected. Non-essential civil servants in the affected agencies (about a quarter of the agencies) get bonus vacation as a result of a shutdown, i.e., they get paid for not working.
3. We should all be proud of the politicians of both parties who are keeping their promises. Trump promised to build a wall, and the Democrats promised he wouldn’t.