A Democrat civil war has broken out over ending the government shutdown.

 

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer. Politico.

A Democrat civil war has broken out over ending the government shutdown. Politico. Senators who voted against ending the shutdown have been apoplectic over the move, calling it a mistake and calling into question the leadership of Chuck Schumer. Eight senators joined with all Republicans except Rand Paul to reopen the government. Schumer, who voted no, has gotten most of the flak though. Democrats did not get much in terms of concessions from the deal, with only a promise to vote on extending Obamacare subsidies, which will fail in the Senate, and the reinstatement of workers fired during the shutdown. Democrats did blame Trump for the vote, but it is notable that Schumer is getting so much blame. 

My Comment:

It seems that the progressives got high on their own supply. The entire health care "crisis" was mostly a manufactured one and one that doesn't actually affect that many people. And they were the ones that let the Obamacare subsidies expire in the first place. Indeed, this was a pandemic era subsidy and it was never meant to be permanent. 

Indeed, the entire thing had almost nothing to do with healthcare and everything to do with last weeks elections. Democrats were vulnerable in both New Jersey and Virginia, and what better way to motivate the Democratic base than by taking away SNAP benefits and putting federal employees out of work for a month?  

This cynical stunt worked for the Democrats, they got the governorship of Virginia and kept the New Jersey one as well. But the problem was that the Democratic base actually believed this was something other than a cynical political stunt. Why they thought this is beyond me, it should have been obvious from the start that the shutdown was a stunt, but again, they got high on their own supply. 

Much of this is probably due to Trump Derangement syndrome. The Democrats liked the shutdown because the Democrats were finally doing something to "stop" Trump. The fact that it wasn't even accomplishing that much didn't matter. And the fact that tons of people were put out of work or lost access to their benefits, things that the Democrats would usually support, didn't matter either. The Democrats were able to throw their voters under the bus for basically no gain outside of two Governor's races they were probably going to win regardless. None of that mattered because they wanted to get Trump. 

Will Chuck Schumer pay the price? I am not sure. Progressives like to make a lot of noise but I am guessing that the powers that be will inform the progressives what the actual goal of the shutdown was. The question is if the progressives will accept that. I do think it's funny that Schumer is the one getting all the heat as opposed to the senators that actually voted to open the government. 

The real problem is that opening the government isn't a long term solution. The Democrats might try to roll the dice again as an election ploy during next terms midterms. They may very well think that this ploy paid off for them electorally but if they do pull this again, I think it will backfire on them. Again, this accomplished very little and I do think if they shut down the government again, Americans will turn on them. Blame has been mostly on a "pox on both houses" fashion but if the Democrats do this again next year, I don't think that is how it will work out. 

As for Republicans, I do see this as a moderate win for them. The 2025 elections were not great, but almost none of those elections were ones that they were expected to win regardless. It's absolutely terrible for Republicans in Virginia and New Jersey but nationally, the infighting the Democrats are seeing now is probably worth the damage done. If the Republicans act smart and focus on the economy, which the Trump White House seems to be now, they could be set. But if they go back to arguing about Nick Fuentes, of all people, it might end up a wash.