Well, it was good while it lasted, but as they are often wont to do, the U.S. Democrats have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Eight of them (technically seven and one independent who caucuses with the Democrats) voted with Republicans to reopen government after a lengthy shutdown. In my view, it is a big mistake.
Daily were Americans buffeted with news of the toll the shutdown was taking - long delays and cancellations at airports, federal employees going without pay, food assistance (SNAP benefits) ended, etc. All of this was taking place as the Democrats finally seemed to have found their footing - an issue that affects about 24 million Americans: The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and the subsidies that keep it affordable.
Long a foe of anything faintly smelling of socialism that benefits the people (as my late father-in-law would say, "Socialism only for the rich; capitalism for the rest), Republicans far prefer to see masses of Americans either pay much higher insurance rates or go without. In other words, the health and lives of those they purport to serve mean little to them. And the key fact here is that the majority of Americans blamed the Republicans for the shutdown.
My own sense was that the Republicans were feeling real heat. Seeing reports of the delays, lineups and cancellations at airports led me to conclude that they would never allow the shutdown to extend to their Thanksgiving, which, next to Christmas, is the busiest time for air travel and a holiday that seems almost sacred to Americans.
Despite that, the aforementioned eight voted to reopen government. And what did they get in return? A 'promise' to hold a Senate vote on the subsidies in December. Here's how Nevada's Democratic Senator Jackie Rosen put it:
"Trump and his Republican cronies on Capitol Hill do not give a damn about hurting working people, and their conduct over the last month has been nothing short of appalling," she said. "The concession we've been able to extract to get closer to extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits is a vote on a bill drafted and negotiated by Senate Democrats. Let me be clear: I will keep fighting like hell to ensure we force Republicans to get this done."
How charmingly or willfully naive. There is nothing to indicate that a vote would succeed in extending the subsidies, given the composition of the Senate. As well, there is the troubling matter of the House of Representatives.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La, hasn’t agreed to a matching House vote on the issue, making the chances of an extension increasingly bleak.
As well, the Democrats who voted to reopen government have exposed fissures within the party, reinforcing the notion that they are a party not yet ready for prime time politics.
The fury at eight Democratic-aligned senators who voted with Republicans to end the longest-ever government shutdown highlights the dramatic shift in the Democratic Party less than a year into President Donald Trump’s second term, as voters and lawmakers argue the party needs to adopt more ruthless tactics to counter the president and claw its way back to power.
The reaction to the two votes on Sunday and Monday, which provide a pathway for the government to reopen after more than 40 days, was fierce. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) called for Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer to be replaced, suggesting he was an ineffective leader even though Schumer opposed the government funding measure. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted the eight senators and said House Democrats would not support a government funding bill that did not include the health care measures the party has demanded. Democratic advocacy groups, politically vulnerable lawmakers, potential 2028 presidential candidates and voters all followed suit, lambasting those in their party they saw as caving.
All of this also reinforces the reality that America is a country in steep and rapid decline. To willfully abandon those in need is yet another look at the man behind the curtain, who answers to the highest bidders, not the average citizen.
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